The sexual abuse scandal has gripped the Catholic Church for the past thirty years,
and continues to wreak havoc even today. It's been a diabolical masterpiece, one that has compromised
the work of the Church in every way and has left countless lives in ruins. Many Catholics are understandably
asking, “Why should I stay? Why not abandon this sinking ship before it drags me or my children
under?"
In this stirring manifesto, Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic
Ministries and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, explains why this is not the time to
leave, but the time to stay and fight. Reading the current crisis through the lenses of Scripture and Church
history, Bishop Barron shows that we have faced such egregious scandals before; that the spiritual treasures
of the Church were preserved by holy men and women who recommitted themselves to fighting evil; and that
there is a clear path forward for us today.
For Catholics questioning their faith, searching
desperately for encouragement and hope, this book will offer reasons to stay and fight for the Body of
Christ.
Want to make sure your parishioners read the new book after you pass it out? So do we.
That's why we've partnered with Flocknote to create a free, five-part video course for your parish, which comes with
prewritten emails, text messages, and discussion questions to walk your parish through the book, chapter by
chapter. Here's how it works:
When you activate the course, parishioners will receive one
short email or text message per week, over five weeks--so just five total. Each message corresponds to one
of the five chapters in the book, and each message contains a short video reflection by Bishop Barron
followed by a few discussion questions to use as a parish through Flocknote's private discussion
system--so the conversations will only be visible to parish staff and other parishioners, not the public.
It’s a chance for your parish leaders to dialogue with parishioners about this important topic and ensure
the whole parish is reading and absorbing the book together.
You simply choose the launch date
(i.e., when the first email/text goes out to your parish), and then everything else works automatically,
with no extra work. Think of it like a free, turn-key, parish-wide book study—all done through Flocknote, in
just a couple clicks.
If your parish already uses Flocknote, you'll find the free video
course in your Flocknote Library. If not, sign up now at wordonfire.org/engage.
Lord Jesus Christ, through your Incarnation you accepted a human nature and lived a
real, human life. Setting aside the glory of your divinity, you met us face to face in the vulnerability
of our humanity.
Though without sin, you accepted sinners, offering forgiveness and placing
yourself before even the most unworthy as a servant and a friend. You became small and weak in the
estimation of the powerful, so that you might elevate to glory the small and weak of the
world.
Your descent into our nature was not without risk, as it exposed you to the assaults
of the darkest and most terrifying of humanity’s fallen desires—our cruelty and narrowness, our
deceptions and our denials. All this culminated in the cross, where your divine love was met with the
full fury of our malice, our violence, and our estrangement from your grace.
You offered
yourself to us with innocence and receptivity, and this was met with the abuse of your body, humiliation
and mockery, betrayal and isolation, torture and death. All this—even the dereliction of feeling
abandoned by God—you accepted. You became a victim, so that all those victimized since the beginning of
the world would know you as their advocate. You went into the darkness, so that all those compelled into
the dark by human wickedness would discover in you a radiant light.
Grant we pray, O Lord,
healing for all victims of sexual abuse. Purify your Church of corruption. Bring justice to those who
have been wronged. Grant consolation to all who are afflicted. Cast your light to banish the shadows of
deception. Manifest to all your advocacy of those who have been so cruelly hurt, and your judgment upon
those who, having perpetrated such crimes, remain unrepentant. Compel those in your Church whom you have
entrusted to safeguard the innocent and act on behalf of the victims to be vigilant and zealous in their
duties. Restore faith to those from whom it has been stolen, and hope to those who have
despaired.
Christ the Victim, we call out to you!
Strengthen your faithful to
accept the mission placed before us, a mission of holiness and truth. Inspire us to become advocates of
those who have been harmed. Grant us strength to fight for justice. Impart to us courage so that we
might forthrightly face the challenges to come. Raise up saints from your Church, and grant us the grace
to become the saints you desire us to be. This we ask of you, who live and reign with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
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ministry.
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