As a young boy I was molested by a priest. What will happen to these priests when they die? Will God treat them the same as us or will they be punished for their wrong doing?
This is a good question. Far too many of our youth have been molested by those they trusted and live their entire lives as wounded souls.
Perhaps the most heart-breaking tragedy of this world is the abuse of a child. Jesus himself spoke of this crime when he said, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). And in the same conversation he said, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (verse 6). Jesus was not promoting the lynch mobbing of child abusers, but he was making a clear point: Abusing children is a sin that the abuser will be gravely accountable for. —The Ripple Effect, pp. 45-46
However, we must remember that we only see through a small prism when looking at the deeds of others. God sees their wounds and why they lash out from pain. There is a root to the splash of all ripples and we cannot judge others. We must care for and protect our children and hold others to the consequences for their choices, but we must never conclude our own judgment upon anyone. Only God knows each heart, and thankfully, he loves us all and we will all eventually return to him.
In this world of billions of people, many lead lives of loneliness and desperation. Because of pain produced by others, some protect themselves behind walls of anger or fear, lashing out at or retreating from others.
God has shown me that the precious cure for their pain lies within each soul. The cure, of course, is honest and pure love. God’s love. Unconditional love. It resides within each of us naturally at our beginning….everything we do touches everybody else in some way, and that as we release our love to others, we each become the vessel God has chosen from the beginning. —The Ripple Effect, p. xvi
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