Reading Francis

I was reflecting this morning on the miracle of our planet’s orbit around the sun. Were our path any farther away from the heat of the sun, Earth would be too cold to harbor life as we know it. Were we any closer, we would all burn up from too much heat. And yet we are in this precious middle channel that offers the possibility of life.

This came to mind as I thought about the reaction of Catholics, myself included, to the unfolding story of ongoing cover ups by bishops and diocesan staff of sexual abuse by priests, which seems to get worse every day – partly in the lack of concrete responses from most of those in authority to the actual revelations of abuse and their cover ups, and partly in its devolution into a proxy battle for settling personal and ideological scores between conservative and progressive camps within the Church.

On the one hand, there is a temptation to ignore it all. Truthfully, the life of the Church is lived locally, and as awful as all this is, worship goes on, faith formation continues, service to those in need still happens, and as parishioners, this is where we really encounter our faith and our Church. So those who aren’t big on following the news don’t know much about the charges and counter-charges and even those of us who are aware can find it easier to act as if we don’t.

On the other hand, there is a temptation to get sucked into the vortex of anger, blame and animosity in ways that feed our sense of righteousness but aren’t directed toward resolving these issues and end up instead pulling us farther from the source of our faith, hope and love.

I am trying to surf the middle ground between helpless apathy and pointless rage. And here are the things that have been my guidestars; I encourage you to consider them as well.

1. Double down on the actual practice of faith. It has been so inspiring to see many – both personal friends and public figures – responding to this awfulness by saying they are recommitting themselves to the essential elements of their Catholic faith. In essence, if the leaders of this institution are corrupt and have lost the centrality of the way of holiness through love of God and love of neighbor, than it’s a reminder to the rest of us to be all the more diligent in our pursuit of holiness. Whether you think of living your faith as a mix of prayer/study/action or a combination of worship/discipleship/community/service/witness or just applying a core focus on loving God, loving the people God puts in your way, and using what God gives you for Him, focusing on making yourself the best possible version of yourself is both key to preparing you to rebuild the Church and the only worthy goal to begin with. One way we risk “burning up” is by failing to look for ways of engaging that start with prayer and worship and end in an increase of the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – not only for you as an individual but for the Church as a whole.
2. Do what you can do. If we focus only on cultivating our own garden of faith, nothing will ever change, and the future of the Church “freezes.” In the search to stay up to date, I have found myself getting buried in a morass of scapegoating, palace politics, and abstract online rage; thus the reminder to double down on the faith. But the Church has faced this sort of institutional rot before, and people stepped up to address it. People like Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena. So what can Fred from Anytown do? Contact your bishop. Contact your diocese. Contact your pastor. Ask questions. Raise your concerns. Share your ideas. Tell your friends to do the same.  The key, I think, is in focusing your attention on those who can actually make changes to the way the Church operates, at the level where you can make a difference. I could be wrong, but I don’t expect the pope to listen to me, nor the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. But my bishop? It’s not unreasonable to expect a fair hearing in my own diocese.

Don’t stop praying, but don’t stop pushing, either.