That was Fr. John Corapi's message this past weekend on his program on EWTN
It is so easy to find fault in our priests. You hear complaints and criticizes all the time from people in our our parishes, on Catholic blogs, in our families! You know what I mean..."Father A. should be more holy"... "I wish Father B was more orthodox like Father C". ..."Father D commited X number of liturgical abuses"..."Father E isn't around when I need him"..."Father E. isn't approachable"., etc., etc. I have been guilty of that too.
Just because we notice a priest committing a liturgical abuse, be it intentional or unintentional, it gives us no right to criticize him to another person. If we really loved the priest we would tell him face-to-face, instead of behind his back. Like Fr. Corapi reminded us, there would be no sacrifice of the Holy Mass without a priest.
From now on, instead of finding fault in your priest to criticize, pray for him, make sacrifices for him and let God take care of the rest.
Prayer for Priests
O Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N].
Give him a deep faith
a bright and firm hope
and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of his priestly life.
In his loneliness, comfort him
In his sorrows, strengthen him
In his frustrations, point out to him
that it is through suffering that the soul is purified,
and show him that he is needed by the Church,
he is needed by souls,
he is needed for the work of redemption.
O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,
take to your heart your son who is close to you
because of his priestly ordination,
and because of the power which he has received
to carry on the work of Christ
in a world which needs him so much.
Be his comfort, be his joy, be his strength,
and especially help him
to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. Amen.
John Joseph, Cardinal Carberry (+1998)
Archbishop of St. Louis 1968-1979
Source:Women for Faith and Family
This should be true of anyone, not just priests.
ReplyDelete"When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" - 1 Corinthians 6:1-2
A wonderful reminder! Thank you for sharing:~D
ReplyDeleteThis is very important. The nasty remarks, and scary rumours about our PP have really hurt him. He isn't a 'wonderful' priest-but he is a good one, trying his best.
ReplyDeleteGood point Richard!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lana.
WS, that is terrible. Fr. Corapi was telling a similar tale of a priest who had done something wrong and the parishioners were all talking behind his back, kicking him when he was down and it got so bad for him that he was going to do something desperate but one long soul said to him "Don't worry Father, God loves you and so do I". And that soul would say that to him regularly. He is no a priest in good standing and a good priest.
Perhaps there be times of constructive criticism. Or may be fraternal correction. What if I priest preaches a different gospel? I've seen a priest saying that purgatory does not exist. Some preaching disobedience against their bishop and pope. If we keep silent, they would go on with such things and the parishioners will be cheated of the true gospel. To admonish the sinner, or to instruct the foolish are spiritual works of mercy. Of course, it must be done with charity, but done nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteRight, Mark. You admonish the sinner. You don't talk about him behind his back and criticize him. I agree that sometimes you cannot keep silent. But you privately bring it to his attention or if he will not listen, then you go to the bishop.
ReplyDelete