Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18 / Ephesians 5:21-32 / John 6:60-69
One of the things that make human beings unique from the rest of the other creatures is that we have logic and we also have emotions. In other words, we are rational as well as emotional.
Although we are rational and emotional beings, the relationship between logic and emotions are often inversely proportional. In other words, if we handle a situation logically, we are less likely to be affected emotionally. But when emotions run high, the logic goes way down and we can act illogically.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean that what is cut and dry logical is devoid of anything emotional. An example could be this:
Wife: I have a bag full of used clothing that I would like to donate.
Husband: Why not just throw in the trash? That would be much easier.
Wife: But there are poor starving people who could really use all the clothing.
Husband: Look, anyone who can fit into your clothes is not starving.
(Husband is recovering from a head injury)
The conversation was logical and rational but somewhere emotions got involved. Now if something that is logical and rational can trigger the emotions, then something that is illogical and irrational will all the more disturb our emotions.
Not everyone is that logical and rational all the time, but everyone has emotions. In fact, our primary emotions can be put into the acronym H.A.S: Happy, Angry, Sad.
So, everyone HAS emotions.
And these emotions are stirred especially when we are confronted with something illogical and irrational.
And as we read the gospel, that is what seems to come across between Jesus and His listeners.
Jesus had been saying that He is the bread of life and that the bread He gives is His flesh for the life of the world.
His listeners began asking questions like: How can this man gives us his flesh to eat? They were not amused by it, on the contrary, they were confused by it and even angered by it and hence they said: This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?
Jesus was aware of it, but instead of quelling and resolving the situation, He prodded His listeners further with a provoking question: Does this upset you?
And in the end, many of His disciples left Him and stop going out with Him. They were certainly not happy with His intolerable language. They were angry and sad that it had to come to such an end.
If such intolerable language could cause such an upset, we can imagine the consequence of intolerable actions and behaviour.
Well, actually, there is no need to imagine. The recent reports of abuse by the clergy in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, USA has left many bitter, upset and angry.
It came out at a time when we thought that everything was flushed out and healing and reconciliation can begin, and then came this report. Is there any more reason needed to leave the Church?
Not only are the people of God hurt by what was stated in the report, the members of the clergy are also hurt, just that they can’t say or do anything about it and neither can they leave the Church although it is not impossible to do so.
But recently one priest wrote about his feelings and reflections about the repercussions of the reports and the following are excerpts from what Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas wrote:
Every morning when I put my collar on I pray for a deeper awareness of the great responsibility and magnitude of what it represents. I am aware of my sinfulness and unworthiness to even touch it. Some days more than others it should probably burn me.
Having been a high school and college student when the scandal first broke in the Northeast, I probably should have questioned my sanity on why I would move forward with a response of “yes.” Nonetheless, I knew the constant scrutiny and the shadow that would be cast. I knew firsthand the eyes of suspicion that would follow from the moment the title “Father” would be used. I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
As each year passed from the first initial reports, I felt as though healing had begun and the Church could move forward learning from the past and focusing on transmitting the light of Christ in a new way.
This week I have been walking around with a heavy heart. I have been completely angry and frustrated as a result of the Pennsylvania abuse reports and the McCarrick situation. My continual prayer has been with the victims. These feelings of disappointment and sadness have brought a feeling of paralysis. My honest questioning of “why stick around” has run through my head.
As each news story continues, my heart is torn more apart as I hear about the pain that was perpetrated. As a result of grave sin, the collar has become the complete opposite of what it is supposed to represent. As I walked around with the collar today, I wondered how many people had been keeping up-to-date with it all. How many people would glance at my collar and simply wonder, “Is this one too?”
This morning, I didn’t want to put my collar on. I was ashamed. I was tired. I was angry. I didn’t want to be painted with the same brush that it has now come to represent.
This morning, as I visited sick parishioners in the hospital, I walked by a room with a woman standing outside. As I continued to the elevator, she came from behind, asking if I was a Catholic priest. I was ready to take the hit... but as I turned and said “Yes,” with tears in her eyes, she asked if I would anoint her 50-something-year-old brother who was actively dying with cancer. No matter what I have thought about the collar these past few days, she saw it as a sign of hope and the presence of Christ. If I decided not to wear it, her brother would not have received the Sacrament he needed and her entire family might not have experienced a sense of comfort in Christ as we gathered in prayer around him.
The collar is not about me. It is about Jesus Christ. It is about us remembering that we are not journeying alone while in this world. Again, I am certainly unworthy to wear it, but I realize I’m called to wear it not for myself, but for the sake of others. As I put it on, I now must remember that I must fight harder and stronger to grow continually into a holy priest of God, being a bridge and not an obstacle.
Just some excerpts from Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas about how the scandal had affected the Church and him.
Yes what had happened was intolerable, we are upset, angry and sad. Is there any more reason to continue to stay with the Church?
We have logic and emotions, and with that we have to make decisions.
For Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas, he decided to stay. For Joshua in the 1st reading, and for Peter and the rest of the Twelve, they too decided to stay.
As for us, we know that the Church is not perfect, from the clergy to those in ministry, right down to the ordinary laity.
Yes, we know all that, we can even feel all that. But in the end, what is our decision?
Let us believe that the message of salvation and eternal life are still proclaimed by the Church, and let us stay on in the mission of healing and reconciliation.