First Things RSS Feed - Sister Mary Catharine of Jesus, O.P. https://www.firstthings.com/author/sister-mary-catharine-of-jesus-op en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:52:06 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/sister-mary-catharine-of-jesus-op 60 Scandal, Prayer, and Penance https://www.firstthings.com/article/2003/11/scandal-prayer-and-penance https://www.firstthings.com/article/2003/11/scandal-prayer-and-penance Sat, 01 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0500 When my family in Massachusetts first told me the news of priests in Boston being accused of pedophilia, I listened with half an ear, quickly filing it away as yet another piece of gossip to discredit the Catholic Church. Yet as the volume of accusations intensified, I knew I could not ignore it. Living the monastic life means that I was spared the media saturation on the issue. We get the daily paper and subscribe to a few news journals both secular and Catholic, so let’s say that I am informed. But while the media might give me the facts, my response has little to do with them. Yes, as many have noted, the scandal was occasioned by appalling acts of sin. But for me the scandal prompted reflection not so much on the reality of sin as on the deeper reality of God’s unbounded forgiveness.

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