BUSINESS: Jesus speaks to the simple fact of corruption in business in the parable of the dishonest businessman (see Luke 16:8). High performance, zero trustworthiness. Kind of reminds me “Cardinal” MaCarrick, whose perspective was fed by his position in the Church. More peacock than servant. He was able to come up with money to impress his admirers. As the USCCB says about just about everything: perception is the be all and end all of all morality.
DevGru: Meanwhile, the SEALs, the ultimate high-performance operators, are trying to stay alive. While they do value performance, they’re willing to compromise a bit on that so as be assured of absolute trust.
CIA: I suppose they see themselves as realists, having it that they only trust a guy who has a price at which he cannot be trusted. They cannot trust a guy who is loyal to principles. That could be a what you say (no one is actually loyal to anything or anyone) is what you are fulfillment of a childhood mantra. Perhaps they’ve been burnt too many times by those they thought were exceptionally good people. I don’t know.
Priesthood: Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied Jesus. All the others ran away when it came to the crunch. Judas never returned. John came back to Calvary straight away. Peter and rest became martyrs for Jesus.
What’s the perception, as the bishops say? The priesthood is not trusted, usually because of low performance in being with the Lord’s Little Flock, for Communion Calls, for Confessions, for Last Rites. And because of that, few can be trusted. Meanwhile, some priests think that performance means good collections for the chancery, or for evil Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Campaign for Human Development. How do you trust Peter’s Pence when it invests in Elton John movies, or in awkward real estate deals, or allegedly just lets that money be embezzled?
Jesus took us deadly serious. He wants us to be deadly serious with Him. He wants us to witness to the absolute truth of His love, standing in our place as He did, innocent for the guilty, taking on the punishment for sin we deserve so that He would have the right in His own justice to have mercy on us, with the mercy founded on that justice, making the mercy majestic, awesome.
We were cynical. Can it be that we can trust in His mercy? If we see His wounds, we say yes. But we often look away, and say that God is just a figment of our abstract imaginations out in outer-space some where. We gotta be the Thomas, and put our fingers into His wounds, our hands into His side, His Heart, after rising from the dead: “My Lord and my God.”
But a lot of people aren’t at that point. They only see the priests and bishops who are in front of them, and become cynical. Here’s the deal, when it all gets too intense, people are going to test us as they tested Jesus. Firstly a little marginalization, a little making life hell, but even unto death. Is all this about Jesus really true? Is there love? Is there truth? We don’t see much of it in this world. “Tell me it’s true!” They have a right to know. Jesus bled out for us. And rose from the dead. If that’s not a witness that’s being given, people have a right to try to make that witnessing happen.
People aren’t going to bother McCarrick for such witness. Why bother?
People are going to go to priests and laity who have been witnessing all the time, but they are so frantic for good witness that they will push it all the more. This is when we start to see torture and death. It’s happened everywhere and continuously, whatever culture, people, tribe, tongue or nation.
I’ll tell you what: that kind of witnessing, unto dead, is fast coming where it has not already arrived. People are not receiving proper witness to Jesus wounds. They’ve lost trust. Now they want to see the ultimate performance. But it seems that every single day, multiple times a day, we are smashed down by the religious powers that be:
- Worship demon-idol Pachamama
- You’re mandated to get the abortion-tainted murder-suicide “vaccine”
- LGBTQI+ whatever alphabet mockery of God must have civil protection
- Jesus’ marriage with the Church by His wedding vows (my Body given over for you and my blood poured out for you in Sacrifice) is to be mocked with lesbian women-priests
- Confessions and Last Rites are forbidden by priests who don’t have the “vaccine”
- Absolutions must be given to those who are unrepentant, encouraging them to go to Holy Communion
- The traditional Sacrifice of the Mass must be held to be invalid as no expression at all of the Latin Rite.
On and on it goes. How to regain real trust and the actual exercise of the priestly ministry in all integrity and honesty? Lot’s of prayer. But, I think, also through a persecution.
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 
So many are unhappy with their lives – longing for love alongside hatred for truth building together, reaching a point where that longing and hatred can hardly contain itself, persecution of Christ and Christians simmering just under the surface ready to erupt. I have witnessed that building for some years but most starkly yet, a little before Christmas, when my son (not the son who is my carer) phoned and let fly all his hatred for me because I raised him Catholic. So many have been led astray and in their ever deepening misery are desperate to take out all their spleen upon another while all the while wanting that scapegoat – the enemy they perceive that other person to be – to love them and take away their pain. The problem is that they want the depravity they have fallen into accepted and praised as proof that they are loved, and that is not possible even though the person himself is deeply loved. It causes me to wonder if we have reached that point in history when man will welcome the anti-Christ: he who appears to offer the love of Christ while simultaneously encouraging all that is evil.
There are three things that keep coming to my mind in response to the (church, political, world) situation surrounding us today. First , so many in positions of power and those who destroy others (mainly priests) looking for financial gain, by their words or actions (or lack thereof) will hear Jesus say, “what you did to others you did to me”. Yow! Those words make shivers run down my neck.
Second, “to whom much is given much will be expected” – another, “oh oh!” No comments needed here – you covered it already Father George.
Finally knowing that Jesus knows everything – that we will not be judged and then think, ‘if I only had a better lawyer”, or, ‘if I had said this or omitted that.’ That fact gives me a lot of comfort and is very reassuring for me.
Having said that – I am holding on to the words – JESUS I TURST IN YOU and pray for those who don’t.
Sounds like it’s all going to hell in a hand basket , but I know of this little Catholic Church in the mountains where there’s this priest who can be trusted and will take you to heaven , even if your kicking and screaming all along the way.