Holy Wednesday

I just finished reading two pieces from my daily round of the blogs, and combined they offer a way forward in this Holy Week of woes. The woes, mind you, come from outside the church as well as within. We all still grieve about  crimes committed by priests. Though, as context, when I was a protestant pastor, our national office had a desk piled high with accusations of similar crimes. No church of any stripe has been immune from abusive clergy.  But to have  the attention of the national media so intently focused on the Catholic Church , and the Murphy case, while being at the same time uninformed regarding facts and procedures, is  unbearably sad.  Mostly it is sad because the souls of these writers seem to be separated from a loving God and a beautiful church. A church which could take them and enfold them in her arms and give them lives of grace instead of lives of hate. Sad too because of the souls who read their words and are then discouraged from drawing nearer to the redemption and glory found in our church.

That is why these two pieces, combined, offer a corrective, a balance and the wings of hope for us as we journey toward the cross.

First, linked by Whispers, some writing from Thea Bowman.

Then, a calm instructive piece written by Jimmy Aiken which clarifies all the misunderstandings contained in the NYT articles.

Read them both and then  go forward toward  the glory of the Triduum.