I don't even know where to begin...

Pope got it right, but did the Apostles?

I think Benedict had a very fruitful visit to the US. I was very impressed with the way he addressed the sexual abuse scandals head-on from the outset of his trip--on the plane before even arriving on US soil. I think it was healing to hear the pope say that he was "deeply ashamed" by what happened. He could have ignored it or brushed it off like so many Catholics as a media created problem. Instead he owned, embraced it and sought reconciliation for it. He met with victims and heard their stories. Very powerful, very healing.

On another note...

Yesterday's first reading at mass was from Acts 6:1-7. It's the story of the first deacons. Apparently, there were some issues between the Gentile & Jewish Christian widows not being treated fairly in the distribution of food. The Apostles gathered everyone together and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table." Then they asked for the community to nominate trustworthy men to handle this task so the could "devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." So my question is, "Did the Apostles get it wrong?"

Let's face it, the bible is full of stories of God's chosen leaders making mistakes. Abraham had Ishmael before Isaac. Moses struck the rock twice instead of once. Saul took a census. David had the Bathsheba affair. The Apostles themselves continued to miss the point throughout their time with Jesus. They argued over who was greatest among them. They tried to send the crowds away before Jesus fed them with a few loaves and fish. They tried to keep the children from Jesus. They grumbled when the woman anointed Christ's feet with oil. Peter cut off the servants ear then denied Jesus. All of them fled. Peter and Paul argued over treatment of Gentile converts.

So, why should we assume that in this instance they got right? In fact, this could be a case of them acting as they did with the crowds and children. Their actions seem to be very different that what we know of how Christ acted. He tried to teach them the importance of serving the "least of these". He wrapped the towel around his waist and washed their feet--to the dismay of Peter--to demonstrate the importance of leading through serving. They always seemed to be caught up in the leading thing, but not so much the serving thing. Is that what was at work in this decision? It seems like they were saying "We're too important & our time is too valuable to get caught up worrying about how the widows are cared for or how food is distributed to the poor so let's delegate this to someone else to worry about."

Is this the start of the separation of clergy & laity? Is this the birth of the idea that pastors are the ones primarily responsible for the "spiritual" jobs in the church? Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox, every denomination has this attitude seemingly built in to the congregation. Professional ministers are somehow more special than the rest of us & we need to set things up for them to devote all of their time to spiritual things. Is this a hand-me-down from the Apostles? Were they wrong to separate the spiritual and temporal? Am I wrong to question this?

Sometimes it sucks to be me

My paying, day-to-day job is working as a claims manager at a local auto insurance company. About 6 weeks ago the management team was informed that our corporate office had decided to "reduce staffing" in our office. This was going to impact every level within the claims department from support staff to managers. I've had to spend the better part of the last six weeks going over the numbers and reworking staffing models all the while not even sure if I was going to be a part of the company's future. I've had to work with people everyday knowing that some of them were going to be "separated" from the company and they didn't have a clue. It was only just a few days ago that I learned that I was "safe" and would be retained. Today was D-Day. I had to meet with eleven people from my department that I've been working with closely for the past several years and deliver the bad news to them. I had to spend the evening, after everyone else had gone home for the day, packing up the personal belongings of those who had been "impacted" by the company's "reorganization" earlier in the day--they were not allowed to return to their desks. Today sucked.