Trusting in the Face of Scandal

I originally wrote this post elsewhere, but wanted to put it here, too.

"This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased..."

This verse is probably going to be burned into my head forever now, and I'm honestly still reeling over the insanity that was God working on retreat. And this Holy Week, I've been reminded a half dozen times at least that everything we do and see in this faith is REAL.

Sometimes, that creeps me out.

Tonight, I went to my very first Holy Thursday Mass, despite growing up in the Church. Despite my grumpiness over agreeing to have my feet washed, actually experiencing it was neat. The one thing that stuck out to me as Fr. Matt started on my bare foot is that I had to trust him. I recoiled when the water first touched me, but then relaxed and watched. It was a symbol for me of the trust that we develop between priest and parishioner, confessor and penitent, and the trust we really *have to* develop to make that work.

Yet...a select few have failed us miserably. The trust we held in them was shattered in the reality of scandal. People have been scarred, disgusted, abandoned because of the Church's failure to do its job.

There's a big BUT here, though. Yes, they failed and did it gloriously.God only knows how many people have left over this ridiculousness. And the media, unfortunately, hasn't helped. It shames me to see journalists at some of the nation's most reputable papers acting more like attack dogs and less like the truth-seekers we're supposed to be. More often than not, I want to ask when being a reporter became a license to slander at will.

Maybe I'm too idealistic. Maybe I'm guilty of my own bias to the other side, being Catholic. But either way, we're ALL under attack right now.

That's why tonight came at the perfect time. We need a reminder that regardless of how much our Church of humans shows its humanity, we've still got God. He's still in the priesthood and in the Eucharist. No matter how bad things get, that's not gonna go away.

It's like letting someone wash your feet when you barely know them, in front of a ton of people, with Fr. Tom snickering gleefully at you the entire time and a while afterward. ;) Trust is uncomfortable, it's dangerous, and we might even get let down now and then. That's what Holy Thursday is. We get the gifts to deal with that hurt every single day.

So cheer up. We might not have the best reputation these days, but we're still gonna win the war.

Peace!