As all the news is breaking today, some of it old, some new, a friend posted a link on my Facebook page and asked me if I had heard about it…

“Lay woman’s saga illustrates clerical sexual abuse of adults”

Yes. Lived through it not only as a rape survivor, but as seeing the fallout from when it takes place in the church. I do share in this woman’s sufferings. The hardest part is trying to explain it all to my children who knew him, who also received the sacraments from him. I didn’t and still don’t need to know the details.  He was removed and our LORD remains.

The days that followed after we met our FORMER pastor, my daughters handed him a gift. It was a gift of Sacred Heart purificators and a corporal. I told him, it was a gift to my children’s Shepherd.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, as I was helping our Sacristan, I had noticed they were still there, in the Sacristy, feet away from the Tabernacle to be used. As I ponder this gift, I come to understand that it was and is, a gift to our true Shepherd. Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lets go deeper. My parish, my priest. No matter the location, no matter the Priest, we are all in this together, as you parish, is my parish. Your Priest is my priest. That is our Lord. “Persona Christi”. The Church is our spiritual home.

I forgave him a long time ago in my heart, but some who have never heard, don’t know that the exposing of all this, is best for all of us. Its truly a cleansing we must not be embarrassed about, but rather take and understand that as our Lord said, unless a gran of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. Change for the better comes through death of the old self, and rebirth of the new. No fears of what will the neighbors say. But rather understanding that the neighbors too, one day will have to come to grips with it also. This exposing of abuse is GOOD NEWS.

No matter what may come, our Lord has already prevailed. Cling to Him.