A Lesson from Animal Husbandry
The Short Reading from today's Lauds is from Ezekiel 36:25-27
The idea of cleansing reminded me of something I'd seen earlier in the week. I like to watch some homesteading YouTube channels. I'm rather enamored with the idea of going back to the land and a simpler life. It will never happen. I am firmly ensconced in suburban life. But I find this kind of 'reality TV' far more compelling then the canned version offered on commercial TV. Anyway, one channel I watch is called The Swedish Homestead. This farmer lives in Sweden and is trying to incorporate more environmentally friendly, permaculture practices on his farm. He is also a pastor of some sort (not Catholic) and he has turned to these practices because he believes they honor the gift of creation better. His wife is American so he speaks English very well. Anyway, he discovered a brand new baby calf when he got back from a trip to a conference. But when he went to inspect the calf he realized it was crawling with maggots. There is some horrible thing called flystrike. It happens in summer (his practice is to only have his cows calve in spring to avoid this, but he had bought new cattle and one of the cows was pregnant). What happens is that as soon as the calf is born, while it is still wet with amniotic fluid, etc the flies lay eggs in its fur. When the eggs hatch the maggots literally start eating the calf's tender flesh. It can kill the calf.
Well, the farmer had never had to deal with this issue before but another farmer near him had had the same problem with some of his sheep, so he turned to that farmer for guidance. This is how he saved that calf's life:
He shaved the fur so that the maggots had no place to hid.
He cleansed the calf with a medicinal solution that killed the maggots or made them drop off the calf to escape the solution.
Then he sprayed the calf with an herbal insect repellent to keep the flies from laying more eggs.
It really looked like that calf was going to die. It was the most repulsive, nauseating thing to see those maggots crawling out of the calf's skin. There were thousands of maggots infesting that poor baby calf. Thousands.
Yet, a couple days later the calf was frolicking around and nursing from his mother.
I think this cleansing is analogous to what needs to happen to the Church in light of the endemic sex abuse scandals being uncovered here in the USA and all over the world.
We need to shave the fur - get everything out in the open so we can see the extent of the harm caused by the maggots of depravity and collusion.
Apply medicine, that is, justice, to clean out all those who are complicit in these scandals. Make sure every single maggot is gone.
Apply repellent - make sure that the atmosphere, the clerical culture is completely inhospitable to such evils again.
Dear Lord: cleanse your Church of all defilement and all idols. Put a new spirit in us and help us keep your laws and respect your observances.
I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed. I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you. I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances.
The idea of cleansing reminded me of something I'd seen earlier in the week. I like to watch some homesteading YouTube channels. I'm rather enamored with the idea of going back to the land and a simpler life. It will never happen. I am firmly ensconced in suburban life. But I find this kind of 'reality TV' far more compelling then the canned version offered on commercial TV. Anyway, one channel I watch is called The Swedish Homestead. This farmer lives in Sweden and is trying to incorporate more environmentally friendly, permaculture practices on his farm. He is also a pastor of some sort (not Catholic) and he has turned to these practices because he believes they honor the gift of creation better. His wife is American so he speaks English very well. Anyway, he discovered a brand new baby calf when he got back from a trip to a conference. But when he went to inspect the calf he realized it was crawling with maggots. There is some horrible thing called flystrike. It happens in summer (his practice is to only have his cows calve in spring to avoid this, but he had bought new cattle and one of the cows was pregnant). What happens is that as soon as the calf is born, while it is still wet with amniotic fluid, etc the flies lay eggs in its fur. When the eggs hatch the maggots literally start eating the calf's tender flesh. It can kill the calf.
Well, the farmer had never had to deal with this issue before but another farmer near him had had the same problem with some of his sheep, so he turned to that farmer for guidance. This is how he saved that calf's life:
He shaved the fur so that the maggots had no place to hid.
He cleansed the calf with a medicinal solution that killed the maggots or made them drop off the calf to escape the solution.
Then he sprayed the calf with an herbal insect repellent to keep the flies from laying more eggs.
It really looked like that calf was going to die. It was the most repulsive, nauseating thing to see those maggots crawling out of the calf's skin. There were thousands of maggots infesting that poor baby calf. Thousands.
Yet, a couple days later the calf was frolicking around and nursing from his mother.
I think this cleansing is analogous to what needs to happen to the Church in light of the endemic sex abuse scandals being uncovered here in the USA and all over the world.
We need to shave the fur - get everything out in the open so we can see the extent of the harm caused by the maggots of depravity and collusion.
Apply medicine, that is, justice, to clean out all those who are complicit in these scandals. Make sure every single maggot is gone.
Apply repellent - make sure that the atmosphere, the clerical culture is completely inhospitable to such evils again.
Dear Lord: cleanse your Church of all defilement and all idols. Put a new spirit in us and help us keep your laws and respect your observances.
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