St Augustine/ Fr Euteneur

Its been over a week since I last posted,..and to tell you the truth, my faith has not been shaken,.but it has been attacked.  Every few months, I realize that I use the blogging community as a therapeutic blanket absorbing the twisted and fragile adventure that is my faith.  So many things, and it isn't getting any easier!  At times, my faith, though beautiful as it is has caused me mental angst and breakdown.  Last week, I found myself negotiating with Jesus,..'What do You want, and why me?'  Sure the moments of joy are great, but the trials are beginning to become demonic.  Prior to my conversion experience, it was so much easier.  My life was a complete sensual adventure and now I'm finding myself struggling with even the most mundane of things, finding sin everywhere.  Rigid? Perhaps or so I've been called, but by who?  The answer is always the same, people whose character and mindset, though identifying themselves culturally Catholic are about as 'catholic' as Ellen Degenerres.

So why the melancholy opening paragraph, because the media much to its disgusting self serving end has now pointed its gun, lock, stock and barrel and Fr Tom Euteneur.  A little backround,..Fr Euteneur, a priest in the state of Florida stepped down as president of a pro-life group in the States.  The reasons, at the time being cited were essentially because his Bishop called him back to his diocese under very mysterious circumstances.  Along with doing work with the pro-life group, Fr Euteneur also worked in the ministry of exorcism and subsequently published two books regarding what is often a forgotten (on purpose?) sacramental work.  Readers may remember him as the priest who went toe to toe with Sean Hannity on Fox news, for guess what?   Yup!  Defending the Church's teaching!  The shock!  The horror!  Anyway, to continue, a couple of weeks ago, Fr Euteneur issued a public statement regarding his 'disappearance' from the public eye.  In short, Fr Euteneur placed the blame squarely on himself, and came clean that he had been unfaithful to his vocation as a priest with regards to a woman he had met and worked with during his time with the pro-life group.  After admitting his sinfulness, he asked for forgiveness and in an ultimate act of humility obeyed his Bishop.  The media hardly reported anything, I believe it passed once on CNN's ticker,..at least that's all I saw.

God works in mysterious ways.  In many respects, this story parrallels Terry Shiavo and John Paul II.   Obviously not in gravity, but in teaching, how God uses a bad situation to draw a greater 'good' out of it.  In 2005, mankind sat idly by as we refused food to Terry Shiavo and killed her.  This was not an act of mercy but a complete disregard for human life.  The euthaniasia debate was reopened, and proponents of such nonsense treated human being in the same breath as dogs,..just put them to sleep.  About a week later, John Paul II, in his last teaching act as Pope,.taught the whole world how to die.  I can still remember him coming to the window a week before and attempting to speak before being wheeled away.  By today's vain standards, I guess we would openly question the Vatican's 'marketing' departement, as no one would ever want their fragility and weakness exposed to the world.  Getting back to the Fr Euteneur situation, his apology and subsequent act of humility was the complete opposite of last year's Fr Cutie, (who I've mentioned before...) deciding to take his 'ball and go home.'  Fr Euteneur, you are a man!  You are not alone,..I struggle with the very same sins and am not afraid to admit it.  I need help,.I am nothing without recourse to the mercy of God!  Guess what,.. St Augustine was the same!  You, I, we (as men..) are in good company!  A saint rises again after he has fallen,..a sinner stays down.  Fr Cutie,.I pray for you,..Fr Euteneur, rest assured you are in my prayers, but like Jesus, naked on the cross,.you took your medicine and faced the music!  Forgiveness is yours, because you have repented.  Fr Euteneur,..you taught us how to own up to our own failures,. TO BE A MAN!  To have a backbone!  A quality that is sorely lacking with the Church's collection of social justice priests and Mr Rogers clones pussyfooting their little crayon crap everywhere!  People,..our lives are a test, Heaven or Hell,..God loves us so much He gave us the choice.  That choice like any other begets consequences. 

Fr Euteneur,.we all make mistakes, that's what being human is all about.  Few of us have the balls to admit our failings.  God Bless and keep up the fight!

I've rambled enough....Peace.

St Maria Gorretti,..........Ora Pro Nobis.