Sowing in Tears
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Lent words are ‘re’ words: re-pent, re-turn, re-cover, re-pair, re-new. All are called to repentance, not just the great sinners, because all are affected when any member is sinful or suffering. The Body of Christ is wounded.
Yet for all the bruised purple, Lent is a season of hope. It ends not with death but with rising from the dead. As the Holy Father reminds us this Lent, our faith means we can look beyond present ills with joyful hope to the fullness of Christ’s victory, won by His perfect obedience (Pope Benedict XVI, Message for Lent 2013, n. 4).
Against the backdrop of this Lenten paradox – of tears and joy, Cross and Resurrection – the Church in Australia has been rocked by child sexual abuse. As one prominent lay commentator observed: “Like every community, the Catholic Church is a Church of sinners. Its spiritual rhythms repeat the ancient biblical cycle of failure, repentance, penance, forgiveness and reconciliation. Yet even in a Church that knows a lot about sin, some acts of wickedness still retain their capacity to shock. The sexual abuse of minors by priests – men traditionally called ‘Father’ – is one such kind of wickedness. So is the failure of bishops – shepherds, in the ancient image – to guard the flock against predators, especially predators from within the household of faith.” (George Weigel, The Courage to be Catholic, pp1-2) Continue reading
