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PDF version'The first passion must be for the truth'
by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton on May. 28, 2010
This feast of Pentecost is a feast when we are called to experience great joy, excitement and enthusiasm. We're reminded on this feast of what St. Paul said to the church at Rome: "The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. We are infused, filled with the very love of God because the spirit of God has been poured into our hearts." That's what we celebrate today. This is a day for great celebration, and yet we are living at a time when, for many reasons, I think we don't experience that great joy.
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As we gather together as the church, as God's people, to celebrate this Eucharist, there is a heaviness in our church today that is felt by many, many people. You could know this by the fact that, as I have mentioned before, 10% of the people in the United States are people who have left the Catholic church -- 30 million people. The second largest Christian denomination in our country now are those who used to be Catholic in a practicing way.
That of course does cause us to feel sadness, but then also, as Pope Benedict himself has said very recently, there is a terrible sin in our church. He named it "sin," and that is this terrible scandal that has swept over our whole church, every part of the world. We have experienced it profoundly here in the United States, a scandal because of what happened to children in our church, but a scandal because the leadership of our church has covered it up, has facilitated it even by allowing priests who are perpetrators of this terrible evil to move from one place to another to continue their acts of abuse against innocent children. This is the sin within our church.
We also feel a terrible sadness because of what is happening in so many places in this country and other parts of the world too -- parishes are being closed. Just recently in a nearby diocese, the bishop announced the closing of 52 churches at once this spring. It's happened here in our archdiocese and it happened because we don't have enough priests to staff every parish the way we did before and the leadership in our church, our bishop, refused to begin to bring forth new leadership, the leadership of lay people who could serve as leaders of parishes, men and women trained to be pastoral leaders. It could happen; parishes would not have to be closed.
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So these are just a few of the reasons why we feel this sadness, this heaviness in our church, even on this day of Pentecost, when we should be filled with excitement and enthusiasm. Listen to what happened on Pentecost: the sending of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised at the Last Supper, "I will send to you my spirit, my advocate," and then on Easter Sunday night, he comes to the disciples locked up in a room out of fear. This is the whole community of disciples as it existed at that point and Jesus comes into their midst with a beautiful message, "Peace be with you."
He comes to encourage them, to strengthen them, and then he tells them, "As God has sent me, I send you," giving us his very mission, to spread the love of God, the message of God's love throughout our world. Then he breathes upon them, receive the Holy Spirit, that breath of the spirit Jesus gives to them, and they are enlivened by that spirit and again he says, "Peace be with you." Then he tells them what's going to bring that peace -- when you forgive, forgiveness happens, reconciliation happens, peace happens. That's what the spirit can do.
And Jesus also says when you restrain evil, that evil is restrained through the power of the spirit of Jesus. In our first lesson today, St. Luke describes this whole event of the outpouring of the spirit on the church, the disciples, in a more symbolic way. He draws upon images that to that community, would have been very familiar. The sound of the wind shaking the very building would remind them, because Luke uses the same words as used in the book of Genesis, when God brings a powerful wind over the chaos prior to creation and draws forth the brilliant creation that we now experience, the creation of the whole universe through the power of God's spirit.
Or the same word is used when, in that book of Genesis, the story of creation of humankind is given to us. That human body is formed out of clay but then God's spirit breathes on the form and it becomes a living body, a human person. The power of the spirit, that's what Jesus is giving to the disciples on that Easter Sunday night, or also that symbol of fire -- the tongues coming out upon the disciples. They would have remembered that pillar of fired in the desert that led them from slavery to freedom. They would have remembered the burning bush that showed the presence of God. Here Luke wants us to realize in this fire, is God's spirit. So in that very powerful, symbolic way, Luke tells the same story that John tells in the gospel. Jesus comes to give us the very spirit of God, to give us his spirit so we can go forth and change our world, "As God has sent me, I send you."
But now that's going to happen. We have to enter into this Pentecost. We have to open our hearts to receive the spirit of God, the spirit of Jesus. We have to ready ourselves to be transformed to become the ones who go forth as Jesus did to spread the message of God's love. But at this point, if a new Pentecost is to happen within our church, we must accept our role, all of us who are the church, just like that whole community of disciples received the spirit, received the charge to go and spread the good news. So we are the church, we have to open ourselves, we have to be reformed.
