As the scandal in the Church broadens, I remain firm in my faith. For it is not in humans that I place my faith. It is in God Almighty. twelve great men who followed Him. Each one of them bore witness to the many miracles that Jesus performed. They saw Him walk on water. They saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. They saw Jesus cast out demons and make the blind see. They were there at the wedding at Cana and watched Him turn the water into wine and when they were at the Sermon on the Mount they watched with amazement when Jesus fed 5,000 men and only His Father knows how many women and children were fed with a basket containing a few fish and a couple loves of bread.

Twelve Apostles, that's how many faithful followers he chose. There was however one Apostle, Judas Iscariot that broke from the group when he plotted to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. All the Apostles witnessed Jesus and the miracles He had performed. Yes it was Judas, one of Jesus Christ beloved that betrayed Him with a kiss, a sign of love. Judas was one of twelve Apostles, to lose one out of twelve followers was a sizable loss. That's about 8.3% of His first disciples that had failed Him and the church. By today's standard that's pretty high, after all there are currently 34,000 active Priests in the United States. To equal that there would have to be 3,000 Priests accused of the sin of pedophilia to equal that 8.3%. The numbers we are hearing about don't come close to that figure. The only one I can think of that was conceived without sin was the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a fact that the rest of us were born with original sin and that we are all sinful by nature, therefore we are subject to sinful temptations. There is not one Cleric, Priest, Minister, Deacon, Bishop, Cardinal, Layman, Laywoman or child that is without sin. We were born into sin and even my Protestant brothers and sisters would agree with me that we are Christians today for that very reason. We all agree on the fact that Jesus Christ suffered, died and was buried and rose from the dead three days later to forgive our sinfulness and give us the gift of Salvation.

Now let's go back to Jesus and the twelve apostles some two thousand years ago. Compare it to today; a few Priests in the church have sinned against innocent children. Yes that is a terrible sin and justice must be served for them in the here and now, and it will! Justice will also be served on judgment day for these Priests before God. You and I will be sure to see the judgment that will be passed upon these Priests here in this world, what we will not see is the eternal judgment that will be served upon these Priests! They now have an opportunity to draw on the redeeming grace and promise of Jesus Christ offering all sinners salvation and forgiveness if they are sorry for their sins.

If we dwell on the terrible accusations placed on a few Priests and put all the good and faithful Priests into judgment for their actions, then we are coming against the Church that Jesus Christ brought together through His ministry here on earth. If just 2,000 years ago the Christians of that time would have focused their attention on Judas and judged the other eleven apostles according to the actions of Judas, then the Church would have surely failed. So we too must not judge thousands of Priests over the actions of a few. Note also that Judas was not the only sinner among the apostles, Peter denied Jesus Christ not once but three times. Imagine what a terrible sin that must have been, he could be likened to a traitor. Also think of Thomas, who without seeing the nail prints and putting his fingers into the wounds of Christ would not believe. Refer to scripture Jesus said to Thomas.

John 20: vs. 29
"You believe because you can see me.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

So actually 25% of the first Twelve Apostles are recorded in the history books as sinners. We all can be assured that each and every one of the Apostles sinned at one time or another because of their humanity.

Sin, we are all guilty of it to different degrees. Sin is the reason Jesus Christ was born into this world! Jesus came to forgive all sins by His sacrifice at the altar of the cross. There are several great lessons to be learned here, first our Church and it's leaders must allow themselves to be humbled by God. Humility is among the greatest of virtues and it has a powerful cleansing effect. At the first sign of sin we as a Church must stand before God and others and admit our shortcomings. We must not try to hide them hoping they will go away. We should bring them to the surface and admit that we too are capable of sin and wrongdoing. It is in our humility and love for all that we can be healed and become a stronger body of Christ surviving any battles we have to face in temptation and attacks of satan. It is this honesty and humility that we must practice everyday in order to win great victories over satan and his legions of demons.

You may recall this scripture from John it applies well here!
In John Chapter 8: 3 through 11.
The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in the middle they said to Jesus, "Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?" They asked him this as a test, looking for an accusation to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, "Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her."
Then he bent down and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until the last one had gone and Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained in the middle.
Jesus again straightened up and said, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she replied. "Neither do I condemn you," said Jesus. "Go away, and from this moment sin no more."

As a part of our relationship with Jesus Christ we are expected to be Christ like. So many times in the Scriptures Jesus gives us examples of how we should live and how we should love one another. He teaches us that we should not judge lest we too will be judged. That in it self should give us some cause to cast our eyes upon other's goodness and not on their faults. Who better than Jesus Christ should be the one to teach us of a never-ending love and forgiveness? After all not one of us has suffered persecution, torment, humiliation, betrayal and even death in the suffering He had! Jesus the Christ was never accused of anything that could bring such a sentence. Yet, Jesus forgives and offers each and every one of us eternal life and salvation just for the asking.

Who among you will cast the first stone? Rather than casting stones let us reach out in Christ's love and heal, together let us pray for our fallen Priests and Clergy. Let us as a church and body of believers pray for the protection of St. Michael the Archangel for our entire good and faithful Priests. Let us ask God to continue to bless them in their service to God and to mankind.

Let us pray that like the Prodigal son, they will return to the family of God in holiness and in service.For God will rejoice and He will celebrate their return and their humility.

Let us also remember prayerfully the victims of the sins of the accused Priests. That God will heal them, that God will gently restore their faith in Him and all of His creation and in His church. That God will grant them the graces needed to love and to forgive those who have abused them. That God in His goodness will open opportunities for those victims to receive healing through the same Church that once hurt them.

May God almighty Bless and keep us all faithful and true to His holy word until we meet Him on that day we shall be judged. May God be kind to us and give us life everlasting in Paradise.