Over the last few years with everything crashing down around us, I've heard many people despair of their Church and use the crises as a reason to go elsewhere or go nowhere at all.
I don't think anyone would have a better reason to lose faith or quit the Catholic Church than Walter Denton.
Raped by a parish priest who he admired with all his heart and wanted to be like when he grew up, and the same man who became an Archbishop, Walter should be raging against the Church that permitted this animal to prey on children like him and which STILL has not reached out to him (at least locally).
Yet, he provides an example for us all. To the end of this video, around 50 minutes, here's the exchange:
JESSE: Are you still Catholics?
WALTER: Yes we are.
JESSE: Do you still go to church?
WALTER: Yes. I have never lost my faith in the Catholic faith. I still believe in our Lord Jesus Christ in what he has done for us.
JESSE: Do you serve in the church in any capacity? (Like a lector.)
WALTER: No. I don’t. It’s been hard for me to go to church. It’s been hard for me to attend Mass and look at the priest who is giving the Mass. I’m just wondering if he’s doing this because he wants to do it or is he doing it because he has to do it. Either you want to do it because you love the Church, you love doing this. But I haven’t lost my faith.
Here is the KUAM Facebook post of the video which shows all the supportive comments as well.
To watch it on Vimeo, go here.
Thank you for posting this again, Tim. I, too, have not lost my faith in the Lord or in my Catholic beliefs. Although I have been queried, belittled, teased, mocked, and counseled by others (some in my own family), I remain steadfast in my faith and I continue to fight the good fight and defend the true Catholic Church. When we read and hear the truth, when we see the abuse ourselves, when we stand together and support each other, we will not fail. I saw and experienced that this morning as we marched in front of the Cathedral and when we were greeted by Archbishop Hon himself. We did not let up, we did not back down, we respectfully declined the invitation to join him in that mass and we continued to pray and march with our signs. I am convinced more than ever that the Lord is leading us to the Light. As Ray said, "Onward Christian Soldiers"!
ReplyDeleteAmen!
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