Comments on Abuse … 25-Mar-2018

From the Desk of Father David

Dear Friends in Christ,

I wish we lived in the “promised land,” but we don’t.  In reality we are living the Exodus experience.  These are hard and painful times.  There are beautiful oases where we find refreshment and experience a piece of heaven.  These are not mirages, they are gifts from God.  Remembering them gives us strength to go forward.  Sometimes like the people in the Exodus we would like to stop trying to make the world a better place or believe in another person or God.  Like the Exodus account, God traveled with His people and Jesus taught us that He is traveling with us and that should give us the strength to move forward.

The priest scandal in the newspaper breaks my heart because the Church should always be a safe haven for God’s people.  It also deeply hurts me because the research I did shows that abusers are in all professions.  Many of those who are abused show us the power of forgiveness as we see them forgive their abuser.  For our part we must do all we can to prevent abuse of the young to the elderly and support those who are abused.  The best way we can do this is by assisting all those who are in need by being compassionate and merciful.  Prayer is a powerful weapon and I ask you to pray those who are abused, their families, the abuser and their families.

We need to step up the fight against pornography.  Pornography has become wide spread on television, even in children’s cartoons, movies, and on the internet.  It is proven that the more a person sees pornography the more the person wants to act it out.  May we raise our voices through letters and other means to clean up our televisions and movies.  I don’t know what we can do about the internet.

Don’t leave it up to the schools, talk to your children and grandchildren about these important, yet uncomfortable topics.  Listen to them and answer their questions.

Good and gracious God, we your children have sinned and wandered far from you.  In Your great mercy come to our aid.  We ask You to heal the broken hearted, strengthen the weak and call our world back to you.

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. David