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He chose him, he loved
him, he helped him, he made from him an apostle, he trusted him with the
money, he washed his feet. He taught him to love, to be good, to be perfect,
to be a good example. But Judas betrayed him. He sold him to his enemies for
money. He betrayed him with a kiss. The symbol of love became a way to turn
one’s back to what is great in the human heart. This is so bad.
This Judas effect is
spread all over. You can find good teachers and bad ones at school. You can
find good doctors and nurses and bad ones at a hospital. You can find good
parents and bad ones in a family. You can find good priests, good bishops,
and bad ones in a church.
Today this Judas effect is
touching the Catholic Church. We read every day about the many Judases here
and there. It can get worse in days, weeks, and months. We feel so
disoriented, so confused, and so hurt. It is the Judas effect in our human
nature.
I as, as Catholic priest
feel that I want to kneel and pray. Only in kneeling and recognizing the
Judas effect in my Church can I start to purify my intentions, my heart, and
my life and build the future of the Church. Humbly kneeling in front of God
and the people and confessing that the Catholic Church must rediscover the
truth of the Resurrection and the need to be washed again by the blood of
Christ—that is what is required. I give thanks for these moments in which I
need to kneel. These moments are important for the Church to humble itself
and recognize that it is the Church of real sinners. Kneeling and confession
will help me to know my dimension as a sinner.
As I kneel and pray with
my parishioners, I recognize also that I am the Church of the saints. These
past years I saw Mother Theresa, Father Damian of Molokai , and many other
great people from the same Church of the sinners. I recognize my human
condition and see that others are also, like me, touched by the Judas
effect.
As I kneel, I pray with my
parishioners that we keep our faith strong in the Lord and not in humans and
ask God to help us to sanctify ourselves and purify our intentions at the
service of humanity. I pray that our people will be spared the Judas effect. |
