Posted August 14, 2018
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Thank you for being your strong, truthful self. All of this must be brought to the light. Am I leaving? Lord to whom shall I go? I have met so many wonderful and holy priests who have helped me to know Jesus and to surrender my life to Him. Thank you for the gift of your priesthood. May God continue to bless you as you work to bring many souls to Him who loves us with a love we cannot fully comprehend.
As always you are right on point. It’s very sad that we spend our time on fundraising and image and the old, those sick and without resources are ignored. Then we kept hearing about empty seats in church. As someone who chose to be Catholic as an adult it becomes hard on occasion to “keep the Faith”. No that’s not true … my faith is strong … it’s my belief in the leaders of my church I sometimes have difficulty with.
Father Matt, allow me to say Thank God for you and ALL of our dear Lord Jesus’ true, honorable, loving, holy priests. I was a parishioner at St. Joseph’s in Downingtown when you were there. Everything that has happened has caused much sadness, anger, pain but because of our “good” priests, whom we need very much, I am choosing to focus on our Lord Jesus Christ who loves us unconditionally. I know our dear Mother Mary will hold our hands and we will get through all of this. It is going to take time. All covering up must end completely! You are so right that truth will set us all free and that is with every aspect of any wrong doing that has taken place in the catholic church. Honest communication has to take place. May God Bless you and all the good priests. May God give strength and peace to all the victims of those who have been abused. I ask all our fellow Catholics to pray – prayer is our greatest weapon against all evil. St. MIchael the Archangel protect us!
Amen, Father Matt! There is a culture and it must end now. I am disgusted and it makes me sick to hear so many children have been subjected to such atrocities. I have had so many wonderful priests in my life, priests as pastors and priests as employers: Msgr. Cavalucci, Msgr. O’Donnell, Father McDevitt, Father Frank McKee, Father Sabatini, Father Lewandowski, Father Citino, Father Joe Watson, Father Walter Benn and many more. I have been blessed. I wish I could say the same thing for these innocent victims. This is horrible for the good priests of this Archdiocese and throughout the world. it’s demoralizing for all of us. Change starts at the top! Don’t be afraid to clean house!
I produced this audio on Monday and Tuesday of this week, prior to the release of the Grand Jury Report. I would like to add to this podcast the following message:
To the victims of clergy sex abuse, I am so sorry priests abused you. The pain you’ve endured has been intensified by the covering up by our hierarchy.
There is a culture problem within the Catholic priesthood and it begins at the top. I BEG the bishops, as successors to the Apostles, to stop being concerned with all other issues (abortion, immigration, marriage, fundraising, etc.) and focus on one issue – reforming the clerical culture within the Catholic Church. And that includes me.
This will bring about great poverty. This will lead to rejection. We will be mocked and ridiculed. There will be horrible suffering.
But this is the way of the Gospel.
Poverty? Jesus was born in a manger.
Rejection? Jesus was called a madman.
Mockery and Ridicule? Jesus was spit upon.
Suffering? Jesus was crucified.
There is only ONE way out of this – truth. It is the only thing that can set us free and end this nightmare.
If we continue to opine on other subjects while ignoring the proverbial elephant in the room, we are fools….and not for the sake of Christ.
Saint Maria Goretti, pray for us!