Thursday, 4/30/15
Our first reading gives us an account of Paul’s words to the
Jewish community in Antioch. He introduced Jesus to them by showing them that Jesus
was not apposed to their beloved traditions, but rather, that their old
traditions led up to Jesus.
That story might have you think about how, as old time
Catholics, we don’t like being told about new ways in our religion. I was just
reading a magazine story about a priest friend of mine who got into big trouble
by sticking to old ways.
When I’d visit with my sister in St. Louis, I often went to
Mass, sitting in her pew with her. The priest, Father Bob Finn, used to say
that to uphold the dignity of our priesthood I should be on the altar, not out
in the pews like a layman. I didn’t like differing from him, because he was a
highly respected young priest.
Bob got to be bishop of Kansas City, where he championed the
Church’s old way of doing things. When he got word that one of his priests had
been molesting children, he was saddened deeply, but he didn’t was to make the
matter public. Our seminary training had repeatedly told us “we don’t wash our
dirty linen in public.”
One of our great saints, Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of
Canterbury, had been feuding with King Henry II who wanted priests to be tried
by the civil law. When Thomas a Becket would not give in to that, King Henry
had him cut down at the altar.
Bishop Finn was deeply saddened by the abuse the children
suffered from one of his priests, but in the tradition of St. Thomas a Becket, he
protected the offending priest by
transferring him to another parish. That freed the priest to repeat his crime.
There have been centuries when priests were like nobility
who were above the law. Pope Francis, by accepting Bob Finn’s resignation as
bishop of Kansas City, signaled us that we do wrong by following any ancient
customs that put anyone above the law.
No comments:
Post a Comment