As painful as the revelations concerning the Catholic abuse and cover-up scandals are, I think it is important for us to ask ourselves: Who are we coming to church for, the priests or God? (“Strong Words: Pope Again Condemns Clergy Abuse,” March 31-April 6.)

If it is God then you still go to church despite what is going on, draw ever more closer to God to get through whatever the situation. Don't get me wrong; I was quite distressed when I heard about the massive abuses that had been taking place and covered up. Then I thought of two Scripture verses that said it all for me and put me somewhat at ease.

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2).

God will never let Satan overcome the Church, so he is taking out the branches that will not change and grow, and pruning the rest. As hard as it is to live through this, we should rejoice that it is happening. We should rejoice not for the despicable things that the so-called men of God did, but rejoice that this problem is finally being dealt with and brought to light. In this way, God is reminding us who is in charge. The priests are not in charge; neither are the bishops and, as much as I love and admire him, not even the Pope.

God is ultimately in charge and everyone needs to be reminded of that. I support the clergy and religious in our Church and I think that they have an awesome and wonderful calling. We, as the congregation, must do whatever we can to help them and support them. And when they fall — and they will fall, because they are human — we should support their repentance and pray for them and the people they may have hurt along the way not to abandon God's Church to Satan. Those who do, I think, expose that they may not truly understand the role of the clergy or their role in God's Church. I was listening to a woman talking one night and she made the most incredible point. In the early Church, after the betrayal of Judas, the other 11 focused on building the Church and not on the betrayal. If they had, Jesus Christ would have never been preached.

Some have said that maybe the Church should “change with the times” and, for one thing, allow priests to marry. Let's not forget that this Church is not the world's church, but God's Church. God will make these decisions through the pope by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide him in leading us. The Church does not change with the world because the world does not own the Church. The same things that were true in Christ's time are true now. God is timeless.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Sin comes from our heart, not our circumstances. That's why we pray for God to change our hearts to what is good in his eyes.

Marriage is not the fix to this problem, God is. But, as James 2:17 says, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” Our bishops must play a role in strengthening our clergy. Stricter standards for our priests in those dioceses that are having these problems, along with allowing the police to get involved early on, are solutions that must be implemented. But, as a congregation, we must support God's Church and the many clergy who are still here and faithful. By doing this, we can all learn from this and, as a Church, grow in number and closer to God.

SHARON MARSHALL

Greenbelt, Maryland