I was reading this past week, a passage in the document on the church from the Vatican Council II, and this document says it so well: "The spirit dwells in the church and in the hearts of the faithful," that's all of us, "as in a temple." The spirit prays in us, bears witness in us to our adoption as sons and daughters of God, and the spirit leads us, the whole church, into all truth and gives it unity and communion and in service. That's what the spirit does according to the Vatican Council, is doing to us this morning as we celebrate this feast of Pentecost.
Then the passage, a little bit further, goes on to say, "The whole company of the faithful," all of us who are believers, who are members of this community of disciples, "who have an anointing by the Holy Spirit, cannot err in faith." "This instinct of faith is awakened and kept in being by the Spirit of truth. Through it the people of God hold indefectibly," that is, they will not lose it, "to the faith once delivered to the saints, penetrate it more deeply by means of right judgment, and apply it more perfectly in their lives."
All of that is enabled to be done by us because as we heard in our second lesson today, Paul explaining to that church at Corinth, that community of disciples like ourselves, how there are the varieties of gifts but the same spirit, and a variety of services but the same Jesus, varieties of activities but the same God, who activates all of them in everyone. We are the church, we must begin to act as the church. To each of us is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good, so even though we are many, Paul says, by that spirit we become one body. We become the body of Jesus Christ. We become his community of disciples, his church.
So we must act as the Vatican Council document guided us, we are the church and we have an anointing by the Holy Spirit. So our voice is important, we cannot err in faith. The instinct of faith is awakened and kept in being by the spirit of truth. And as we hold it indefectibly, penetrated more deeply by means of right judgment, apply it more perfectly in our life, but then this has to spread throughout the whole church. If we were going to make a new Pentecost happen, if we're really going to become enlivened as a church, then we must begin to bring about change in our church today, to overcome this sadness, this pall that hangs over us, so strike off in a renewed direction, the way the first disciples left that upper room and went out into the world. We must demand change in our church.
This past week, I read an editorial in a Catholic magazine published in Great Britain called The Tablet. It's a powerful editorial, a demanding editorial, because it demands of the whole church profound change, the kind of change that all of us who are the church must demand and bring about. The archbishop of Westminster is quoted in the editorial, Archbishop Vincent Nichols. He says, "What has happened was wrong, so now the first passion must be for the truth." He's talking about that terrible scandal, that sin that Benedict says is in our church. It was wrong, so now the passion of our whole church must for the truth. People who are courageous about the truth do us a great service.
So in our church now, from our leadership, every bishop throughout the whole church -- priests, religious, all of us who are the disciples of Jesus -- must be willing to have this passion for truth, bring out the truth, what has happened, and then we must demand change, accountability. Pope Benedict himself has recently said, "Yes, forgiveness must be forthcoming, but that does not preclude justice." Those who perpetrated this sin within our church, those who abused, those who facilitated that abuse, those who covered up that abuse, those who moved perpetrators from one place to another, must be held accountable. That's the kind of reform that has to happen in our church.
That editorial in The Tablet magazine says, "The need for thorough reform is certainly urgent." "As a starting point, in Rome," the editorial says very explicitly, "everyone tarnished by the sex-abuse scandal should be retired." Here the editorial is talking about leadership in the church and then says, "that must include Cardinal Bernard Law, the former archbishop of Boston, who resigned over a sex-abuse scandal. He was shown to have covered up, but then who was moved to Rome as archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Maggiore and also joined several congregations within the curia. The body within the church are the closest advisors to the pope and carry out the pope's work. Pope Benedict can no longer afford to have anyone around him tainted by scandal."
So we have to bring about reform at that level of the church -- the pope and his curia -- there has to be reform there; there has to be reform within our own bishop's conference. Within every diocese in our country we have to have this passion for truth, a willingness to hold people accountable, a willingness to bring about change. This is what the spirit of Jesus dwelling within us is demanding of us today. This being the church does not come easy to any of us, yet if we really open ourselves on this feast of Pentecost to the coming of the Holy Spirit among us, that spirit being poured into us, the love of God poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given to us, if we open ourselves to that, each of us can become the disciple Jesus calls us to be.
