Today the Scriptures do not command me to act;
they ask me first to be.
A messenger is sent ahead of the Lord,
not to rearrange the furniture of the Temple,
but to prepare the hearts within it.
Silver is refined not by haste,
but by patient fire.
Priests are purified not by noise,
but by truth that waits and burns.
A child is born,
and the neighbors argue about names.
They expect the familiar.
God insists on the new.
Zechariah regains his voice only when he accepts
that the child will be what God says he is,
not what custom prefers.
And over all of it echoes the last cry of Advent:
O Emmanuel — God with us.
Not God fixing us.
Not God bypassing us.
God being with us.
“If Boston is the fault line of the child sexual-abuse scandal that has convulsed the Roman Catholic Church, then few places have felt the aftershocks more deeply than the Diocese of Amarillo.”
New York Times
August 24, 2002
“In memory of the death of innocence of the victims of clergy sexual abuse. When innocence dies…a life stops. It is essential that we never forget.”
Her prayerful and hidden life was a cry against worldliness and a silent defense of the poor and forgotten.
Dilexi te, §65
During this Centennial, will my life “be” a cry against worldliness and a defense of the poor and forgotten victims of clergy abuse caused by Bishop Matthiesen’s so-called “serious mistake” ?
Meditatio — The Word Considered
I watch our hen, Dixie,
step out from the safety of her hutch
to forage among livestock guardian puppies
who do not yet know their own strength.
She does not dominate the space.
She does not flee it.
She simply is —
present, vulnerable, necessary.
Photo used by permission of Douglas Kirkland/Corbis via Getty Images
There is risk in her being seen.
There is risk in my being here.
Each day I remain on this path of prayer,
counting days, naming silence,
asking for Synodality around the Tribute to Bishop Matthiesen,
I feel the temptation to do one of two things:
To rage —
or to disappear.
Anger tells me to strike.
Weariness tells me to leave.
But Advent whispers a harder instruction:
Be.
Be here without hatred.
Be faithful without applause.
Be present without controlling the outcome.
There is nothing I must win today.
There is only someone I am called to be.
Contemplatio — The Mystery Lived
If the Incarnation teaches me anything,
it is that God saves the world
by refusing to bypass it.
He does not shout from heaven.
He enters time.
He does not erase history.
He inhabits it.
God does not ask me to solve the Diocese of Amarillo.
He asks me to be faithful within it.
And that, paradoxically,
is how the world is changed.
Oratio — Prayer (Day 14)
Almighty ever-living God,
as we see how the Nativity of your Son draws near,
teach us not merely to do, but to be.
Let mercy flow into our impatience.
Let humility soften our certainty.
Let your Word dwell among us long enough
to refine what fear and silence have distorted.
Grant that during this Centennial
we may walk together —
listening before deciding,
remaining before resolving,
trusting that your presence
is already at work.
Through Jesus Christ, Emmanuel,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Actio — The Word Lived
“On the other hand, the forms of corruption which conceal the actual environmental impact of a given project, in exchange for favours, usually produce specious agreements which fail to inform adequately and to allow for full debate.”
Laudato si’ §182
Today I will practice Synodality not by forcing agreement,
but by choosing presence over withdrawal.
I will remain at the table.
I will listen without surrendering conscience.
I will speak truth without abandoning charity.
I will be —
trusting that staying is sometimes
the most prophetic act of all.
🎵 “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
It teaches the soul to be in longing rather than escape it,
to trust that God comes not because we demand Him,
but because He is faithful.
🎬Movie: The Holdovers (2023)
About formation that happens in the quiet margins.
About becoming human not by escape,
but by enduring presence.
Advent teaches the same lesson.
Email to Bishop Zurek
Subject: Request for Dialogue Regarding the Tribute
Your Excellency,
I am writing to apologize if any of my previous communications about the tribute to Bishop Matthiesen came across as threatening or coercive. That was not my intention, and I regret any words that suggested pressure rather than prayerful discernment.
Silence has been painful, but I remain committed to walking with the Church, not against her. I respectfully ask for conversation, not conflict, so that this matter may be addressed in the light of truth, charity, and healing.
Thank you for your time and pastoral care.
Respectfully in Christ,
Darrell Glenn
Diocese of Amarillo
My Story
“In memory of the death of innocence of the victims of clergy sexual abuse. When innocence dies…a life stops. It is essential that we never forget.“
- Bishop Matthiesen, who rode the white horse of public activism even as he brought abusive priests into our diocese such as John Salazar—wounds that still mark us today. I spoke with him often, pleading with him to reconsider his “no regrets” about bringing those priests here…
- Bishop Yanta, who sought to enforce the Dallas Charter even when Bishop Matthiesen resisted him, and who bore the personal and pastoral cost of doing so. I met with Bishop Yanta about Bishop Matthiessen’s “no regrets” stance. He listened. He believed me. He acted where he could. And when he retired, he urged me—quietly but firmly—to keep speaking out.
- Bishop Zurek, who told the Diocese of Amarillo he had “no facts” about the Philadelphia report even as Amarillo’s connection to that tragedy was headline news. When I continued to speak out, as Bishop Yanta had once urged me to do, he later wrote that I was not among the faithful and loyal disciples whom the Lord Jesus desires.