It’s our church, and it needs a reformation of holiness starting now

It’s time for a reformation of the Catholic Church. Not a schism or a protest, but a reformation for the cause of holiness.

The Pope can only do so much. Our individual bishops, priests, deacons and sisters find themselves stymied by entrenched corruption. It’s time for the laity to stand up and state unequivocally, “No more!”

I know, respect and trust my bishop, my pastor and several priests and deacons with whom I have close relationships. I have seen enough of Pope Francis to know he is our Lord’s man in character as well as title. But there are also vast networks and cadres of corruption in the Catholic hierarchy who are devoid of legitimacy.

It is time for them to go.

As the recent news of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington., D.C., and the Pennsylvania clergy remind us, decades of revealed abomination apparently have no end. How has this evil not yet been excised?

McCarrick is accused of an inappropriate relationship with a teenage boy decades ago. I’ve been told by a young adult male relative about ejecting McCarrick from his automobile after obscene advances. Why was McCarrick elevated through the ecclesiastical ranks even after his immorality was apparently common knowledge?

Catholics are not alone, sadly. Reports of abuse occurring in other denominations are pervasive. A former Modesto youth minister, who until recently had been leading a major church in Arizona, was removed from his pastorship after accusations that he preyed upon a 14-year-old girl distraught over the death of her father in Modesto. Discoveries of alleged misconduct continue to surface in our own Stockton Diocese with accusations of against a priest who served in Oakdale, Riverbank and Modesto among other cities dating back to 1999. There are many others.

Does the so-called “pink mafia” have that much power in the Catholic Church?

Our Lord warned us about wolves in sheep’s clothing. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their, fruits.” (Matthew 7: 15, 19, 20).

The enemy’s sabotage is clear: Eliminate the clergy and who will preach the Word and administer the Sacraments? Well, the fight is not over.

Popular Catholic author and speaker Matthew Kelly professes “the biggest lie in the history of Christianity is that holiness is not possible.” Holiness is not only possible, it is imperative, he says. Holiness is not sinless perfection, but rather the settled determination to submit our will to God’s will and live our lives according to His plan, not our own. Holiness seeks the truth. Holiness seeks what is best for the other no matter what the cost to self.

The call to holiness requires us to preserve and protect our battered yet steadfast clergy with equal fervor. When they are confronted with this evil, we must stand with them in word and action as well as prayer.

Holiness is not an idea or a slogan, but who we are as Christians. It’s time for the laity to make a stand for holiness.