Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 425

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

Some well-meaning Christians have tried to find an end-around Jesus' words with a churchless spirituality. If certain "scribes and Pharisees" lock the Kingdom of heaven before men, not allowing them entrance, then they'll create a religion that works outside of human mediation and human interference. People might come to the Lord directly and spiritually. They can eschew all Christian traditions as well, since every human tradition is tainted with Original Sin. They would deliver the Gospel to the world without the vessels of clay that carry it.

The Spirit of God, however, doesn't work that way.

Our Catholic tradition, remembering a long history of betrayal, corruption, and infidelity, still teaches the necessity of human acts like Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Penance, Ordination, and the Sacrament of the Sick. We still invite everyone to join the Communion of the Saints, even as we recall the egregious behavior of some of our greatest saints.

I met a young naif recently who has a sincere interest in Christian religion but is schooled only in the vague notions of a formerly Christian culture. He said he had read up on "King James," of "King James Bible" fame, and discovered he was a rather seedy character. I had to tell him that, while Catholics are not enamored of the KJV, the name is only incidental to the book. There is a world of inspiration in its pages.

But I also assured him, "The Bible is the handbook of the Church." You can no more understand the Bible without joining the Church than you can understand a driver's manual without driving a car. What would be the point of reading it? Good stories? Great literature? Lovely poetry? Yes a good translation has all those qualities but without the context of Church they are only legends. They might have come from another planet in a distant solar system. You can read the Kama Sutra or Egyptian Book of the Dead and find equal inspiration.

There is no end-around the Church and its graced institutions. The blessings of the Gospel come through human contacts; and Jesus' curses remain upon the Church -- its clergy and laity -- when they block entrance to those trying to enter the Kingdom of heaven. These wretched persons cannot suppose the gospel might yet find its way to their victims. Rather, they bear eternal responsibility for their crimes and their consequences.

Many of us in the Roman Catholic Church are undergoing intense soul searching as we discover the roots of the priest pedophilia scandal. It is not sufficient to say, "It's original sin." We must look at our use of alcohol and television. We must examine our seminary systems and the assumptions that shaped our educational and formational models. We study our attitudes toward children, women, minorities, and non-European cultures. We ponder the homes in which we were raised, especially discovering their histories of emotional, physical, chemical, and sexual abuse.

We take to heart the accusation that this abuse is "systemic" and study ways to counter its influence. If power corrupts, how can the corruption be identified and purged? We beg God to reveal our hidden sins before they are shouted from the rooftops.

We must try to atone for our sins and the sins of our communal past; even as we know only God can fully repair -- make reparation -- for our crimes. We must welcome this discipline, as painful as it is for everyone involved. For it is the punishing hand of God, who is merciful.