From – The Catholic Lifestyle
One day after lectures in school, a classmate walked up to me and asked: “Are you a Catholic?” I answered Yes!
Then she proceeded, “How could you remain Catholic despite the scandals? I pretended not to know which scandals and asked her “Which scandals?”
She responded “The Sexual Abuse scandals by priests”
I asked her, “Are you insinuating that all priests are abusers? “Oh of course not!” she answered. “But just quite too many of them have done this”.
“What percentage of priests do you think are abusers?” I asked.
She was silent.
Well, I said, “even one percent is one too many of them, but does this prove that the Catholic Church is not true?”
“If they are really men of God, she said, then it’s absolutely wrong for them to do that”. Absolutely, I said!
“Does the devil hate the church of Christ?” Yes Sure, she said!
Then I asked once again, “If he so hates Christ’s church, of all the members, who else is he most likely to attack?” After some silent pause, she said “The Priests!”
This is why every one of us must pray for priests. Praying for priests doesn’t mean we support abuse in the church. It rather shows that we understand that the ministry undertaken by priests in the name of God and His Church is primarily a spiritual one. Every priest performs a deeply spiritual function by offering Mass and praying for the Church. The perfect fulfilment of that duty is an assault in itself against the works and kingdom of darkness.
Scandals in the church shouldn’t make us quit the Church.
Just like none of us rejects their mother because the meal is not tasty.
None of us disobeys the law because there are irresponsible policemen.
None of us ceases from travelling because accidents occur on the way.
None of us quits their job because our boss has committed a managerial error.
If in all these temporal and material affairs we never cease from doing the necessary, despite the pitfalls and failures of those who have responsibilities, we must not lose faith in God and His Holy Church simply because of the human error and misdeeds of some of His servants.
So despite all that is happening in the Church, don’t loose faith. Remember – YOU DON’T LEAVE JESUS BECAUSE OF JUDAS