I am embarrassed to be have been part of clergy in the Catholic Church

Here we go again, “sex orgies, prostitution and porn videos shake Catholic Church in Italy.”

Accusations of priests involved in sex orgies, porn videos and prostitution have gone public in several parishes in Italy, sending shock waves all the way to the Vatican and challenging the high standards that Pope Francis has demanded of clergy.  Do the clergy even care what the Pope says anymore?

In Naples a priest was suspended from the parish of Santa Maria degli Angeli over claims he held gay orgies and used internet sites to recruit potential partners whom he paid for sex.

The allegations concerning the Rev. Mario D’Orlando were brought to the attention of the diocese when an anonymous letter was sent to a Naples bishop. D’Orlando denied the charges when he was summoned by the city’s archbishop, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, but is now facing a formal inquiry conducted by local church officials. He has been removed from his position while the investigation is underway.

In Padua, a 48-year-old priest, the Rev. Andrea Contin, is facing defrocking as well as judicial proceedings amid accusations he had up to 30 lovers, some of whom he took to a swingers’ resort in France.

Contin was removed from his parish of San Lazzaro after three women came forward with complaints against him last December. Bishop Claudio Cipolla of Padua cut short a visit to Latin America to deal with the scandal.

Bishop Claudio Cipolla of Padua said, “This is unacceptable behavior for a priest, a Christian and even for a man.”  OH REALLY!

One woman, who claims to have been Contin’s lover for more than three years, claimed the priest carried sex toys and bondage equipment, prostituted his lovers on wife-swapping websites and also invited other priests from the area to sex parties.  Is this a scandal or a CRIME?

Pope Francis had telephoned him personally at the end of January to offer his support and urge him to stay “strong.”  Why would the pope do that if he really took sex abuse seriously?  Did he contact the abused in the case and tell them to stay strong and prosecute the creep and offer his support?

The pope says he has taken a tough line on ethical behavior in the church, but he  also recognizes the reality of human imperfection and personal flaws.  The has spoken out many times against “temptation,” and last week he told a gathering of clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome that faith could not progress without the challenge of temptation.  It sounds to me like the pope makes a lot of excuses for the clergy.

Alberto Melloni,  a professor of church history at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, said there is nothing unusual about scandals in the priesthood. IT SHOULD BE!    More excuses.  He went on to say, “There is no sin that a cleric doesn’t commit. Scandals to me seem quite normal, “That is the problem the hierarchy of the Catholic Church really believes it is normal.”

in the Italian diocese of Albenga-Imperia in late 2014, clerics posted nude photos of themselves on gay websites, sexually harassed the faithful and stole church funds.  I guess that is normal to!

The pope says, “He distinguishes between sinfulness and corruption and was intent on “rooting out” corruption inside the church.”  I guess that means he is more concerned with clergy stealing church funds than sex abuse.  I see them both as crimes against humanity.

“The problem is when priests turn their backs on the people, lead hidden lives and end up justifying their conduct. That’s corruption.”  I am glad he explained the difference.  It seems to me the hierarchy of the church do all they can to excuse or justify clergy abuse so why shouldn’t the clergy.

The Bible states - God will not put more on you than you can stand - NOT TRUE!

The Bible states, “God will not put more on you than you can stand” – NOT TRUE!

If you believe me wrong read 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 and Matthew 11:28-30 again it does not say what you may have thought it said or some sentimental Christian or religious leader told you it said.

People are surprised to find that at no time in the movie Casablanca does Rick ever say, “Play it again, Sam.”  It is also surprising to know that in over 79 Star Trek episodes and 6 movies, no one ever actually says, “Beam me up, Scotty.” But people all assume that those clichés and many others are from the films and movies they attribute them, too.

It works the same with the Bible.  There are all kinds of things that people assume the Bible says but it actually doesn’t.  At the top of that list is “The Lord helps those who help themselves” with something like 80% of Christians believing that quote is from the Bible. It’s actually from the Ancient Greeks by way of Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac.

But in a close second is the statement: “God never gives you more than you can bear.”  It is frequently “quoted” to people in times of distress with great certainty.  Everything will be alright—the suffering one is told—God wouldn’t have given you this trial if you couldn’t get through it. It is quite comforting to those suffering until they find out it is not true and then they begin to doubt God because of you ‘YOUR’ biblical untruth.

There is a quote like it; but there is nothing that says “God will never give you more than you can bear.”  The quote that is frequently used to back up the idea, from 1 Corinthians, doesn’t really say what people think it does. It actually says, “No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people … God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities ...”

Paul is reminding his readers that God will not allow people to be tempted beyond their abilities.  That is, there is no temptation that you should feel you are powerless against, because God would not allow you to be tempted by something you couldn’t resist. If you’re being tempted, in Paul’s thinking, it’s something you are strong enough to resist. That is a far different thing from claiming that nothing bad will happen to you or that you will not have to bear a burden that you cannot bear alone, without God.

