Dear God...I should have stopped reading news about the Roman Catholic Church. I should have stopped reading commentary about my religion by culture critics and political pundits. Actually, I should have stopped reading news and commentary about all institutional manifestations of Christianity. Christian behavior has been conspicuously absent within Christendom lately.
Not that I am without sin in this regard, but let the record show that I pitched my online fits about the Williamson snafu eighteen days before Lent began. And haven't I been been uncharacteristically silent about the embarrassing mess that Vatican communications has become? Okay, that's a wee lie. I've posted comments on others' blogs about this ridiculousness.
[I could, mind you, cite examples of WTF from other liturgical churches. I follow what's happening among Episcopalians and Lutherans, in addition to Roman and Byzantine Rite Catholics.]
And yet, maybe God has graced me with exactly the Lenten journey I needed. Reading religion news and the intra-communion vitriol passing for commentary has certainly felt penitential. I feel as if I've spent the past thirty-six days wandering around a parched desert filled with dry bones, empty skulls, stinging insects, and hostile tribes willing to exile their own while warring with one another. Except for the Eucharist, precious little nourishment.
Our trudge with and to the Cross continues for another eight days. I'm looking forward to renewing my baptismal promises during the great vigil of Easter. How about you?
