So much has
been written in recent days about Cardinal
Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., a man who once held one of the most powerful
and influential positions in the American Catholic Church, that it is almost
redundant to revisit the ugly details.
What seems
more pertinent to me at this moment is to share a few words which
symptomatically describe the behavior of this man.
Several days
ago, I came across an ancient, highly appropriate source that fits this man’s conduct,
and have adapted it to the current situation while preserving its intent:
There was
no fear of God in his twinkling eyes . . .
Because,
in the morning, in the mirror, he flattered himself too much to detect his own
sin . . .
During
the day, cunning words of deceit spilled from his mouth as he rejected goodness
and wisdom . . .
Even when
he lay in his bed at night, he plotted the next day’s evil . . .
. . . To
which he committed himself while rejecting what is wrong.
Simple,
isn’t it?
The
preceding excerpt reflects my situational adaptation of the first few verses of
Psalm 36, which I came upon in one of my early morning readings.
The sages
who penned the original sentiments nearly three millennia ago were right on
point in properly describing the never-ending human perfidy and hypocrisy
housed in the mind of some humans.