Paul even states they suffered burdens they could not bear in their own strength, “We were weighed down with a load of suffering that was so far beyond our strength that we were afraid we might not survive.” (2 Corinthians 1:8). We are also told in Psalm 38:8, “I’m worn out, completely crushed; I groan because of my miserable heart” and in Psalm 38:4, “My wrongdoings are stacked higher than my head; they are a weight that’s way too heavy for me.” Elijah was told by an angel:  “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” (1 Kings 19:7). Let us not forget Jesus, too, who died in agony on the cross, cried out “My God, My God, why have you left me?”

Not only is it not found in scripture our life experiences do not bear it out. There are all kinds of things that happen that we cannot bear. Sometimes our lives come crashing down around us.

Trite platitudes that are designed to make people feel better are harmful to Christianity. Can you imagine someone saying to an inmate at Auschwitz don’t worry - God never gives you more than you can bear or saying it to a woman whose children are killed by a long buried landmine while they were playing or a refugee who survived the massacre of her entire village or someone who has just been given a diagnosis of a terminal illness?

I am thankful that we Catholic’s have the crucifix and not just a cross for it reminds  us that our faith is driven by the hope and the promise of the Resurrection, but that we still live very much in a world defined by the Crucifixion – pain and suffering.

When you tell suffering people that God never gives them more than they can bear and they are being crushed at the time by problems you are causing them to question what is wrong with them?  What are they doing wrong?  Why isn’t God helping them? You are not bringing them to God you are pushing them away from God. If you do not have more comforting words than that to give them then keep your mouth shut and listen.

If you truly believe no problem comes your way that you cannot bear then you are making it about you and not God. Why do you need God if you alone can bear all your problems? Christ said, “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” Christ did not tell us to go it alone. Our faith is demonstrated by our recognition that we cannot bear the burdens ourselves and trust in the grace of God who bears them with us.

The church should be a place where you can come and say, “I have a burden that I cannot bear” and instead of being judged for having a weak faith, you are surrounded by a network of love and support that will bear that burden with you.  Just as Christ takes upon himself the burdens we cast upon him, unfortunately to many church going Christians and religious leaders have forgotten that.

The Gospel reminds us that our problems do not disappear because we have become followers of Christ, but we are promised that in those sufferings we are not alone. God does not make us suffer alone He is always with us. God will stand beside us in our times of trouble.

“Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest.”

Do not beat yourself up when you fail and give in to temptations that you told God in prayer that you would not do again.  God is happy for all the days that the temptation came up and you did not give in and does not hold against you the days that you did. God will is patient!  Just pick yourself up and try again.  God is a God of more than one chance.

Did Jesus teach us to pray "Lead us not into temptation"?

Did Jesus teach us to pray “lead us not into temptation” or is there a problem in the translation or a problem in the construction of the sentence?   We know from James 1:13 that God does not tempt us to sin.  If He did, He would be acting contrary to His holy nature, against His desire for us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and against all other commandments in Scripture that tell us to avoid sin and flee temptation.

Some people will say the phrase must be understood in the sense of "permitting."  Do not "allow" us, or "permit" us, to be tempted to sin.  This implies God has control to save us from temptation if we call upon Him.  I believe whole heartily God is in control of everything, but is it better to try and fix a scripture in the Bible in order for that scripture to makes sense to us or just admit it could be some kind of error and we do not know for sure.

It is possible that the Greek, which has three, rather than two, degrees of active/passive voice suffered from a misinterpretation of the Aramaic and that what Christ said actually meant "do not let us be led into temptation".

I like the petition offered by David in Psalm 141:4: "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with the workers of iniquity."  Regardless of either petition we must remember God is our deliverer and we are to pray to Him as such.  It is never God's desire for us to be led into sin.  If we resist the devil, we are promised that he will flee from us.  James 4:7 states, "Submit your selves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  

God doesn't tempt us, but He allows us to be put into situations where our faith is tested and strengthened.  God always provides a way out of or around temptation.  It is also important to remember that we are unable to resist temptation without God's grace.  I believe it is not the temptation itself that leads us to sin, but the lack of resistance and trust in the Lord for deliverance from the temptation.  As Christians, we are in a constant fight with the desires born of our sinful natures - should I please myself or God?  We are in constant need of God's guidance so that our needs and desires are kept in proper balance. 

Do not throw out the entire Lord’s Prayer because of the confusion you may have with one line or simply because the English interpretation of the line may be an incorrect translation of what Christ actually said.  If you feel a need to then substitute, “Help me not be led into temptation". 

St. James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything," (James 1:3-5).  Perhaps we do not want to avoid temptation all together, but instead not give into temptation. 

Do not allow theological questions; despite the enormous debate and trouble they may cause becomes a barrier to your faith.  I try not to get hung up on such small questions.  I would rather not be tempted and I have no problem asking God not to tempt me or not to let me be tempted.  He knows that I am trying to pray in the way I was told Christ taught us to pray.  When you say the line "lead us not into temptation", God understands that you are praying not to sin and that you are worried that you might give in to temptation.  You don't have to have a Ph.D. in theology to be a good Christian. 

If you are praying with a sincere heart God knows what you mean.  He knows you are asking for help to resist temptation and that is what really matters.