tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7846189835239594160.post3702512271212756326..comments2024-03-28T20:30:10.681-04:00Comments on southern orders: WHEREIN FATHER JAMES MARTIN, SJ HITS THE BALL OUT OF THE PARKFr. Allan J. McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16986575955114152639noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7846189835239594160.post-76794004285213958442019-05-21T12:37:51.825-04:002019-05-21T12:37:51.825-04:00Anon, thank you. For not the first time Pope Bened...Anon, thank you. For not the first time Pope Benedict hits the mark: it is the absence of God. Of course that is what sin is but this time on a grand scale. The subterfuge and treachery is animating for the faithful. But what we do about it is difficult to say for there is no single best answer. Except, of course, to pray. rcghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661998350597126663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7846189835239594160.post-1479979714841459442019-05-21T11:45:29.930-04:002019-05-21T11:45:29.930-04:00Excellent response, rcg, and thanks. Your analysi...Excellent response, rcg, and thanks. Your analysis took time and thought (and prayer?). In this era of knee-jerk responses, your reasoned approach is very insightful.<br />Now, to respond to Fr. Martin’s question “...how do we account for the good priests?”, allow me to try. One need only refer to Cdl. Sarah’s recent talk in Rome where he spoke of Emeritus Pope Benedict’s “notes” on the recent summit in April. Benedict boiled the “crisis” down to the absence vs the presence of God. Cdl Sarah’s final synopsis: “... (In) the field of God. There are not only the weeds but also the good wheat of God.” <br />In that regard at least, the priesthood suffers from the same malady as the general population. In this ever-secularizing world, a world increasingly experiencing “the absence of God”, the stabilizing core of Faith erodes, bit by bit, sometimes in ways we don’t even perceive. That is how the evil one works. It is a daily struggle for us all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7846189835239594160.post-73052541826700117182019-05-20T14:22:22.767-04:002019-05-20T14:22:22.767-04:00Fr. Martin falls into the same fallacy as many oth...Fr. Martin falls into the same fallacy as many other priests of trying to defend every priest in the room from a scattergun attack. He reaches for each BB and the target remains exposed. The attack was not against imams or rabbis so flocking with them misses the point although it doesn’t miss you. No one jeers at a man who runs too slow and misses his bus; unless it is Usain Bolt. Rabbis and imams are not Catholic priests. Yet his defense seems to depend on Catholic Priest being treated the same as all other clerics and religious. This further blunts his counter that if 5% are abusers then 95% are not. The question we chronically avoid is how to deal with the 5%. The article he addresses is based on poor reasoning if it is intended to discuss any population with a minority of offenders and is basically an exercise in bigotry if it is not. If Fr. Martin would address how we come to understand and deal with this disorder he would have not only a better defense but also show how Catholicism can benefit the secular world through a better mental process based on submission to the Will of God versus personal desires. However, that line of reasoning might challenge other assumptions Fr Martin prefers. He is surprised that a group of people who reject his values and hold his God in contempt would print these statements, yet they do it everyday. He is disappointed that they don’t respect him, much less like or admire him. He should contemplate his reasons for wanting the respect or admiration of those people and he might answer his own questions. rcghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661998350597126663noreply@blogger.com