The following letters to the editor appear in the edition of March 11, 2004. Letters appearing in this space do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arlington Catholic Herald or the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. There is no guarantee of publication. Send letters to: letters@catholicherald.com.

Carrying Our Cross

The recently released reports on the sex abuse scandal have suggested the following thoughts to me, as a layman: The best thing we as the laity can do is to pick up this cross along with out priests, deacons and the hierarchy. The victims have plenty of people to pray for them; it is the guilty, the accused and the innocent (who also suffer) that most need us to join our Lenten prayers and penance with their own this year.

Helen E. Broxmeyer
Fairfax

‘Passion’ Links to Scandal

I believe it is providential that the movie "The Passion of the Christ" and the two reports on the clergy sexual abuse crisis have come onto the contemporary scene at the same time. Clearly there are lessons to be learned now from the movie that directly pertain to the sexual abuse crisis. One major lesson is that position reflected by extravagant clerical raiment, power and control does not make a spiritual leader. In fact I believe these things obscured significantly the ability of some bishops to see clearly right from wrong, honesty from deceit and a false as opposed to a true relationship with God.

The second lesson is for all of us and was taught by Jesus in the Gospels and shown in the movie — the boundless, unconditional love of Jesus for all mankind, expressed by His powerful atonement, includes especially at this time the sinful fathers and shepherds and the innocent survivors as well. His love becomes operative as the fathers repent and make honest amends and the survivors forgive. Jesus taught that such actions would not be easy, but they would be eternally worth it.

Frank McLeskey
Fairfax Station

Love Conquers Sin

The new guardians of morality, ones who had no problem with movies like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" are finding "The Passion of the Christ" almost pornographic in its depiction of Christ’s sufferings. Some Christians also have a problem with it. Violent in the extreme it was, but if we are to appreciate what Christ did for us we have to see it as it was. The question is: did Mel Gibson overdo it?

When we realize that the Passion was the pivotal point of history, the breaking of Satan’s power, we can see that the struggle between Jesus and Satan must have been monumental. Satan had wrecked God’s original plan when he influenced our first parents to assert themselves against God, a sin so heinous that it destroyed the inner harmony of man and nature and made Satan, as Christ said, the prince of this world.

Knowing that Christ was a threat to his power, Satan sought to divert him from his mission when Christ had been weakened by his 40-day fast. He failed, and waited for another opportunity. The arrest of Jesus gave him that opportunity and he took it with a vengeance. Those who live for this world are easily influenced by the Prince of this world, and his influence was shown dramatically in the brutality Jesus suffered. We saw the work of Satan in Gibson’s movie, the terrible attempt to separate Christ from his Father’s will.

But we also saw the work of Christ, transforming each brutal act of his tormentors into an act of love. Satan, by raising the brutality to fever pitch, only deepened Christ’s submission to his Father, and when Jesus prayed for his tormentors Satan knew he had lost. Love had conquered. The critics see excessive violence and so condemn; Christians see the depth of Christ’s redeeming love and are in awe and tears.

D.F.McNeill
Front Royal

Studying the Passion

Regardless of the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ," the Church has a great opportunity to encourage the study of the Passion narratives in the four Gospels. Because of the movie, interest in the suffering and death of Jesus has probably never been higher. A good friend of mine, a Lutheran who is very interested in the study of sacred Scripture, was to teach last year a class on the Passion narratives based on the commentary by the late Father Raymond E. Brown, but no one in his parish signed up for his class. This year over 35 in the parish registered for the class, and he attributes the interest to the movie.

One Catholic periodical provided readers with a study guide to help viewers engage in an intelligent discussion about the movie. Many will go see the movie, regardless of what the critics say about it. Therefore, here is a great opportunity to help Catholics and other believers gain a better understanding of the Passion and death of the Lord. Such a study could possibly make the celebration of Lent and Passion week more meaningful.

Robert Stewart
Chantilly

Casualties in the Battle

With the release this week of the report on 50 years of statistics on child sex abuse by priests and religious, it is hoped that the bishops and the Church as a whole will treat it (along with many other moral problems of our society) as a wake-up call. Somehow our enemy, the devil, has penetrated not only our society but the Church, even to the priestly level.

Since the Church identifies herself as the Church militant, it is not surprising that there will be individual and corporate setbacks and casualties in a spiritual war. For even secular armies have casualties, especially those in the forefront of the battle. Some have been psychologically and mentally wounded even to the point where they became a danger to themselves (e.g. suicide) and to others they may come in contact with (e.g. becoming abusers and even murderers).

These conditions are understandable and should not become a cause of disrupting or disbanding the "army" providing they are addressed in justice (e.g. help and recompense for victims, punishment/restraint for perpetrators) and compassion (e.g. treatment for victims and perpetrators, where possible).

The release of the report is one step toward addressing and correcting this past failing. However, along with the policy measures that the Church’s bishops have taken and must take to rectify this evil, and recognizing that we all share to some degree in these failures, it might behoove all of us, as believers, especially as we enter Lent, to follow the Lord’s counsel: " … and if my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land" (2 Chr 7:14).

John White
Fairfax

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