As we know, the last one did nothing with coin he was given.
Why? Because he was afraid. His fear kept him from doing anything.
As we deal with the current crisis there are those who love to cook up complex conspiracy theories. But the answer to why many people who knew things did nothing is very simple. They were afraid, afraid to displease their superiors, afraid to tell the “people at the top” anything they didn’t want to hear.
This behavior is not unique to the Catholic Church. We can look around and find countless examples of organizations where the same is true. A scandal erupts and after some investigation it is discovered that a host of people up and down the chain knew something but said nothing for fear of the blowback. It’s human to behave this way.
The gospel today reminds us, however, just how wrong it is. The servant who did nothing is severely punished. They are commanded:
throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
As we deal with the current crisis in the Church there is much that needs to be said out loud, and there have been and will be a host of meetings at various levels. But how many people will say the things that need to be said? And how many of us will be the useless servants who sit in silence out of fear?
Yes, we all need to find our courage. But there must also be a systematic, an environmental change.
Our bishops must, in the words of Pope Francis, “smell like sheep”. They must be accessible. The current system in too many places where the pastor talks to the dean, who talks to the vicar, who talks to the bishop, has proven that it does not work. In the days before modern communication it was necessary. Now there no excuse.
But all of the access in the world will not help unless the people no longer have to be afraid. Unless people can feel that their leaders are willing to hear hard truth.
This can happen one of two ways. Either bishops themselves can make it clear they will listen and not punish.
Or, there will have to be some protections imposed from outside.
The servant in today’s gospel was paralyzed by fear. In 1 John we are told that
Perfect love casts out fear
We must do everything in our power to make the Church a place where laity, deacons, priests, and bishops can speak without fear.
