Staying, Leaving?

[halogirl]

It happens all over the world. Here in the UK we have abuse too. One of my most faithful friends (as in her total devotion to the church) was really shaken when she found out that the priest who baptised her son turned out to be a pedophile. She keeps going and has been an inspiration to me. Don’t give up!!

 

[AveOTheotokos]

Where else would we go? Jesus has the words of eternal life.

John 6:63-71

63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But there are some of you that do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him.
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.
67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life;
69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”
71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.

Many cannot accept and follow the hard teachings of Christ. Even one of His the twelve he selected would betray Him.

Despite this, Jesus built His Church and made Peter the steward.

Matthew 16:15-19

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

 

[AveOTheotokos]

Even though even Peter came to deny Christ, Jesus still left the care of His flock to him:

John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
16 A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.”
19 (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus asked Peter 3 times, changing His wording from agape to philios because He knows our weakness, and meets us where we are at. Jesus knew that men would never be perfect, yet He still chose to entrust His Church to them. We must trust the Holy Spirit.

This is the one true Church, and we must not leave, we must lead.

Our leaders must take a genuine stand, and must root out the evils in the Church; we don’t need virtue signalling, we need true virtue. The Justice of the Lord will not be escaped by them if they do not take a stand and eradicate this scandal:

Jeremiah 23:1-4

1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD.
2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: "You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD.
3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the LORD.

 

[JanetF]

Actually, in the US, things have changed dramatically since the publication of the John Jay Report. We need to take a beat and look at the data:

CNN

‘How could this happen again?’ Why this Catholic abuse scandal seems worse than…​

If the Catholic sexual abuse scandal that came to light in 2002 slowly unspooled through news reports, Pennsylvania’s grand jury report landed like an atom bomb, dropping its online horrors all at once.

“By finding almost no cases after 2002, the grand jury’s conclusions are consistent with previous studies showing that Catholic Church reforms in the United States drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child abuse,” Greg Burke, director of the Vatican’s press office, said Thursday.

Which is why if I didn’t leave after the scandal first came to light, why would l leave every time it comes up again in the press. These are not new allegations.

Don’t leave the church when things get tough, instead LEAD the Church when things get tough.

 

[PennyinCanada]

If these scandals were about football coaches and administrators, would anyone even ask the question? Would anyone say I am not going to a football game again, or watch it on tv? Evil men recognized an opportunity to gain access to vulnerable young adults and teens and they came in like wolves in sheep’s clothing to deceive the faithful. Plus, they helped other predators to find their way in.

This does not change the fact that I have a mission here during my earthly life, and I will continue receiving the sacraments and moving forward. Jesus is my Lord, my joy and my salvation. I don’t look to men or princes, but I fix my eyes on the Lord.

Peter had his eyes on the Lord in a storm. Jesus was walking on water and Peter said, Lord if that is you, call me to come to you! Then he saw the wind and the waves and doubted. Many of us in the church can see the wind and waves around us. Fix your eyes on the Lord and move forward with your mission.

 

[EricF]

Jesus founded this Church. He knew it was to be populated, and even staffed, by sinners. I am a sinner. In His Church I will remain.

 

[bullish1]

I am staying. I too am in a good parish, good diocese, and Great Church, albeit it some horrible and wicked leaders within it. But, my wallet is closed to any more money for the church. I know of no other way to get the message to the Church hierarchy.

 

[Nelka]

Will it get worse over the years so everyone hate us more and more?

 

[sudy]

Will it get worse over the years so everyone hate us more and more?

It’s hard to say… we’re suppose to get the full number of gentiles and then the Jews converting… and then we’re meant to get smaller… almost non-existent. Then again, I’ve heard we get smaller first, too… so your guess is as good as ours.

Staying. See John 6:68.

This! ^^

 

[causer00000]

I will stay till I die, with confidence that it’s the True Church of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who was tortured beyond our understanding and was crucified for my sins, our sins… The devil will continue his attacks, no doubt about that, and I will continue to pray, hope, and love. Sure it’s hard to hear of these evils, but it just reinforces my faith that it is the True Church, the one the devil despises and wants to destroy.

God bless.