All of us together acting with the gifts of the spirit alive within us can be a powerful force for change, that strong wind that brings life and new life, that fire that burns away evil and brings forth light and goodness. This is what can happen to our church and must happen to our church. We must undergo this kind of renewal, a new Pentecost, a new outpouring of the spirit. So as we enter into this Eucharistic liturgy now, enlivened by this word of God, I hope that every one of us will say yes to Jesus when we receive his body and blood at the time of communion. Say yes, pledge ourselves to be a vibrant, courageous, truth-telling, passionate for justice person in our church.
All of us must be that, pray that we will be, so that this Pentecost today will be the beginning for each of us, for our church and parish community, our larger church in the United States, our church throughout the world, that this Pentecost will be the beginning of a new time in our church when all of us will go forth as Jesus sends us to transform our world, bring his message of love, be the witnesses that Jesus calls us to be. This is what must happen, and it will, as we let this feast of Pentecost penetrate into our hearts and carry us back into our world to do the work that God calls us to do as the living witnesses of Jesus.
[This homily was preached at Homily given on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at St. Radegund, Austria.]
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a wonderful and wide ranging
a wonderful and wide ranging reflection from the good bishop, speaking in Austria.
And speaking of Austria, please hear and see Bishop Gumbleton's section in the new DVD Franz Jagerstatter: A Man Of Conscience
Wow strong statement. hope
Wow strong statement. hope the Pope is listening.
Read Jason Berry's "Lead Us
Read Jason Berry's "Lead Us Not Into Temptation", "Vows of Silence"; Donald Cozzens', "Faith That Dares To Speak"," Sacred Silence:Denial and Crisis in the Church"; Muriel Dimen's "Sexuality, Intimacy, Power"; Gary Wills' "Papal Sin:Structures of Deceit"; A.W.Richard Sipe, "Sex, Priests, and Power"; And Mary Gail Frawley O'Dea's " Perversion of Power: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church"; and Thomas Doyle (et al),"Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2000-year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse". Then ask "What Would Jesus Do"? and pray that this Church truly begins to listen to the Holy Spirit. Let the scales be removed and may they be given eyes that see and ears that hear.
Dear Prof. Doris Morgan, Our
Dear Prof. Doris Morgan, Our good Bishop Gumbleton tells us we must seek out the TRUTH. How pray tell do we do this by reading the sources you have expounded? This is a rundown of salicious materials that would not be supported by the HOLY SPIRIT but rather those who throw stones. Yes we are all sinners but then isn't everyone a sinner??
I agree, Tom, everyone is a
I agree, Tom, everyone is a sinner. That's why people write books, to attempt to get us sinners to open our minds and see what we are. I have read nearly all the books mentioned in the post by Dr. Morgan and would never call them "salicious" [sic] or salacious. There can be no objective doubt about the facts of the sexual abuse and its cover-up by the hierarchy when you read all the sworn testimony and authenticated documents.
Bishop Gumbleton, in his discreet manner, was trying to tell you that: we need major REFORM as church if we are ever to get back to the spirit of Jesus. Truth will set us free, if we can only accept it. As this Catholic Church now stands, it is abhorrent. That means cleaning house of those involved in abuse and cover-up: priests, bishops, cardinals and popes; then perhaps the People of God will be free to be true followers of Jesus. As things currently exist, most of those followers of Jesus are going elsewhere in their journey.
The SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS
The SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS SECRECY that is the problem, not the presence of imperfect humans as bishops and pope.
We must have parish elected laity to serve in all committees where Diocesan business is done.
There must be no vows of obedience.
Thank you Bishop Gumbleton
Thank you Bishop Gumbleton for your frank, truthful comment. In fact the layperson has no authority to speak within the Church. In our Archdiocese there have been many forms of abuse and abusive priests have been reported to the Diocesan authorities. Nothing has been done and in fact it has been suggested that the layperson reporting the abuse change parishes. Until the Church hierarchy shares authority with the laity I'm afraid it will be business as usual.
Change is frightening, thus
Change is frightening, thus the reason for the Holy Spirit [a symbol of love-----the opposite of fear]. Let's not get hung up on this latest symptom of grave error [sex scandal/cover-up] in the church. Using a holistic approach, we must dig deeper and find the ROOT of the problem.
