Where I’m Turning in the Face of the Church’s Crisis
Not the most eloquent person ever, in text or spoken words, my prayers are often even less. I’m prone to rely upon the Blessed Mother’s intercession while sprinkling dozens of Hail Mary’s throughout my day, as well as calling upon the Holy Spirit to simply and quickly “come!” with haste.
Lord, make haste to help me. Come, Holy Spirit. Jesus. Please.
And in the last week? I’ve been speechless. Fuming. Sad. Angry. Confused. Disgusted. Sad. Speechless in prayer.
To be quite honest, I won’t be one bit surprised if my child already struggling to own her faith doesn’t want to have anything to do with church when she’s left our home and chooses for herself whether or not she attends on the weekends. Without being grounded in the Eucharist and believing to my core that Christ has already and will continue to triumph over this sick evil, I might be walking away.
But I can’t. I won’t. It might be easier in the world’s eye to turn away and cut ties with the disaster unfolding, but God is greater than this mess and I’m turning to Him and my core beliefs. I’m turning to the Word and prayer.
I believe in all the Creed professes,
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.
And yes I still believe in the Church, the holy Catholic Church. There is no Church without Christ, and I believe first of all in Him.
Christ who died for our sins, every single awful sin. Every sin.
Christ who rose again and defeated sin and death. Evil cannot win. Ever.
I believe in Christ who asked His friends to stay with Him, to pray during His agony. This is agony, and He’s asking us to stay with Him. Now. In America.
I believe in Christ who said “whatever you do to the least of these, you do to Me“, and right now, among the “least of these”, those in need, are our sisters and brothers who suffered abuse and need us on their side, to pray for them, to fight for better for them and for all children, to fight for the truth to be uncovered and the Church to be made new.
I believe in Christ who wept. Jesus wept. We weep now, mourn the atrocities committed, and mourn the lingering pain.
I believe in my Baptism and Confirmation, which marked me as a Daughter of God and gave me (and you and all Catholics) a special call, a mission, a part to play in the fight against evil.
I believe I’m called to be a saint. And I believe you are called to be a saint.
I believe the stories we love to suffer with during each Lent, and I strongly believe that now we’re called in a new way to take up the cross, to weep alongside Mary with her Son, to remain with Him and be steadfast as John and Mary were at the foot of the cross.
I believe evil is real and rampant and trying to tear down our beloved Church.
I believe we are the Body of Christ and we must act as Christ and be holy. Be Holy, as Christ is Holy.
as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,for it is written, “Be holy because I [am] holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
Saint Joan of Arc famously is alleged to have said, “I am not afraid, I was born to do this.” Saint Catherine of Siena wrote to Pope Gregory XI time and time again, calling him to courage and holiness (and it worked). . .
“…you must sleep no longer, but wake up and raise that standard courageously. . .once the Holy Spirit’s warmth and light had, through holy faith, displaced the chill of unbelief, they would produce the flowers and fruits of virtue in the mystic body of holy Church. So by the fragrance of their virtue they would help eliminate the vice and sin, the pride and filth that are rampant among the Christian people—especially among the prelates, pastors, and administrators of holy Church who have turned to eating and devouring souls,[7] not converting them but devouring them! And it all comes from their selfish love for themselves, from which pride is born, and greed and avarice and spiritual and bodily impurity. They see the infernal wolves carrying off their charges and it seems they don’t care. Their care has been absorbed in piling up worldly pleasures and enjoyment, approval and praise. And all this comes from their selfish love for themselves. For if they loved themselves for God instead of selfishly, they would be concerned only about God’s honor and not their own, for their neighbors’ good and not their own self indulgence. . . see that you attend to these things! Look for good virtuous men, and put them in charge of the little sheep. Such men will feed in the mystic body of holy Church not as wolves but as lambs.” (from Letter 74).
From their inspiration (among many other courageous, holy saints), myself and dozens of other women and men are beginning with prayer and action, long-practiced in our faith. As faithful people who love our Lord and our faith, we’re taking up the cross so to speak, and joining together in prayer and fasting. We are making acts of reparation.
We will officially begin on the Queenship of Mary, August 22 (that’s this Wednesday) and continue for 40 days through September, with Our Lady of Sorrows (feast day September 15).
Please consider joining us. Prayer is powerful. Mama Bears raising their hearts in prayer and their voices in letters, calling each other and their families and the clergy to holiness can make a difference. We are all called to holiness and holiness begins with prayer and knowing the Lord intimately. (originally published Aug. 20, 2018)
For more pondering and action, read these posts:
