The Benefit of a Scandal

There has been no shortage of scandals and crises in the Catholic Church recently. Our failings as members of the Church are well documented in the press, which has given the Church a black eye to the secular world and continues to break down the morale of the faithful. I’ve read quite a few articles over the past few years about the Church’s “PR” problems. But the Church’s black eye presents an opportunity. While there is never reason to rejoice in sin, there is a reason to rejoice when a crisis emerges.

Hidden from the eyes of the world, corruption easily continues to rot away at the Church. Crises expose evil to the light. Crises lead to reform. I believe God is working intensely through our current crises and scandals.

God is Light. Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:4-10

As a Church we must walk in the light. Evil is much better at sustaining itself as long as it lurks in the shadows. In our day God is shedding light on the sins of Our Church so that tomorrow we will have stronger

Priests
Marriages
Families
Laity
Consecrated Religious

Catholics

Next time you read a shocking headline of the sins of one of your brothers or sisters in Christ, pray for them, and thank God for the work he is doing to reform our Church.

[author] [author_image timthumb='on']http://www.ignitumtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Steven-Lawson-e1313151202718.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Steven Lawson is a newly married young adult living in the Diocese of Buffalo NY. After a reversion from agnosticism during a semester working in NYC, he felt called to ministry in the Church and left his dream since youth of working in film and animation. Steven is the founder of Why I’m Catholic, a website designed to bring Catholic conversion stories to the web 2.0, specifically to young adults. During the day Steven works on iCatholicRadio (the first dedicated Catholic radio application for Apple and Android mobile devices) and various other new media outreaches for The Station of the Cross Catholic Radio. [/author_info] [/author]

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Category: Religion