The other day I was at a party at the home of dear friends of mine. One of the party-goers waited until we had all sat down with our paper plates of deliciousness and (I swear) waited for me to shovel a mouthful of food in, and then asked me, "So, as our only Catholic representative, what do you have to say about the ... terrible things going on...?"  It was a moment out of a cartoon, where everyone stopped talking all at once. You could hear a plastic spoon drop.

I had inwardly prepared for this moment, because I do know well this particular group of friends. I responded evenly. I looked at him and said, "It's horrific. It's beyond-words-horrific. We need to do better. We will do better, because this is the Church Jesus Christ founded." Someone suggested the cause was "men priests" and others hinted at celibacy as the problem. I wound up the conversation by saying something about the deep need for reform on many levels (without getting into specifics, many of which I don't have as a lay person), and that as I see it, clericalism is a huge factor in the cover up and hidden subcultures that led to this crisis. 

After that I can't recall exactly what I said. Because really it was the Holy Spirit speaking up. And you know what? I can take a little heat. My tiny bit of discomfort is nothing and can only be offered up for the healing of the victims and sanctification of priests.

I'm not here to get into the whys and hows and what do we do now. There are literally hundreds of articles all over the internets. I can recommend reading FirstThings.com and AmericaMagazine.org for varying perspectives on the related topics and issues.

One of my good friends always likes to say, "Focus on what you know to be true." So that's what I'm doing here.

1. Jesus is here as he promised. He never abandons us. This is most important because the temptation is to throw the baby out with the bath water - ditch the Church and abandon the Body of Christ who are hurting so deeply right now. 
2. Grieve, get angry, but do not sin. Jesus constantly invites us to REST in Him no matter the circumstances. 
3. I am praying for the healing, restoration, and peace of the victims, and I'm offering up what I can for them.
4. I am praying for our good and loving clergy, and for their sanctification.
5. I am offering up what little sacrifices I can make (a la "The Little Way") for the reform and cleansing of the Church as a whole.
6. The Church will be reformed because it needs to be, and because it's the Church Christ founded.
7. The Church has always been in need of reform and is constantly being reformed because (see #6).
8. I also have to pray for the clergy who have committed such heinous immoral acts of depravity. That one is a lot harder than numbers 1 - 7, but it is still what Jesus commands. 

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...  Mt 5:44

Ouch. Not easy. Not by a long shot. But we need to pray for everyone involved while we attend to this.

We're embarking on a long, dark journey. It may well get worse before it gets better - cleaning and dressing the wounds means they have to be uncovered, first. As Chris Stefanick Tweeted last week:

Be sickened. Do not lose heart. Be saddened. Do not despair. Be angry at the abuse of power. Do not be ashamed of the power of the Gospel. One is from God. The other is from satan.  This is no time for weakness.