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#33
06-27-2010, 11:01 AM
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Quote:
As much as I agree these bas trds belong in the same state owned 2 person condos that all found guilty defendants should get which includes the poetic justice of roommates who have their own idea about the practice of daily intimacies on the cell block, I have to bring these pastoral issues back to a personal place that helped me remain somewhat with a christian heart despite being surrounded by the toxic human flaws of some individuals in the priesthood for most of my childhood and teen years. My parents "split up" when I was 7 years of age and the youngest of 5 kids, shortly thereafter my mother began what would be a 30 year supposed secret affair with a local pastor of a nearby Catholic church. The pain and shame this caused cannot be adequately quantified as my siblings and I living in a small densely Catholic community watched the years pass as the confusion and anger this forced relationship caused my brothers and sisters continued to esculate despite our protest. As numerous other clergy continued to treat this relationship as a normal marriage, neighbors grew more vocal while these clergy continued to increase in number with new women of favor. A room full of priests, booze and their women was an unnatural but common weekend gathering for me growing up. My father, who would raise me in my teen years, complained bitterly for years to Catholic leadership in Boston without acknowledgment or progress toward removing this priest from our home of multiple small children. Leaving out any further description of the atrocities of those years it comes down to this........ I didn't write this here with the intention of discussing the merits of my religion vs any other version of Christianity or to contrast completely different faiths with Catholic teachings for that matter so I'll skip the why's of my practice of faith. I write this to address how I got past this insanity. I remain a Catholic man who has raised his children in the church practicing a life that is based essentially on the 10 rules. I attend mass, look forward to celebratory holidays of the faith and teach my version of CCD to get kids ready for confirmation. I do so because I enjoy the practice of my faith while getting continued strength from it. I cannot let the sickness of the "few" though unfortunately I admit that in some situations the growing numbers of priestly misconduct is far too many to accept, complete with the disgusting human flaws of sexual abuse, greed and seeming complete disregard for all moral and civil laws. These acts cannot be tolerated or unpunished. To leave the church in response to my unfortunate circumstance is to keep myself and my family from what is right about the essence of living ones life according to the principles of Christ's teachings. So I choose not to leave the faith and give in to the walking filth of these character deficient men who pray on the weak while seemingly living above the law. I refuse to grant them "understanding" for their voluntary choices of celibacy and supposed life of poverty because it's hard or uncomfortable. If you make these choices and take a stand intended to last a lifetime then live with it or get out of the church as leadership. Separating human flaws from criminal behavior took awhile in my house, the faith that remained was a gift. The gifts these social, civil and moral criminals deserve have been earned of their own choices. To ignore the choices of these men and their consequences deserved is contributing to the problem. Removal of those not worthy from the church while sentencing those found guilty is the only way the faith can heal. I don't ignore the past but I choose not to let it dominate the future. Let justice remain blind but consistently delivered in every way for everyone.....I like the 2 horse in the first at Arlington today. 
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