"We have to enter into this Pentecost. We have to open our hearts to receive the spirit of God, the spirit of Jesus." That which is opposed to the spirit of Jesus would seem the most likely area to look for that root. The Body of Christ is acutely ill, poisoned by the evil of clericalism, in fundamental opposition to what Jesus was teaching. So, now the church is crippled under this system that doesn't allow for enough ministers in the clerical form. The Holy Spirit is guiding us towards a non-clerical approach for worship and community.
Time for major reform, time to do away with the old, time to be open to the Spirit, time to dump clericalism and get back to the church of Jesus: all-inclusive, non-judgmental, non-elitist, non-clerical, and certainly non-sexist!
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"Pope Benedict himself has
"Pope Benedict himself has said very recently, there is a terrible sin in our church. He named it 'sin,' and that is this terrible scandal that has swept over our whole church, every part of the world."
Question: Who is the one individual responsible for concealing this sin and requiring other shepherds to do the same, under pain of excommunication?"
Dear Bishop Gumbleton, Your
Dear Bishop Gumbleton,
Your words ring true, as always. I'm one of those life-long Catholics, who has become very disillusioned and wary of our Church leadership, including the present Pope. We are taking such a swing to the far right, after the profound and wonderful changes of Vatican II, implemented by one of my heroes, Pope John XXIII. He did open the window and let the laity feel so much more a part of the Church. Now we're going back to stilted language, some newer bishops who have never served in a parish, the ongoing refusal to allow the ordination of women who are called to the priesthood, and deprived because of man-made rules, centuries ago. This is certainly now the Church of Jesus Christ, as far as I'm concerned. I hope the powers-that-be come to recognize this. Another deeply troubling thing is the witch hunt against nuns who do not "toe the party line." They should be listened to and admired for speaking some deep truths.
Thanks, Bobbie
We the laity have received
We the laity have received the Holy Spirit and must now speak SO AS TO BE HEARD IN OUR CHURCH. We must tell our Church leaders that their SYSTEM OF SECRECY ENABLES ABUSES and must be changed. Needed TRUTH and OUSTERS help our healing, but TRANSPARENCY is the insurance against future abuses of all kinds.
TG said in his homily: "So as
TG said in his homily: "So as we enter into this Eucharistic liturgy now, enlivened by this word of God, I hope that every one of us will say yes to Jesus when we receive his body and blood at the time of communion. Say yes, pledge ourselves to be a vibrant, courageous, truth-telling, passionate for justice person in our church." That's a nice ideal, but it is extremely difficult to do in the RCC. Catholics who attempt this are attacked and ultimately ostracized by church leadership and their fellow parishioners. Ask any survivor of sex abuse who has mustered the courage to speak out. It's like walking into a buzz saw. That's one reason why they get lawyers. There are some glowing individual exceptions, but as a group, Roman Catholics can't practice the glowing ideals they hear from their bishops. Justice at this point means indicting priests, bishops, cardinals and higher personalities and standing them in front of a judge for sex crimes against children. The sexually corrupt priesthood/hierarchy is not going to cooperate with that level of truth-telling. Any Catholic who tries to take them on will find themselves victimized very quickly and efficiently.
In Mississippi, dear Bishop,
In Mississippi, dear Bishop, they have Sisters as leaders in some parishes. You may already know that. This was born out of necessity. They are doing a fine job. I was part of this in my younger days. It worked quite well. We had the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours and a communion service during the week. The nearby priest would come for Sunday mass. We had a Scripture class once a week. Catechism for the children when sometimes we had to drive about 17 miles to pick them up because parents were working in the cotton fields and other farms. There is a way, as you stated, and it, too, makes me sad!
In urban areas this may be even easier with more personnell and interested and qualified Laity! As Vatican II has stated the Holy Spirit is with the People of God! But ,I guess, with our free will, we can thwart the work of the Spirit! These are dark days! But you shine like a light among the hierarchy for me! God bless your work and your spiritual strength!
Bishop Gumbleton, Thank
Bishop Gumbleton,
Thank you for speaking the truth. Sadly, the truth is not enough as we know from our savior Jesus life, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, etc.
