A few questions...

Hello Blog. Yes it's been awhile. I'm back...

Yesterday for the first time in decades, I attended mass. My only brother in law David, passed away on Sunday after his third battle with Cancer. It had been a long time since I sat through a mass for something with such a personal meaning. 3 days before David passed, he said that he always wanted to be a Catholic. It struck me that someone like David would have thought about something like this. Not because he was a bad guy, but because David was alway's one of the good guys. He was one of those guys who never said a cross word about anyone, and never had a cross word said about him. One of the truly good guys, which is a rarity in this world. 3 day's ago, surrounded by his extended family,in his home, he was baptized, confirmed, and received communion for the first time. I was struck by how much this meant to him and how proud he was of it.

Yesterday, sitting in that pew, I was in awe by the amount of people who were sitting there with me to share their memories of David. I saw, felt and understood the powerful meaning of the community that I briefly shared with them. The thought that kept coming to my mind was: how could a church, that is capable of showing so much compassion, have caused so much pain to so many people? The only thought that followed that was the question: It's their Church, Why didn't they take it back?

In less than a week, I'll be heading to Rome, for Reformation day. (www.survivorsvoice.org) I doubt that I'll find the answer to my questions there. I think its more important than ever to continue to ask the right questions. Hopefully when people start asking the right questions, the right answers will come. In less than a week, I'm going to be asking a few questions in Rome. The last time I was there asking questions in 2003, there were only 3 of us. Rumor has it that this time, there will be a few more than 3. Wish me luck. G.