Homily

No doubt you have heard news about the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report which was released to the public last week. It talks about the sexual abuse of hundreds of children over the past 70 years by priests and bishops of a number of dioceses in Pennsylvania. Some of these incidents have been reported before to the public but others were not. New details were made known about some of the bishops who tried to cover up or ignore the crimes of priests and sometimes their own crimes as well. It’s a sad, disgusting and demoralizing report. It’s no surprise that dozens and dozens of articles have been written about the causes of these crimes and about why, so often, nothing was done to the offenders and the guilty often were not punished. Others have written about why there was a cover-up and who is responsible for direct involvement in all these things. Time will show us what those in authority intended to do with these bishops and priests who are still alive and have not yet answered for their crimes.

There is a huge amount of speculation about how such things can happen and many reasons suggested by the report as to why the situation festered for so long and in so many places in Pennsylvania. But there is one cause underneath all of the other reasons suggested by the report as to why such abuse took place and I have not heard many people mention it so far. The foundational cause of these crimes committed by priests and bishops comes from the denial of sin, and this denial of sin comes from a corrupted faith in God. It is obvious from news reports that many of these clergy did not even believe they were doing anything wrong, while others gave themselves a pass to commit sin freely, and often not just once or twice but over and over again. And we find those in charge also looking the other way, not bringing sinners to justice and repentance in Christ, as it was their duty to do so. Instead they allowed them to continue on in their terrible sins.

This is one of the great dangers to faith, as I see it, that has come on the scene of Christian life especially in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Old and respected rules about right living and moral behavior started to come under attack, along with the Church that upheld those rules and claimed those rules were given to us by Christ. The teaching of the world was all about individual freedom, the importance of following your own understanding of right and wrong, even if it went against the good of the family, even if it went against the teaching of the Church. People were encouraged to “do your own thing” and not worry about what other people thought because their objections were simply the result of their “hang-ups,” their inability to be as free as a normal person should want to be.

Is it a surprise that “doing your own thing” was never about rising to a higher morality, a more virtuous life? It was almost always a call to see yourself as separated from family and Church, even if what you wanted to do and how you wanted to live went against the good of family and the teaching of Christ. You should be able to decide for yourself what is sinful or not. You don’t need anyone to tell you what is right and wrong. So then, is it any surprise that people judged themselves as “not guilty” and went even so far as to try and make sin look like normal living and even as virtue. We don’t need to look far to see how that attitude has thoroughly infected our country.

When priests and bishops adopt this manner of thinking there should be no surprise that their own sins will not be seen as doing evil but just another aspect of their personal lives. And what a terrible evil can come from that! Not only do they give themselves a pass, they clear the way for themselves to keep repeating the same things over and over again with no sense of guilt or shame. They deny the sin. No problem! And if there is no sin then why should they consider the idea that they are harming the psyches and souls of children, or even adults? And if they deny their own sins why would they denounce such actions as sins to their congregations. Why even talk about sin at all? That would make them hypocrites.

We all understand that priests are sinners, “of whom I am the first.” But when priests and bishops sin in such terrible ways, with no repentance, no reform of life, no confession of guilt, then surely, they corrupt their relationship with God and are unfit to lead the faithful as shepherds. They abandon their calling and become wolves among the sheep, unable to support those entrusted to their care and even endangering the spiritual lives of those in their charge. To deny sin is to deny the teaching of Christ, and to deny the teaching of Christ is to deny the Lord Himself. So, this is, for me, the foundational evil that underlies all of this clerical abuse. Denial of sin leads to the denial of Christ, which leads to the death of the soul and untold damage to others.

Yet, even today, I want to say this is not true just for clergymen, it also something we must examine for our own lives. I think of how the Faith is slowly but surely growing weaker and weaker in our country. It is not because people directly reject Christ. Often they have very little understanding of Who Christ is. But if they reject or deny the moral teaching of Christ, in effect they also reject Christ. If they reject Christ, even indirectly by rejecting moral truth, they also reject His Church.

So do we see ourselves as genuine, authentic and real sinners, or do we see ourselves as truly good people who, maybe, sometimes, once or twice a year, make a little mistake. Because if that’s the case, we’re really not in much need of the Lord’s mercy and certainly not in need of repentance and confession. So Christ as Savior will not carry a whole lot of importance for us, the mostly-sinless-ones that we are. If that’s the case then why struggle to grow in virtue? We have enough virtue to live on right now. And if others threaten us one way or another when we do speak out about sin maybe it’s better just to keep quiet and skip that aggravation. “Who are am I to judge?”

That my dear friends is how scandals and terrible sin can enter into the ranks of the clergy, but also into every other aspect of the society we live in. I am not proud to be a sinner, but I need to remind myself of that truth all the time, even here at Liturgy, where I pray to the Lord, each time, before the Great Entrance, “Look upon me Your sinful and unworthy servant and cleanse my heart and soul of the evil that lies on my conscience.”

The denial of sin opens the door for evil. The denial of my own sinfulness cripples my soul. Only the mercy of Jesus Christ brings peace and healing and only sinners know they need that mercy. May we confess that we are indeed sinners, and as sinners let us confess here, and in our daily prayers, and from time to time in the Mystery of Penance, and let us allow the Lord then to draw us closer and closer into His divine life.