A Blanket of Sadness, Anger

The waning days of summer in the year of Our Lord, 2018, carried with them another ending. As the season of sunshine and serenity slowly ebbed away leaving foliage the colors of flame, a harbinger of autumn, something else became boldly visible. A cloud, dark, threatening and sinister moved into view and covered the curtain of Catholic complacency and became impossible to ignore

It dropped the findings of a Pennsylvania Grand Jury into our placid laps of disbelief where they were almost blinding in their scope.

The news erupted with fury and the submerged scandal could no longer be contained under hats, be they either red or white.

And while most of us, including me, no longer find the boundaries of our world limited by other parishioners, many of us have reached out for the consolation and opinions of others who accept our faith..

My immediate call went to the friend who traveled with me for twelve years from St. Paul the Apostle elementary school to the vast Diocesan High School, Cathedral, in NYC. We both remember those years and those teachings that were ingrained together.

She, like I, no longer lives in our hometown of Hells Kitchen, but with the joy of the internet we speak almost daily.

However, during the many years, laughs, loves and tears we have shared, this troubling conversation was a first.

I reached out for comfort. She could give none.

She reached out for information. I had none to share other than what we both read.

We both reached out for a reason to disbelieve. Neither of us could find any.

And we are not alone in this time of a cruel reality blanketed with sorrow, anger, and confusion.

So as the summer sun ebbs away, the bleak horizon brings another season. One we had not anticipated because it carries with it winds of rebellion, distrust, and sadly, anger.

We question what should be our role in the remedy because now it is imperative to acknowledge that responsibility for change and honesty and truth has fallen into the hands, not of the clergy, but the lay people who will still call themselves Catholic..