I am a panelist for this conference on sexual abuse. On Friday morning, I will speak with two other preachers on, “Preaching in and for a Wounded Community.” Here is more information about the conference:

Conversations in Theology, Psychology, and Law for the Life of the Church

March 3–5, 2022 

University of Notre Dame
McKenna Hall Conference Center

This conference will explore practical strategies to increase accountability, promote healing, and rebuild trust in the life of the Catholic Church in the aftermath of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Its focus will be on the needs of local parishes, their leaders and staff, including educators in Catholic schools. The conference will also explore the intersection of parish life and the formation of ordained and lay ecclesial ministers in seminaries, dioceses, and Catholic universities. Scholars of theology, psychology and law will present recent research on these issues in conversation with those working in ministerial settings who have developed approaches and practical programs to address the needs of Catholic parishioners, students, and Church leaders during these challenging times. 

CLICK here for more information

I wrote this to prepare my own heart for my talk and presence at this conference:

Creed for Preaching Among the Traumatized                              

I believe Jesus born in a cave, cries for us

In the darkest places of human anguish

I believe the Holy Infant welcomes childhood wounds

Where truth is illumined, and cooing is soothed

I believe the Holy Family fled their land to protect

Our trafficked children who feel uncomfortable standing on earth

I believe Jesus confronted evil under the hot sun and

Still crushes evil in our deserts of being unloved

I believe Jesus drenched in the Jordan rises with hope

For us drowning in rivers of self-blame

I believe Jesus reached for the hand of Simon’s mother-in-law

To reconcile families tormented by emotional disease

I believe Jesus touches our eyes to

Wipe away generational tears of unlived lives

I believe Jesus heals the leper because

No pain in us is untouchable

I believe Jesus circled men holding accusing stones

To heal the weight of emotional and sexual abuse

I believe Mary wept at Jesus’ cross

To teach us to stand among forbidden suffering of loved ones

I believe the Disciples carried Jesus’ body

Burying our abuse in a cave of hope

I believe Mary Magdalene’s testimony finds a home

In vulnerable hearts that ache for tenderness and truth

I believe Thomas who touched Jesus’ nail marks

Gives us permission to expose our wounds to one another