Today the meeting about the scourge of clerical sexual abuse of minors has concluded in the Vatican. Once again the horrible nature of abuse has been brought into sharp focus and we pray for all those who have been hurt by those who should have known and done better. We are a Church of sinners but the betrayal of so many by the few is hard to take at any stage especially the abuse of the young by clergy and religious. There is so much negativity around at this time as a result of this we forget the good that is going on out there. I have been blessed by the examples of so many good priests over my lifetime who gave everything to serve the people of God and I have also come across those who turned out to be rotten to the core. It is right to condemn those like McCarrick who did wrong and caused so much damage and some of that damage will never be repaired. It is also right to remember the good that is going on quietly in our parishes and dioceses by the great body of good holy and loyal priests and religious who have largely been forgotten as a result of the scandal of abuse in the Church .
This weekend we think about the things the Lord asks us to do in following Him, nothing is more difficult that the teaching in this weekend’s Gospel. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you It is much easier to sacrifice our wants for the needs of others, then it is to avoid lashing out at someone but that is what Jesus is calling us to do. And what does God do besides showing us extraordinary compassion, mercy and patience? What he does is love us. And his love for us is so immense that he makes the greatest of all sacrifices for us by giving for our salvation the life of his own dear Son. What we are talking about then in today’s Gospel is not some ethical system for the good of society or for our own self-interest but something way beyond this. What Jesus gives us is the very principle behind the creation of the universe: God’s infinite love for us all. This is the extraordinary challenge that he lays before us: To love the people around us just as he loves us, just as he loves them. It is not easy and we won’t achieve it often but we know that this is what God wants from us and it is something that deep in our hearts we are glad to do. The way God treats us is to be the guideline for our life as Christians.
God is infinitely compassionate and merciful, he is extraordinarily patient with our many shortcomings and he puts up with all sorts of foolishness on our part. It is our task as a true disciple to imitate our master, to imitate the behaviour of God himself. In the words of Micah this is what God asks of us: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God.
Fullerton T 