Am I expecting to feel righteous and say, “I told you so!” if, after blogging as “commanded” about what I perceive as a lack of “transparency, accountability, and evaluation” on the part of the Diocese of Amarillo, God:
From Luke 17: 7-10
- Brings down a memorial erected by a convicted pedophile priest for a bishop whom Bishop Zurek acknowledged made a “serious mistake“;
- Removes a letter from the diocesan website which rebuked “a few” who reported abuse at St. Mary’s Cathedral;
- Halts the aborting of daily Masses at St. Mary’s Cathedral in the name of “an incredible sense of Reverence for the…Priests and especially for the Bishops“, because it effectively leveraged the Eucharist as a means of power and control;
- Has the new bishop “Just Say NO❣️” to living in the bishop’s residence built for him, because it effectively put him “in his place” before he even arrived ❓
XVI ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
How to be a missionary synodal Church
Instrumentum laboris
Part II – Pathways
Transparency, accountability, and evaluation
78.
Bishop Zurek, for his part, called what Matthiesen did a ‘serious mistake,’ yet the memorial still remains.”
“In addition to observing what is already provided for in the canonical norms regarding control criteria and mechanisms, it is up to the local Churches and, above all, their groupings (i.e. ecclesiastical provinces, Episcopal Conferences, and Eastern hierarchical structures) to construct effective forms and procedures of transparency and accountability, appropriate to the variety of contexts, based on the civil regulatory framework, the expectations of society, and the actual availability of expertise in the field.” Therefore, isn’t it “commanded” that I work to “to construct effective forms and procedures of transparency and accountability” in the Diocese of Amarillo regarding issues such as the memorial erected by a convicted pedophile priest for a bishop who made a “serious mistake“, given that, at my age, I should “be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, love, and endurance.“❓
“However, even where resources are scarce, the Church will work for an evolution of its work, ethos, and mentality in the direction of transparency and a culture of accountability.” Conversely, in his letter, “A Reflection on Christian Life,” doesn’t Bishop Zurek suggest that “the few” who reported abuse at St. Mary’s Cathedral as a step towards transparency and accountability should instead be “commanded” to be better Christians by remaining silent since “The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.“❓
Alleluia, alleluia, Indeed, has not St. Mary’s Cathedral been “commanded” to bow to an insidiousness that divides, when a form of religious rigor is used to leverage the Eucharist to maintain “an incredible sense of Reverence for the…Priests and especially for the Bishops” over a belief that “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him.“❓
Alleluia, alleluia
Nevertheless, this responsibility for .“transparency, accountability, and evaluation” compels me to act according to my conscience, “commanded” by God, who has fixed its bounds and set a law that cannot pass away. Despite my own “sins against synodality” which demand I deserve something in return should our new bishop “Just Say NO❣️” to being “put in his place,” shouldn’t I, as an “unprofitable” servant who has only done what I was “obliged to do,” expect that…
“‘When you have done all you have been commanded, say,…‘”❓
This responsibility for God’s earth means that human beings, endowed with intelligence, must respect the laws of nature and the delicate equilibria existing between the creatures of this world, for “he “commanded” and they were created; and he established them for ever and ever; he fixed their bounds and he set a law which cannot pass away” (Ps 148:5b-6).
From Paragraph 68 of ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’ OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME