IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Rónán Mullen
BY a remarkable coincidence the readings provided by the Catholic Church throughout the world for last Sunday’s masses were an ideal scene-setter for priests intending to preach about the Ferns report.
This is the case even if the relevant passages made uncomfortable reading for Church leaders everywhere.
The readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time came from the prophet Malachi and the Gospel according to St Matthew.
Malachi has the Lord giving a stern warning to priests: “And now, priests, this warning is for you ... You have strayed from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your teaching ... And so I, in my turn, have made you contemptible and vile in the eyes of the whole people...”
In the Gospel reading, Jesus was giving a roasting to the Scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders of his day. “You must do what they tell you and listen to what they say,” he says, “but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practice what they preach.”