Things That Need to be Said About the Scandal

Don’t judge the Church by those who do not accept and live by its teachings.

Judge the Church by those who accept and follow its teachings.  They live holy lives.  Only a few of them are canonized saints.  The vast majority of them are ordinary men and women including bishops, priests, and religious, both men and women, and many lay persons.  All of them lived by the teachings of the Church and thus lived holy lives.

Some will find that the horrible examples of some bishops and priests provide a temptation to leave the Church.  Again, don’t let other sinners lead you away from the Church.  The gospel words of Peter to Jesus are tremendously relevant.  “You have the words of eternal life (John 6:69).

Regarding Scripture, remember 1 Cor 12:26:  “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Apply this to the Mystical Body of Christ. By living the Commandments of love, we help to build up the Church. When married couples practice marital chastity, they provide spiritual help for our priests to remain faithful to their promises of chaste celibacy. But for the last 50 years, it has been increasingly the Catholic thing to follow the dissenters and practice marital unchastity via the use of unnatural forms of birth control. This has contributed to the sins of those called to be our leaders. That is, when most of the married folks are sinning, the whole body suffers.

John Kippley

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