HEADLINES, EMBARRASSMENT, PAIN
Fr. Amaro Saumell

Like you, I have been hearing and reading more and more about the crisis of priests in the church involved with repugnant activity.  Like you, I am appalled at the monies that have been paid out.  Like you, I find great sadness in the reassignments that have taken place.  Like you, I am weary of all the uneducated rhetoric that has ensued.

I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is calling us to "clean up our act," so to speak.   Yes, we're actually using our education rather than putting it off, albeit as a result of such pain; calling us to re-think things in many areas.

Catholics are beginning to understand that priests come from Catholic society.  The vocations that we have are the ones that we offer to others.  How often I have heard discouragement towards those who would approach a priestly vocation!  It's almost as if many Catholics have gotten caught up in the ways of the world insofar as the way the media would encourage overt sexuality.  It's more "normal" by the world's standards to pursue sexual activity than to pursue virtue, with the exception of the one place fidelity is to be observed and that is marriage.

We have to ask ourselves how many priestly vocations have we encouraged within the healthy members of our families?  Have we spoken about these vocations with as much enthusiasm as we have concerning marriage?  I think not. It has been my experience that those who do the most complaining have been the last to encourage vocations in their own families. 

God is calling us to pull up our bootstraps and re-think vocations. God is calling us as the Body of Christ to supply the first fruits! But, will we do it?

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