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"That you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth. Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not leave room for the devil." I am starting the blog today with Ephesians 4:22-27 for a specific reason. I noticed a news story this morning that has my blood boiling. Apparently, Reverend Jeffrey Newell is still a priest, serving in the Diocese of Tijuana. I say still because he was supposed to be barred from being anywhere near children after he was reported for child abuse. The Diocese of Los Angeles agreed to ban Newell in a settlement with the victim who had been molested by Newell for several years, beginning when the cleric was first a youth minister and then a seminarian. Newell also has a MySpace page that includes several young boys in his friends list. I am angry at my Church today. But it is righteous anger and that is why I started with the passage from St. Paul. The command, “be angry” seems strange and most would not expect this to be found in the Bible. It may confuse some of us as well. We find ourselves trying to avoid or explain this command away, because anger does not sound godly. But we must remember that there are two kinds of anger. There is the “anger of man” which “does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:20), and the anger which is an expression of God’s righteousness. St. Paul urges us to be angry in a way that is righteous, that is a reflection of God. This decision to allow Jeffrey Newell to continue in active duty lets me know that there is misguided leadership at work and the devil is at play. This must stop now. I am urging everyone to pray that this error be corrected today. The Church must put on a new self. Pope Benedict has promised that this will not be accepted and I am praying that he adorn himself with righteous anger and resolve this issue before Newell is tempted by the devils to sin again. God's righteousness must be invoked for this situation to be rectified.

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