How ya feelin' today, Laurie?

I really haven't been writing about the articles that have been coming from the New York Times. I figured, "It's Holy Week, and this is what they do: come up with something to write that, if read, puts a bad taste in your mouth about the Roman Catholic Church." Do I make light of it? Absolutely not. But like the rainstorm that is hitting the window next to me as I type this, there's very little I can do about it. Michael Deaver, former media guru to Ronald Reagan, once gave the advice, "Never argue with anyone who buys ink by the barrel!".

In a way, you have to pity the Times. Subscriptions are dwindling. Their company now has layoffs upon layoffs about as often as I get e-mailed coupons from Borders. Maybe Laurie Goodstein is just trying to make herself "necessary" to her bosses before the next round of layoffs. Maybe this is retribution for the Catholic Church's objections to the Democratic party's push for their healthcare agenda (the timing seems about right). Maybe this is just something that gives the enlightened ones the giggles as they watch Manhattan Catholics make their last minute visits to Church for Holy Week, searching for some Priest to hear their confession? My personal opinion is that, as Pope Benedict leads the the events of Holy Week, they simply want the caption underneath the video footage to read, "Pope leads services amid allegations" [add ominous organ music here - or dramatic chipmunk].

Today an article is out and about the blogosphere from the man who was Judicial Vicar (the chief canon law expert) for the Milwaukee Archdiocese when the whole question of bringing ecclesiastical charges against Fr. Murphy came up. It's a long article, much longer than our sound bite mentality, attention deficit inflicted minds can normally take in one reading. But, if you're genuinely interested in knowing where a professional journalist for one of, what was, one of the most respected newspapers in the world got it WRONG, then read the article. This is bad research, approved by bad editing, confirmed by bad publishers. I think the "old grey lady" has a touch of Dementia.

Now, on a supernatural level (I am a Priest, after all), let's look at this in the context of Holy Week. For the last week or so, roughly about the time this story has been out there, we've been reading at Mass the stories about how it is getting more dangerous for Jesus to be out and about. The Scribes & Pharisees don't want him to make them irrelevant. The Herodians like things the way they are. The Romans just want peace and quiet. None of them have been able to sway his followers away from supporting him using the truth, so they're resorting to lies.

If they did this to Jesus Christ, should we be shocked that it's happening to his Vicar?