BISHOP OLMSTED

In my previous articles, I began to look at the current crisis in the Church resulting from the sins of priests and bishops.

For centuries, the Church has been referred to as the “Barque of St. Peter” passing over the waters toward her heavenly destiny. It was in Peter’s boat that Jesus sat as He taught the crowds (Cf. Lk 5).

This month, I begin a new series that addresses the scandals of the Church that came to light across our nation this past summer.

In the earliest centuries of the Christian faith, the rite of Baptism with its powerful gestures, words and symbolism had a strong emphasis on conversion, a radical reorientation of one’s whole life away from sin and toward God.

Any pilgrim arriving before St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome immediately feels a sense of joy and majesty, before the immense proportions and exceptional quality of the art and architecture.

A favorite Biblical image used by the Church Fathers to describe the fragility and complexity of human life is that of a potter working with clay.

According to a Greek legend, Damocles, from the court of the tyrant ruler of Syracuse, voiced his desire to have the riches and pleasures of the king just for one day. And so, the next day, Damocles was led into the palace, and all the servants were bidden to treat him as their master.

Last month, we began to consider one of the Christian doctrines that many find deeply troubling, namely hell.

Hell is one of the least popular of all Christian doctrines. Many people have trouble reconciling the existence of hell with the truth that God is all good and all loving.

In Rome, amid the district of four-star hotels, expensive restaurants and luxurious residences on Via Veneto, there resides a strange church belonging to the Capuchin Friars called Santa Maria della Concezione, popularly known as the “Bone Church.”