The movie “Spotlight” received Best Picture last evening at the 88th Annual Academy Awards. Click here for an article describing why it won and maybe why it should not have received the honors. Click for an article from the LA Times. I was so pleased when I watched as the Oscar was given to this ensemble cast.

I am grateful because I know the Church needs to continue to change and to become more accountable to the world in so many ways. In the ten years since the Boston Globe focused a great light on such darkness, the Church is on its way toward developing programs to keep our children safe now and in the future. These programs have changed my priesthood and my awareness of the aftermath of abuse that is remembered among our families. I pray that I may see the day when a movie is made about how the Church has responded in a positive manner. In the meantime, we need to constantly change, to mend our ways, to realize the crimes we have committed in order to protect ourselves.

I remember ten years ago when I mentioned the abuse scandal in a homily. A parishioner at the time approached me after Mass and said, “Please Father, do not say the abuse scandal of the clergy, rather say the sex crimes of the clergy.” I was deeply humbled by her comment. As the years have gone by, the crimes of abuse have come close to my priesthood. I have a friend who is spending his life in prison because of his sexual crimes on minors. I have heard the results of the Church’s silence many times in my office and in the confessional. I have come to God in tears so many times in these years and I pray that healing may happen on so many levels beginning within my own heart.

It just so happened that I mentioned “Spotlight” in my homily yesterday. I mentioned it as part of the second chance of the fig tree, (Luke 13). We all need a second chance including the Church as an institution. We need to be cut down to the truth, so that the truth will set us free. We all need a second chance and this movie reveals again the crimes of the clergy and the coverup all over again. Healing around this issue in the Church will take generations. In the meantime, we all need to change. We need to recognize the core of who we are and what we are about. We need love to prevail, the love only God offers us to live as disciples of humility, mercy and peace. There is much work to do still within our parishes and in other institutions. A stunning line in the movie said that it takes a village to raise a child and it also takes a village to cover up the abuse. I pray that it also takes a village to be educated and to live a new life of healing and concern. It takes a village to develop programs to protect our children in the future. I still want to be part of the healing village.

In these past years, I have realized that real reform will have to come from our people. We need the truth. We need to recognize what does not work in priestly formation and what will give our vocations freedom and hope serving God’s people. We struggle with so many issues, in so many ways. I really liked the fact that the reporters at the Boston Globe were part of the community that they served. They understood in such a human way what their journalism would do to real people, to their own family and friends. Their words and actions would hurt deeply, yet they dared to touch the truth. Real transformation and conversion comes from within and also outside, from within the Church and in our daily lives in the world.

I am deeply saddened about the abuse and crimes from my brothers. I pray constantly for them. I pray for our young people who have been forever hurt. I pray for people who also use these crimes as an excuse not to be part of the Church. I pray for people who can no longer pray because of their pain.

In my ministry among people in poverty and on the margins of life, I realize that any child in poverty who has been abused will never fully heal. Their chance of living a productive life is small. When poverty is the background for such abuse, multiple addictions will occur. Mental illness and homeless will surely follow. These are my experiences from real people who have been hurt by the Church. I am grateful for “Spotlight” and the light that shines today on the darkness of our past. God, have mercy on us.

“A Second Chance” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

The story of the fig tree in Luke’s (13:1-9) gospel today offers us an image of a second chance.

I painted this image last November. Along the left side of the painting are phone messages that I re-created from a young man who desired to speak with me. WIth each message, his desire grows stronger to sit down with me and to speak of his life and addiction. On the right side of the painting, the messages are duplicated from an old-school message pad. However, when he actually sat in front of me, as the painting suggests, he comes with shame, guilt and regret and his body language offers us a glimpse of his silence. The label on the right side of the painting, “addict” gives us an opportunity to name what is going on but also to move beyond the labels we put on so many people. God offers us an opportunity to start again, to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.

Not every person gets a second chance. Not every addict gets sober or has the ability to process the guilt and shame that is embedded in their drinking or even in their sobriety. The gospel in this Lenten season suggests that all people are worth listening to, that every message we receive either from body language or the phone or text or email gives us another opportunity to reach out to people.

This Lent also offers us an opportunity to reflect on the ways people need God. Alcohol addiction is an overwhelming problem within the Church. From the hierarchy of the Church to local pastors and parish personnel, addiction is at the heart of many decisions even within the Church. I have seen this many times in my years of priesthood. People also carry the wounds of the early years from the addictions of relatives and friends. Co-dependency is housed in many hearts in people who sit in our pews and who work within our churches. Alcohol and drugs and the ability to move toward a second chance at sobriety are problems so many people face. However, we are all given another chance in this Lenten season to realize the truth of our lives in Christ Jesus, to live the message of Christ’s dying and rising. God’s mercy is abundant and certain, not only with the fig tree but within all of our lives as well.

CLICK here for an article on alcohol and teens

Click here for an article on alcohol and the Catholic Church

“Longing for Mercy” Finger Painting, Ronald Raab, CSC

Dear Followers of Jesus,

At some point in our lives, we long for a second chance. When love seems fleeting, we ache to start over again. When a long-term hurt settles into our hearts with our children, we hope for forgiveness. When we lose our jobs, we want a second chance to prove our capabilities. When we are diagnosed with a disease, we seek a second opinion from a doctor who is a stranger to us.

When we make a mistake, we wish we could do anything to eat our hurtful words or go back in time and start over again. In second marriages, the second child, the second career, the second degree, the second job, the second try, the second conversation, the second sobriety, the second dream— all have the potential for us to act differently and to speak new words about our lives, careers and families.

