Scandals, sinners, and faith

One of the extremely neat bits about this Lent for me is all the serendipitous reading that keeps happening. For example, earlier today, I was thinking about the upcoming Showtime mini-series, The Borgias, and how to respond should anyone bring up the subject and ask, "Look at that filth! How can you possibly be part of an institution that had them in it?!"

And then I read this hitting-the-nail-square-on-the-head article from Archbishop Timothy Dolan. An excerpt:

"The point is that, if the life, vigor, holiness, and efficacy of the Church depended only upon the virtue of priests and bishops, it would have been dead-on-arrival, not surviving that afternoon when the sun hid in shame and the earth shuddered in sadness.

"Our faith is not in popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, or even in monsignors. Nope: our faith is only in Jesus. He and He alone will never let us down; He will never sin; He and He alone will never break a promise; He and He alone deserves our absolute trust and confidence.

"That's why it's especially tragic when someone leaves Jesus and His Church because of a sin, scandal, or slight from a priest or bishop. If your faith depended on us, it was misplaced to begin with. We priests and bishops might represent Jesus and shepherd His Church, however awkwardly -- but we are not Jesus and His Church."
Read the full article.