Paul, the Missionary, was notorious for his persecu-
tion of the first followers of Christ before the Spirit of
Jesus transformed him and called him to extend the
boundaries of belonging to all. And yet, for Paul, his
sin was always before him. He famously talked about
the “thorn in his flesh” that plagued him every day to
remind him of his weakness, his fault.
As this crisis continues to unfold, I think of Peter
after denying Jesus a third time, running out of the
garden and weeping bitterly in the dust. This is where
we are today. We need to weep bitterly for the betrayal
of trust. We need to seek God’s mercy and ask again
and again for the forgiveness of those whose trust we
have betrayed.
Remember, the Eucharist was born amid betrayal.
It was on the night he was betrayed that Jesus gave us
his body and his blood. Jesus stayed at the table even
though the community of the beloved he brought
together was eroding for the very reasons the church
as institution is unravelling today: pride, power,
betrayal, greed. In the enveloping darkness, on the
night before he died, Jesus gave us bread and wine and
said, “Take this, all of you, and eat; take this all of you
and drink, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood
of the new and everlasting covenant that is poured out
for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.”
But we need more than prayer, penance, fasting, and
weeping. This crisis calls forth the need for substantial
transformation in the structures of the institution.
Each of us need to reclaim our baptismal identity and
to remember the church is us—not the institution,
cardinals, bishops, priests or provincials. The Church is
us. Our charism cal