Some day, I'm going to search the news for Catholic events, and maybe I'll see a nice little article pointing out all the good we've done in this world. But that's not today. Reuters just can't leave this whole holocaust denial go. Today, the Catholic Church in Austria is meeting to discuss the "crisis".
Here's the story if you can stomach such irresponsible reporting:
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE51C4PK20090213
Sometimes, my mind has a tough time wrapping around this weird obsession people have with finding fault in our church. But then I remember that Catholics are held to a different set of standards. Not because of any kind of conspiracy… just because the Church is our public link to God.
Did you ever have a job where it seemed like one of the other workers were always exalted by the boss? Where he would take their advice over anyone else's, and where he absolutely believed that they were the greatest employee ever hired at that company?
Even a true Christian gets tempted to despise that kind of attention. Even if you don't act on your temptation, you still find yourself looking for any little faults. And in the deep recess of your mind, you're hoping the boss notices and loses just a little respect for that person. It's wrong, I know. But it's human nature.
Now imagine if you weren't a Christian. Imagine how much that jealousy would eat you up inside, until you became obsessed with proving your boss' opinion wrong.
That's were the rest of the world is concerning the Catholic Church. They scrutinize the heck out of every move, and rightly so. We are, after all, supposed to give the very best example.
Now I'm not saying I agree that there's a crisis. I'm not saying that the pope did anything wrong when he lifted the excommunication (try to remember that he didn't give anyone any kind of authority—he just lifted the excommunication). But I am saying that people will naturally dig through our garbage and make a huge deal out of anything that can be misconstrued as sinful.
Let it be. Let them talk. Let them burn themselves alive in their hatred and jealousy. Say a quick prayer for them and don't let it get you down. After all, if this is the very worst thing they could find on our pope, I'd say we're doing pretty well.