It takes the courage of one who believes to stand tall and not move from his words and peaceful actions. It takes courage to enlist your brothers and sisters to march, yes march, to the Vatican and demand the complete truth be spoken and those responsible to step aside and seek forgiveness.
Words need to be followed by actions of love of Christ, our redeemer! The children continue to be abused and mislead! " Let the children come! "
I tuly hope you have the courage to match your words.
Your brother in Christ,
Bob Petitti
Braintree, MA
TRUTH IS BEAUTY I have no
TRUTH IS BEAUTY
I have no Doctoral-level degree in theology. Although I certainly hope to some day, if it is "God's will." (And why wouldn't it be?)
Luckily, from all the excellent Catholic education I have been privileged with, as well as voracious reading--and including being open to Zen and Oriental mystical wisdom--by definition: TRUTH=Beauty=PEACE=JUSTICE=Love=God.
That's just part of "God's metaphysical equation" that I have experienced.
In pure logic, in the above equation the nouns should all be perfectly equal, either all in caps or all not in caps.
However for today's Bishop's Peace Pulpit response, the Pentecost focus, I personally know: TRUTH=PEACE=JUSTICE.
Which brings me to the classic, 20 years "old" social justice Catholic television ad: "If you want PEACE work for JUSTICE."
This has always been an exquisitely authentic, naturally ecumenical ad! (Yay social justice Catholics!)
However, man oh man, do we need a lot of Catholic JUSTICE in 2010! If I was a Catholic black person (And maybe I am!) I would be saying, "Lordy! Lordy! Lordy! What is going ON with these poorer parishes being closed? Especially in the INNER CITIES! In Jesus' name, this just is SCANDAL UPON SCANDAL!"
More LOGIC, another equation (a supposition that makes perfect sense):
"Urban jungle"=mission-type "Tropical jungle" (If you have labored long, and hard, in authentic Catholic ministry; you clearly know this preceding statement is a TRUTH.) Nuns have been acting as parish leaders for DECADES in difficult, outlying areas...why, why, why couldn't these brilliant nuns be ALLOWED (immediately, if not, yesterday!) to be official parish leaders for desperately NEEDED urban-American Catholic ministry? For years and years, these nuns have been true servants, humble champions; just like their Leader--the Christ!
You know what? Me, in my lowly, un-Doctored state, I challenge each and every [rigid] member of the Catholic hierarchy--in the entire world (!)--to honestly, with a pure heart, ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT, in your prayer time, and discern if the above logic about "urban jungles" is faulty!
If you are truly simple, the truth will just GLARE!
As a child would say: So there!
Thank you Bishop Gumbleton
Thank you Bishop Gumbleton for your honesty and devotion. Two critical concepts seem to be struggling in your message. Your concept of 'church' is somewhat strange for a theologian. I found it very limiting. Lets be very
direct about it. "There is One Christ" "There is One Church" "There is One Body". How you come to the idea that we all have 'left' the church is equally mysterious and rather narrow. It is quite possible that many of us
who do not 'attend' , have come to understand a better way. Church is not something we attend it defines who we are. "The people of God" "The Vox Populi" not very well listened to.
So who belongs to the church. Doctrine would say All Baptized Christians and
very possibly All Men of Good Will. It is surely through that latter that
our friends of other faiths my also find ultimate salvation.
What we do not need is the continuance of Spiritual Feudalism where the highest aspiration of a layperson is at very best to be a lowly serf. We
do not need Princes in the church and the title Bishop, [not originally a
Christian concept at all and definitely pre-christian to wit read carefully about the Qumran Sect and the Dead Sea Scrolls] should only make that person
a SERVANT of the people.
Your statments have a beauty, but your framework is the same tired unreality.
We simply will not see this collection of old men do anything to make things better, despite their celibacy they do everything in their power to clone their successors and we "Gods People" have absolutely no say in the matter.
I surely wish things were very different.
Veni Creator Spiritus, mentes tourum visita, imple superna gratia, quae tu
creasti pectora!
In the early Irish Church we had monasteries with both men and women and
married monks, and the system worked. It was all repressed and repression
is basically still the mode. May future Christians be able to say yes! more often.
