Why when Jesus said to Peter (thus to his successors as well), "and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against" our Church did we face the recent sex scandals? To simply state that this happens everywhere else really doesn't resonate as a good response because our Church is not "everywhere else" (that is she has laws and truth within). So why has such a scandal plagued our Church to this level when we have seen nothing like it for two thousand years? We suspect the answer lies in prophecy:
"I, I am He Who blots away your transgressions for My Own sake and I will remember your sins no more." Is.43.25
This we see is Jesus Christ Who did this through His blood by initiating the New (Renewed) Covenant of faith:
"Put Me in remembrance, let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proven right." Is.43.26
Those with a faith in Him (through the Son) have done something wrong, but we suspect from the above passages that they are in denial:
"Your first father sinned,"
Peter sinned when he denied Jesus three times and he is the first father of ALL Christians as he was given the position of being the rock to build His Church (even if only Catholics seem to see this because we call him our first pope).
"...and you mediators transgressed against Me." Is.43.27
As far as we know only Catholics see "mediators" among the human race, namely our priests in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And these did what?
"Therefore I profaned the leaders of the Sanctuary,"
Only Roman Catholicism has an ultimate "Sanctuary", that is a Christian "Holy Temple" at St. Peter's in the Vatican. And these leaders have been "scandalized" by those same "mediators" who were "sinning".
"I delivered Jacob to utter destruction.."
Jacob Is.48.1 teaches that these are those who go by the title "Israel" but come from "the waters of Judah". And in Jewish thinking, water is Torah because water flows to lowly places, thus we are to be humble when seeking the Torah. Therefore we see the above fulfilled for Judah in the Holocaust when they were at the mercy of the Christian world and much of the Christian world stood by in silence.
"...and Israel to reviling." Is.43.28
This prophecy is made abundantly obvious from the recent press of the last year. It also strongly suggests that the sex scandal isn't the root cause (as many falsely assume), but another cause- FEAR; the same fear Peter felt when he denied Jesus whom he loved. And in our eyes, mentioning the Holocaust with this mockery links this fear to her insufficient action during the Holocaust to save Jewish lives.
Due to these crimes, we have been asked several times, "Is it too late to save the Catholic Church?"
Well, from what we see this could be answered through more questions. For example, was it too late to save that thief upon the cross? Was our "first father" damned or did our Savior say to him: "Simon, Simon, behold satan demanded to have you (were "you" is plural) that he might sift you (singular) like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." Lk.22.31-32
We believe the second seal of Rev.6.3-4 came from the voice of the Lion (the Face of the Father) to Pope Leo XIII when he brought him before His throne in a vision and showing him that G-d would allow satan to "sift" Peter's church as Jesus once allowed satan to sift our first father; and like our first father, we believe that the Church He founded also denied Jesus out of fear (see our argument above), when she saw Judah go through the Holocaust (thus in many ways, Judah bore Christianity's sins of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism).
Therefore, just as Peter our first father was sifted, so too was the twentieth century Church sifted. And just as Peter denied Jesus three times out of fear, so too we believe this text in Isaiah states that His Church denied Him a complete number (three) of times when she did not do as much as she could have because of fear. However when Jesus spoke to Peter by the Sea of Tiberius after His resurrection, He did not speak of judgment over Peter's sin, but rather of love. As we look into the Greek, we notice that He used a different word for love than Peter did. To explain when He said:
"Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He was actually saying,...do you love Me enough to suffer, be afflicted, persecuted or even die for Me...?" And Peter said in response:
"Yes, L-rd, You know that I love You." Only he really said "...You know I really feel strong affection for You..."
This is why our L-rd asked Peter again the same question because Peter answered a different answer than Jesus asked. Yet why didn't Peter knowing what Jesus wanted from him just say "I really Love You enough to suffer, be afflicted, persecuted or even die for You"?
The answer is obvious, because Peter knew full well that he had denied Jesus three times, so to state that he "loves" Him like that was absurd when he already proven that horrid night that he just didn't have the strength to. So even the second time Peter said the same thing because Peter might have been a coward, but he was also very honest. So the third time Jesus said "Peter do you feel really strong affection for Me?" and we all can guess what the relieved Peter responded. Yeshua demands much from us, but He also shares with us knowledge of human weakness and therefore He will always reaches down to us to meet us at our level and then gently raise us up to His.
So assuming that we are perceiving this correctly, what should our Church do in light of these prophecies? Perhaps she needs to:
"Feed My lambs"
"Tend My sheep"
"Feed My sheep"
"and when you turned again, strengthen your brethren..."
And through abiding the same call of her first father we believe she will develop that very same courage to stretch out her hands to be taken where she doesnot want to go, and through it glorify G-d.