 

[sudy]

it just reinforces my faith that it is the True Church

True, it’s clearly not man-made

 

[gracepoole]

If these scandals were about football coaches and administrators, would anyone even ask the question? Would anyone say I am not going to a football game again, or watch it on tv? Evil men recognized an opportunity to gain access to vulnerable young adults and teens and they came in like wolves in sheep’s clothing to deceive the faithful. Plus, they helped other predators to find their way in.

This does not change the fact that I have a mission here during my earthly life, and I will continue receiving the sacraments and moving forward. Jesus is my Lord, my joy and my salvation. I don’t look to men or princes, but I fix my eyes on the Lord.

Peter had his eyes on the Lord in a storm. Jesus was walking on water and Peter said, Lord if that is you, call me to come to you! Then he saw the wind and the waves and doubted. Many of us in the church can see the wind and waves around us. Fix your eyes on the Lord and move forward with your mission.

I understand what you’re saying and am staying.

But I did stop watching football when I realized the NFL has been abusing its players and denying them medical care for injuries sustained while playing…

 

[PeterT]

I used to feel like priests were so far above everyone else but now I feel like they’re nothing special, at best, and not to be trusted, at worst.

Priests are special in this very important way: they’ve been called by God to be his concentrated priests and therefore are able to administer the most special sacraments given to the Church by God.

But other than that, they don’t automatically have any greater sense of holiness or virture than the laity or other religious of the church at large. They have their faults and shortcomings like the rest of us. It’s important not to put priests on a pedestal. Always be respectful towards them because of the office they hold, but remember — that in most ways — they’re really just like the rest of us: the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

[kill051]

it is the True Church, the one the devil despises and wants to destroy.

This is an excellent point, and one that, in our distress, is easy to forget. All of the abuses: the rapes, the molestations, the subculture of homosexuality, the active cover-ups by the Church hierarchy, all of these things have been inspired by Hell for the sole purpose of destroying the Church from within by causing the faithful to despair and leave Her. Satan is playing us like a violin. To those who are leaving: you have played right into Satan’s hands and given him the exact result for which he was hoping. To those who are staying but withdrawing financial support: you too are handing Satan a victory, just in a more roundabout way. And to those devout faithful who are redoubling their strong support of the Church: you are fighting the good fight, and I am certain Christ and Our Lady are regarding you with special affection at this very moment. Viva Cristo Rey!

 

[Donkey]

Already and for so long we have had a great ‘schism’ . The division is so large. Naturally, I am staying with the True Church and not the strange ape the other half has become.
I’ve lost so many relatives and friends to the ape.
“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” Luke 8:21

 

[Drisya]

There’s a lot going on in my state which could easily bring down anyones faith…but when we really think about it…it’s only between you and Jesus…and Jesus is as pure as gold so definitely STAYING

 

[Hope1960]

They have their faults and shortcomings like the rest of us. It’s important not to put priests on a pedestal.

I always have put them up on a pedestal.

 

[Nichole]

As I have said before, my faith is in Jesus Christ and his church, not in a single man, and what I went through as a victim myself didn’t shake it. If anything oddly enough, it increased it.

 

[Calliope]

agreed. Boycotting IS a thing. People vote with their feet and dollars all the time and I regularly make decisions about the businesses etc I will and won’t support or avail myself of based on ethics.

I am not advocating anyone leave the faith, but to claim that if this happened in another institution people wouldn’t bow out is simply NOT true. I’ve left organizations for things like this and things much less serious.

 

[njlisa]

I grew up in a Protestant denomination that had Communion twice a year. In my Twenties, I no longer attended church. But yearned for something else. God was calling me. At a friend’s Passover seder, it all came together. After we broke the unleavened bread and drank the wine, I knew I wanted to be a Catholic. It took me a few years to make the jump. I attended Mass (without receiving Communion). But something about the consecration and wine touched me so deeply that I would often tear up. When I moved to New Jersey, I decided to make the leap. At age of 29, I was received into the Church at the Easter Vigil of 1990.

I’m now 57. I traveled so far to find the Church I had yearned for – without even knowing it. I could never divorce myself from the Catholic Church.