God Bless you good heart!
TomC
I give more credit to the
I give more credit to the people who actually leave the Church when they come to the conclusion that they disagree with the Church on a clearly defined matter of faith & morals than those who remain within as a sort of Fifth column & spew hatred against the Church & her teachings.
A clear example would be the issue of priestesses. This has been infallibly defined by Pope JPII & reaffirmed by Pope Benedict. An example that does not meet this standard would be hormonal as opposed to unnatural birth control. This seems to be the red flag issue. I have no doubt that the Church is right in her teaching on birth control in its entirety but I don't believe that the teaching in Humane Vitae on hormonal birth control meets the standard for an infallible teaching.
The Church has always taught that unnatural birth control is wrong & she has never affirmed that hormonal birth control is right. But the teaching on hormonal birth control (the pill) was cast into doubt by the commission on birth control & the clear teaching on hormonal birth control only started with Humane Vitae. I in no way am trying to undercut that teaching which is of the ordinary magisterium but it is not infallible.
So no Catholic who dissents in conscience from this teaching or any non-infallible teaching of the Church should feel obligated to leave the Church. Having said that, the issue of conscience is not a game or a matter of opinion. If one wishes to dissent from a non-infallible Catholic moral teaching, then one will have some "splainin" to do (as RR of I Love Lucy would say) when he or she stands before the judgement throne of God!
“-- so now the first passion
“-- so now the first passion must be for the truth."
If people really desired the truth, passionately, I think that they would be willing to examine Christianity as an Axial Age religion beginning long before the Common Era (see Loyal Rue and others). The evolution of human knowledge, e.g. biblical-historical scientific scholarship, philosophical advancement in reasoning, especially epistemology, and scientific progression in a multitude of areas brings us to an age that seems to have run its course as far as Christianity is concerned because these disciplines give us reasons to change our belief. Jesus will be highly regarded as the person he was but be demythologized. Other religions of this age will speak for themselves. In the post-Axial Age we will discover reasons to change our belief in the Origin of our contingent being (a Supreme Being) not extinguish it. But my understanding at this moment is that Judaism and Islam (I cannot speak for the other belief phenomena) will have a similar challenge. Bishop Gumbleton speaks of the stress of enormous change but we need to explore not simply ‘that’ there is change but the ‘why’ for the change i.e. the valid reasons for the transformation.
Correction! 6-4-2010 “-- so
Correction! 6-4-2010
“-- so now the first passion must be for the truth."
If people really desired the truth, passionately, I think that they would be willing to examine Christianity as an Axial Age religion but the Axial Age itself beginning long before the Common Era (see Loyal Rue and others). The evolution of human knowledge, e.g. biblical-historical scientific scholarship, philosophical advancement in reasoning, especially epistemology, and scientific progression in a multitude of areas brings us to an age that seems to have run its course as far as Christianity is concerned because these disciplines give us reasons to change our belief. Jesus will be highly regarded as the person he was but be demythologized. Other religions of this age will speak for themselves. In the post-Axial Age we will discover reasons to change our belief in the Origin of our contingent being (a Supreme Being) not extinguish it. But my understanding at this moment is that Judaism and Islam (I cannot speak for the other belief phenomena) will have a similar challenge. Bishop Gumbleton speaks of the stress of enormous change but we need to explore not simply ‘that’ there is change but the ‘why’ for the change i.e. the valid reasons for the transformation.
I always enjoy reading the
I always enjoy reading the courageous and illumined bishop Gumbleton. His strikingly simple, but powerfully thought- provoking themes on our current crises of faith always hit us between the eyes. They're a delight to read each week.
Too bad our Church doesn't have more hierarchs like him. Instead of the growing crop of apologists for crypto fascist elements at every level of American life.
Paulte; any issue of
Paulte; any issue of conscience can't be used as a yard stick as it has to be formed by church teaching and when the whole system is up the creek we're not the ones with some "splainin" to do but those leading us to perdition are.
Silence gives consent and I"m prepared to go down screaming, how about you?
Perhaps Bishop Gumbleton
Perhaps Bishop Gumbleton might examine his own conscience as well? If you're going to tell the "truth," dear Bishop, tell the whole truth.
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