The low road

Luke 11:42-46

          "But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! for you love the best seat in the synagogues and salutations in the market places. 44 Woe to you! for you are like graves which are not seen, and men walk over them without knowing it." 45 One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying this you reproach us also." 46 And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of  your fingers.

         When I came out, it became apparent that I would have to leave the church that I loved so much. I went to the pastor and explained the whole long story. He was incredibly loving and supportive. The rest of the church? Not so much. One thing my pastor did say which seems appropriate to my reflection, he asked if I was leaving because of a particular clergy member, Bill. This 'man of the cloth' was a difficult person to get along with. Bill had disenfranchised many previous clergy, some left, others resigned themselves to accept the bad behavour and sour treatment. Bill would say "he is dead to me". It was either Bill's way, or the highway. Not any kind of example of a good christian let alone a man of the cloth. I told my pastor I'm not leaving because of Bill but he certainly makes it easier.

          Moving along, yesterday I discussed the rubrics that pervade the Roman Catholic Church often at the expense of the true, loving faith.  In the reading today, Jesus speaks of the Pharisees in reprimanding tones because they put emphasis on the wrong aspects of religion, failing to live out the most important aspects of faith. Jesus also speaks of getting the best seats in the synagogue.  So at the risk of seeming like a rant against the Catholic church, I will make the following observations to make the same point Jesus was making about the Pharisees. And why?Why not, they make it so easy.

      Someone once told me, no one does pageantry better than the Catholic church. And it's true. The medieval robes, the gold and glory of a Roman heritage (it really should be Jerusalem should it not?), the precise movements, the swiss gaurd and the omnipresent red loafers of the pope. Is this what faith is all about? Doesn't it overshadow faith? This seems as blatantly wrong to me as The Pharisees were to Jesus.

         On a separate topic yet with a similar pattern, lets look at the Church's response to the pedophilia scandal.  The incredible lack of concern, subterfuge, coverups and blame game that marked the church's response is yet another sign of misplacing what is important. In fact it is a sign that there is less faith,  hollow morals and more concern for the institution but the institution of the church is nothing without abiding faith of the people.

           What does this mean to you and me. Stay away from the Catholic church? No, I cannot yet say that. The faithful in the pew are the ones with a deep abiding and loving faith. In most cases they are untouched by the misplaced emphasis the hierarchy seems infected with.

           What we need to do is to keep our focus on our Savior. Do not let bad examples stand in your way of our loving God who wants more than anything to love us and have a relationship with us. To let some misguided and errant individuals keep us from our faith would be a sin of the highest order. Better a millstone should be tied around their neck and they be thrown into the sea.