Why can’t I just ignore “these things happening,” in the Diocese of Amarillo—things that let me
From Mark 13: 24-32
“know that he is near, at the gates” of “places” that I believe should become “Areas of shared journeying,” such as:
- The protection of a memorial erected by a convicted pedophile priest for a bishop whom Bishop Zurek acknowledges made a “serious mistake“;
- The Maintaining of a letter on the diocesan website rebuking “a few” who reported abuse at St. Mary’s Cathedral;
- The aborting of daily Masses at St. Mary’s Cathedral, citing the need for “an incredible sense of Reverence for the…Priests and especially for the Bishops“, effectively leveraging the Eucharist as a means of power and control;
- The building of another bishop’s residence, effectively putting our next bishop “in his place” before he even arrives ❓
XVI ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
How to be a missionary synodal Church
Instrumentum laboris
Part III – Places
Areas of shared journeying
82
Bishop Zurek, for his part, called what Matthiesen did a ‘serious mistake,’ yet the memorial still remains.”
“Today, this vision of a Church rooted in concrete contexts encounters the socio-cultural conditions of our times, which have profoundly altered our experience of being rooted in a given territory.” Accordingly, isn’t a memorial erected by a convicted pedophile priest for a bishop who made a “serious mistake” not merely rooted among the “things” of the parish where it stands, but also indicative of a Church deeply intertwined with concrete contexts and the socio-cultural conditions of our times❓ Shouldn’t it reflect the call that “those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”“❓
“A place can no longer be understood in purely geographical and spatial terms; rather, it points to our belonging to a web of relations and a culture that is more dynamic and mobile than in the past.” Yet, in the letter, “A Reflection on Christian Life,” do not “a few” who reported clergy abuse at St. Mary’s Cathedral find that the “things” they spoke about regarding their web of relations caused them to no longer be understood or accepted by those deemed “faithful and loyal disciples that the Lord Jesus desires”—those who proclaim, “You are my inheritance, O Lord!“❓
“This reality challenges the Church’s organizational forms, which are structured based on a different concept of place.” Nevertheless, do not these “things” that reveal imperfections within us remind us that Jesus, “by one offering…has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.“
Alleluia, alleluia, “This also requires adopting differentiated criteria appropriate to different contexts, which do not contradict each other, in order to incarnate the one truth in people’s lives.” Conversely, isn’t the aborting of the daily Eucharist at St. Mary’s Cathedral contradicting the one truth in people’s lives—Jesus incarnate—who told us such “things” as, “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.“❓
Alleluia, alleluia
Finally, doesn’t the urgent challenge to protect my “places” include a concern to bring the Diocese of Amarillo together to seek a sustainable and integral development❓ For I know that “things” can change in the “Areas of shared journeying” affected by “sins against synodality“—the same sins that now place our new bishop in a position where he must “Just Say NO❣️” to being “put in his place” and which I cannot ignore, so that:
“‘In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. ‘”❓
The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that “things” can change.
From Paragraph 13 of ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’ OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME