Bishop Michael F. Burbidge celebrated Mass to pray for victims/survivors of sexual abuse at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Arlington June 17.
Immediately following the Mass, Susan Lee sat in the fellowship hall with her husband and spoke openly about her lifelong struggle after being sexually abused by a family member when she was 6 years old.
“We’re victims of something you’re not supposed to talk about,” said Lee, who just turned 74. “The more we keep it in the dark and not shine a light on it, the more it happens. I think it is so powerful that Bishop (Michael F.) Burbidge does this on a regular basis. He engages with us often.”
He assured victims in his homily of his total support. “Our sincere expression of heartfelt sorrow and deep regret for what they have experienced must be matched with ongoing work and tireless efforts to implement and improve policies and procedures that, with the grace of God will eradicate the sexual abuse of any individual,” he said. “It must be matched by our sharing of the resources, time and availability that we can offer — an imitation of the compassion of Christ who is the source of all healing.”
Lee, a parishioner of St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax, praised the efforts of the diocesan Office of Victim Assistance and Father James S. Barkett, St. Mary’s pastor, for her healing and eventual return to the church. “It was a long, slowly developing relationship with our pastor over 14 years,” she said. “I had not been to confession since I was a teenager. I went to his office for confession April 8, 2019 — the date is seared in my mind — and from that date, life has changed. He has been so kind and so supportive in so many ways that it’s led me back into the church and for the first time, a relationship with Christ. He was absolutely in persona Christi to me and continues to be so.”
Bishop Burbidge acknowledged that many in attendance “may be burdened or overwhelmed, distressed or anxious. We may be suffering physically, spiritually, and/or emotionally,” he said. “Whenever we come into the presence of the Lord as we do this evening and allow him to enlighten us with his word and to feed us with the precious gift of his body and blood, we are no longer the same. When we allow the Lord to open his arms and embrace us in his healing love, we become a new person. We become a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord. The one who lives and reigns forever and ever.”