In today’s gospel (Luke 13:1-9), the fig tree gets another chance. The tree in the passage, of course, is the cross of Christ, the place where our sin, our loss, our health, our apathy—-all get a second chance. We are redeemed by the Tree of Life.

Lent is a fascinating time and sometimes misunderstood. There is something deep within us that believes we are not worthy of God’s love or the mercy that God brings. Some people give up on the Church when waiting for a second chances because seeking an annulment hurts too much or when their gay grandchild is not welcome in the pew on Sunday or when political battle lines seem to grow deeper in the opinions of people who pray on Sunday. Sometimes we do not trust God to give us what we need and often we are not pleased even if he does. So many times we give up on God because our prayers are not answered immediately, in our timelines in the way we think they should be answered. Sometimes a second chance is not healthy, especially when a dating relationship or marriage stems from abuse.

Lent is a time when we renew our faith in the dying and rising of Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate second chance for life. This is the central mystery of our faith. This is the core of what we celebrate every Sunday, that suffering gives way to love, that pain can heal, that turmoil leads to compassion, that death gives way to eternal life.

This weekend we celebrate the first of the three scrutiny rites for the elect (11:00am Mass), those adults who are preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil and those preparing to be received into the Church since they are already baptized. These rites get at the destructive aspects of life that keep a second chance from happening, such as sin, doubt, grief, failure, war, poverty, violence, discouragement, a lack of faith and so many more. I invite you to pray this weekend for our adults who are preparing for the second chance of faith in our Roman Catholic Church.

I also invite you to deepen your faith in this Lenten season. Sometimes we believe that we do not have a second chance with Jesus because we live in the illusion that we are not worthy or that the Church does not want us around. Sometimes we hold on the hurts of our lives because it is easier to do that than be vulnerable with God or in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Let all of that stuff go, put all of that hurt into God’s hands so that you may experience the mercy that God has for you.

I experience “another chance” with God in so many ways. What I have learned from my second chances, is that I have begun to be much more aware of people who seek such new life. I learn from kids who are in their third or fourth foster home and who are still abused. I learn from their desire to be at-home in the skin. I learn from people who have gone through many programs for drug and alcohol addiction and are still not sober. I learn from people who plead with God for their children’ health and I learn from people whose dreams never come true. This is the mission of the Church, to walk with people who long for a new path to Jesus and who just may find it because we have been given new life, a second chance, in God’s mercy for us.

Some questions to consider this week:

How have I been weighed down from my fears, my disappointments and my anger?

How has God given me a second chance with my family or job or sin or addiction?

How have I judged people because they have yet to live as we think they should?

How can I be open to God’s mercy in this Lenten season?

Blessings to you all,

Ron

On the Margins: From Mater Dei Radio, Portland, OR

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Third Sunday of Lent: Luke 13:1-9

In the Year of Mercy, we long for a second chance, to discover God’s love. The vineyard workers see that this fig tree would get another chance. The tree stands for another year. We do not earn mercy, we seek God’s love just as we are.

“The rich man in purple” Finger painting by Ronald Raab, CSC 2016

Gospel Lk 16:19-31

Fr. Bill Carmody 

As I read the scriptures today, I am thinking of Fr. Bill Carmody of the Diocese of Colorado Springs who died yesterday. He suffered greatly with cancer and even Bishop Sheridan last evening on the news did not know he was so close to death. He was first an amazing priest, always on the side of his people. Bill was a community leader and motivator, inspiring people to examine their thoughts and actions toward the dedication that every life matters. Every life matters, even the unborn.

I met Bill when I arrived at Sacred Heart in 2013. At any meeting of the diocese in which we both attended, he always affirmed me in my interest and work with people on the margins of the Church and society. He felt marginalized from many other priests because of the gospel call to affirm life. He was inspired to keep moving, to keep preaching and to keep loving people. His words comforted me as a new priest serving in the diocese. I will miss him because he understood his priesthood in ways I can only admire. Yesterday and today, I pray for Bill and his people.

Click here for an article on Bill’s death.

From today’s gospel:

“…Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:17-28

Sketch: Saint Peter, Ronald Raab, CSC 2016

…Jesus said them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Sometimes I wonder how Peter knew those words to say back to Jesus, how he really understood what he was saying. I had a conversation the other day with a twentysomething man who was telling me about his grandfather. He said that faith for his grandfather was just a natural thing. He told me that his grandfather “just knew” God and that he prayed every day with the surety and conviction of a saint. The grandson wants that for himself, that same conviction and peace. Yet, he has a scientific mind, a rational approach to the world and to God and does not see such faith as possible for him, at least not now.

I told him that his conviction will most likely come later in life, when his life circumstances change him, when he does not always get his way, when suffering makes a home in him, when he finally realizes that life does not always turn out as planned.

After all, Peter denied Jesus three times and he was always fumbling around in Jesus’ presence to make himself look good. Only after Peter suffered did he really understand the glorious keys that were handed to him.

Here are some questions for you in this Lenten season:

How do you understand Jesus in this Lenten journey? Are you afraid of him because you think he will judge you or are you drawn to him because of the love he has for you even when you stumble and fall?

How do you view Peter in today’s gospel and as the recipient of the Keys to the Kingdom? How can you and your faith help the Church today become a more credible witness to people who suffer, to those who really need God and to the marginalized?

“The Transfiguration” Painting: Ronald Raab, CSC Lent 2016

…While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white..Luke 9:28b-36

Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face. It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me. Entrance Antiphon: Psalm 27