Like all boys growing up,
I had heroes. These were men of virtue,
characters who embodied true courage and nobility. Honor perhaps is a better word. Optimus Prime for instance, the courageous
leader of the autoboots who gave his life for his cause. He was calm, serene and composed. Another
hero, was the character of Hulk Hogan.
He would yell and scream, encouraging all of us to ‘Train, Say our Prayers,
Take our vitamins! He always beat the ‘bad
guys’ in wrestling. (This of course distinct
from the actual man who was jacked to the gills on **ahem** pharmaceutical aides!) Needless to say, that our heroes are people/characters we can try to emulate. Well why not a priest? I know some awesome holy dudes, trying to shepherd amidst this crazy world and they need our prayers!
Today is the Feast day of
Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas. The Church in 2017 seems at a crossroads, but
where there is much distress, there is even more grace to be acquired for our
sanctification and the sanctification of others. Heroes especially among the younger clergy
are coming forward (along with some very faithful older priests), being bold
and facing the world. These men are
heroes standing up for God’s faithful and encouraging us to grow, to think and
to get Holy.
Too often today we see a
disconnect between being ‘pastoral’ vis a vis being ‘doctrinal.’ This false notion must come to an end, and I
believe it will through prayer and the JPII generation of priests getting ready
to ‘take the reigns’ so to speak. To be ‘pastoral’
doesn’t mean speaking in soft feminine overtones with no punch, it means
administering the proper dosage of Spiritual Direction at the moment the Faithful
need it. It means forming the heart, so
that the heart may mirror the heart of Christ Himself. Most ‘doctors’ administering euthanasia come
off as ‘nice,’ but it does not change the poison that they will give to the
patient.
Instead of criticizing,
we need to pray for our pastors, that they be men of prayer, holiness, courage,
boldness and honor. That they may preach
with firmness and vigor, sometimes even rocking our worlds and causing us to
think. To paraphrase late Archbishop
Fulton Sheen, in order to be a lamb in the confessional, you must be a lion in
the pulpit!
Our Lady of Guadalupe,…………………………………………..ora
pro nobis!
1 comment:
I believe Catholic priests can learn from Jordan Peterson, who literally sells out amphitheatres full of young, agnostic people who want to hear his lectures on the bible because they're so good. Moving away from the literal meaning of the bible and focusing on the spiritual essence of the stories could facilitate a Catholic revival. As much as I enjoy Dr Peterson's lectures, he only scratches the surface of the stories. A well educated priest could do a much better job, but only if the priest was creative and subtle in his biblical exegesis. No trad-style literalism! Nothing repulses an agnostic millennial more than bible thumping literalism.
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