I never expected it coming this morning.
I always attend the 10:00 o'clock mass at Sta. Barbara Parish here in Dededo, Guam. The celebrant was Fr. Dan Bien, a Filipino priest, and his homily focuses on the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd takes care of his flock. And with that he explained that Jesus Christ Shepherding responsibility was given to the Apostles and handed it to the Pope and the bishops and the bishops handed it also to the priest in-charge of the parish.
He re-iterated that the Church condemns such act and the Church does not protect priest who does not uphold justice and abuse their position. He implores the laity to continually pray for the clergy that they may be good shepherds. Also he quoted an article by a Jewish religious leader. The article points out that the media is ganging up on the Catholic Church because such case is not limited to the Catholic Church but also to other sects and denominations. The Catholic Church is being singled out by the media for no reason at all. He ask the laity to remain steadfast in the Faith and keep the Faith. This is just one of the trials we as Catholics has to struggle and in the end we will be led to the right path as we hear and heed the true Shepherds voice, Jesus Christ.
I am a former seminarian and I would be hypocrite to say of I didn't heard of anything like this in the past. But I cannot say as well who are these priest who have failed to do what our Lord has task them to do, to take care of His flock. There is only one thing I know though, priest are humans like you and me. They feel the same things that we feel and the more they are bombarded with temptation. Thus we need to continually pray for the clergy to never give in and never give up the calling they are called for.
What I ask personally is for priests who has done such act should give themselves up to the proper authorities and accept responsibility for their actions. To our Church leaders I ask that they be transparent and help the victims to surpass the anguish these abuses has inflicted in them and not be silent about it. There is something wrong so we should as early as possible correct what is wrong before it corrupts us all. To my fellow Catholics as well as our brothers and sisters in the faith I asks your continuous prayer, help, and vigilance to stop such acts.
I remember my co-seminarians motto in our yearbook: Hate the sin not the sinner. We are a community and thus we should not condemn and shun people but rather hate the action that they did and help them realize the wrong that they did and make the right decisions and actions about it rather than pointing and accusing and let the issue grow and grow until it will be impossible to resolve it.
Click here to read more!
