If You're Angry about Recent Scandals, (Don't) Close Your Eyes

It seems to be a season of scandals in the Church lately and it makes me really mad.

Reading on the McCarrick scandal one day and the layers of ambivalence that made it possible the next, it makes you want to wretch.

Ralph Martin has a letter to discouraged Catholics worth reading. Among his recommendations are prayer for our pope and bishops, fidelity to Christ in our daily lives, and remembering that the Church is founded on him.

It’s great advice. I think another thing to remember is to not turn our eyes away from scandal. It is so ugly and enraging, but maybe our hearts need to break for this. (I think of a friend I was speaking with with recently about the movie Spotlight, about scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. I was moved that as we spoke about it he actually wept in frustration.) 

Thinking of our leaders who have perpetrated or allowed this, I am reminded of when God counselled Israel against having a human king. He (or we) will always disappoint.

It’s hard to admit that there is filth in the Church, and that we are capable of either doing horrible things and ignoring them. That angst is probably why I am listening to more aggressive music lately.

There is this no-longer-active Christian band that really speaks to me lately called (ironically) Close Your Eyes.

This is a band that I wish was still around. They have a gift of putting words to frustration about the indifference and brokenness we encounter in the world, and in ourselves.

And sometimes, screaming about something seems more appropriate that talking about it.

From the song "Digging Graves":

We are forsaken; empty shells still fill our seats
How quick we choose to forget the desolation in the streets
I can't believe this; that we still won't see the truth
I won't quietly sit and choose not to be moved

They say this world is what I make of it
Am I the only one that wants to see a change?
I've turned my back on all my brothers dying in their broken homes
I dug the graves of the ones I am called to love

When I think of the abusers and those who allowed for abuse to continue, digging graves seems an appropriate image.

When I think of the abusers and those who allowed for abuse to continue, digging graves seems an appropriate image.

But the song is actually an examination of conscience. It forces me to look inward and confront personal ambivalence. Have I prayed against injustice? Have I fasted?

Another lyric from the song "The Body" evokes St. Francis:

There has to be something more
Hope without action can't be the end
I can say, "I love you,” but it's never enough

Aren't we the ones who walk the narrow road?
Aren't we the voices that come from before the throne?
And when we stand for revolution's sake, the world will know...
They'll know your name.

And this can't be the body you spoke of. I've forgotten how to love!

But ultimately, despair is not an option. Hope must accompany righteous indignation in any Christian response to this situation.

From "Song for the Broken":

This is where I lift my hands
And say enough is enough!
So many people are broken
And they're not getting up
This is our offering; this is our hope!
This is what we believe in,
And we're not giving up

This is my worship; this is my life
To bring hope into this broken world
This is my worship; this is my life
To bring hope into this broken world

I don’t know if this is part of a reconciling process, but I need to feel indignation filled with hope right now. And Close Your Eyes helps me feel that.

If you are angry, and feel like screaming in this difficult season in the Church, give the album We Will Overcome a listen. 

And thinking of our leaders, maybe we need to regularly remind ourselves daily that while our human princes disappoint, there is one King is who is truly sovereign, steadfast and trustworthy.

King Jesus, you will never let us down. 

Related article: How to Rebuild Trust in the Church