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Priest: Portraits of Ten Good Men Serving the Church Today
Unsung heroes of the priesthood today — at the rectory just down the street! Attacks on the priesthood have grown unrelenting in recent years, as incidents of sexual misconduct reveal chronice, deeply-rooted flaws in seminaries, rectories, and chanceries across the country. Keen observers (among them some Catholics) foretell of the end of the priesthood — and even perhaps of the dissolution of the Church itself. They're wrong. Christ Himself instituted the priesthood; with tender love, He watches over it. When sin brings down some priests, He causes grace to abound in others. Evidence for this may be as close as the rectory of your own parish; and it extends across our coutnry to church after church where, undeterred by scandal-filled headlines and anti-Catholic editorials, thousands of modest priests continue to serve their flocks faithfully, living quiet lives of love, prayer, and service. To remind us of this, author Michael S. Rose has gathered here the true stories of ten of these faithful priests. Some are yound, some old. They hail from different backgrounds and have different ministries; some work with the poor while others walk the corridors of power. Their talents vary as much as their temperaments. One trait they share in God's grace is working vigorously in each of their lives, sustaining in them a burning love for Christ and an unwavering fidelity to His church. These true stories of ten real priests show us that, contrary to media reports, priestly virtue — courage, humility, sacrifice, and above all charity — continues to flourish in rectories throughout America. Although its ranks have thinned, there still remains a thriving priesthood of faithful men who are worthy of our support and who deserve our gratitude. Read these stories, and let your faith be restored.
- GenresCatholic
187 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
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November 15, 2024
Written shortly after the public airing of the abuse scandals in the Catholic priesthood in the early 2000's, 'Priest' offers a glimpse into the lives of 10 ordinary priests who serve(d) their brothers and sisters without fanfare or reason for shame. Our Lord warned that scandals would come and he also severely threatened those who caused harm to 'little ones', yet for the overwhelmingly vast majority of good priests out there and the lay faithful in dire need of Christian witness, this book provides an answer. The validity and holiness of the Church should not be called into question by those who fail to live up to Christ's teaching, but confirmed by those ordinary saints and sacred ministers who do. This book offers ten living examples.
September 18, 2024
THE CATHOLIC RESEARCHER LOOKS AT SOME "GOOD MEN" STILL SERVING AS PRIESTS
Michael S. Rose is editor of St. Catherine Review, and has also written 'Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church,' 'The Renovation Manipulation: The Church Counter-Renovation Handbook,' and 'Ugly As Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again.'
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2003 book, "[This] is a book about the priesthood---a book written neither from the perspective of an anti-Church reformer who wants fundamentally to change or eliminate the Catholic priesthood, nor from the perspective of one who seeks to sugarcoat the sacred institution by painting an image of priests who stand head and shoulders above the rest of society simply by dint of their ordination.
"This book... is a simple and forthright look at the priesthood at the beginning of the twenty-first century, through the eyes of priests who are devoted to Christ and His Church... Each understands and accepts the teachings of the Catholic Church. Each understands and accepts the role of the priest in the Church and in society... At the same time, each understands the many challenges that confront the Church today, and the many obstacles and temptations with which priests must contend." (Pg. viii-ix)
One of the priests worked in a neighborhood which "was a dangerous place, especially after dark ... [he] treaded fearlessly throughout the neighborhood, evangelizing... He and an evangelization team of laypersons ...regularly walked the neighborhood. They knocked on hundreds of doors each week---giving pause even to the Jehovah's Witnesses, who were surprised that Catholics had adopted their techniques!" (Pg. 13) This same priest "became a conscientious objector to the payment of federal income tax, in part because it helped fund Planned Parenthood, the perpetrator of millions of abortions." (Pg. 15)
Another became a chaplain: "In 2003, at a time when the U.S. military was strapped for Catholic chaplains to minister to American soldiers stationed the world over, Fr. Rohen answered another urgent call---to serve the Military Archdiocese for a period of at least three years. 'The Army needs around four hundred priests,' he says. 'They now have fewer than a hundred.'" (Pg. 55)
Another, who is a vocations director, "readily admits that for the past four decades, some vocation directors have not faithfully fulfilled their duty in selecting proper candidates: 'Working in vocations is a two-way street. There are candidates to be avoided, and those to be promoted. In the topsy-turvy world of the last four decades, someone switched the street signs. Vice became virtue, and virtue vice.'" (Pg. 81)
Another points out, "What many fail to realize, however, is that Jesus Christ was celibate, even though He, theoretically, could have married. What many more fail to realize is that ... it was the custom at the beginning of the Church... that priests could be married men at the time they were ordained, although no priest was allowed to marry after ordination. In ancient times, these married priests and their wives promised to cease conjugal relations after ordination. This was done... so that the priest could prayerfully dedicate himself to building up the household of the Lord." (Pg. 147)
This book is much more "positive" (and less provocative) than Rose's "Goodbye, Good Men"; and will be of keen interest to anyone wanting some "good news" about the modern Catholic priesthood."
Michael S. Rose is editor of St. Catherine Review, and has also written 'Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church,' 'The Renovation Manipulation: The Church Counter-Renovation Handbook,' and 'Ugly As Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again.'
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2003 book, "[This] is a book about the priesthood---a book written neither from the perspective of an anti-Church reformer who wants fundamentally to change or eliminate the Catholic priesthood, nor from the perspective of one who seeks to sugarcoat the sacred institution by painting an image of priests who stand head and shoulders above the rest of society simply by dint of their ordination.
"This book... is a simple and forthright look at the priesthood at the beginning of the twenty-first century, through the eyes of priests who are devoted to Christ and His Church... Each understands and accepts the teachings of the Catholic Church. Each understands and accepts the role of the priest in the Church and in society... At the same time, each understands the many challenges that confront the Church today, and the many obstacles and temptations with which priests must contend." (Pg. viii-ix)
One of the priests worked in a neighborhood which "was a dangerous place, especially after dark ... [he] treaded fearlessly throughout the neighborhood, evangelizing... He and an evangelization team of laypersons ...regularly walked the neighborhood. They knocked on hundreds of doors each week---giving pause even to the Jehovah's Witnesses, who were surprised that Catholics had adopted their techniques!" (Pg. 13) This same priest "became a conscientious objector to the payment of federal income tax, in part because it helped fund Planned Parenthood, the perpetrator of millions of abortions." (Pg. 15)
Another became a chaplain: "In 2003, at a time when the U.S. military was strapped for Catholic chaplains to minister to American soldiers stationed the world over, Fr. Rohen answered another urgent call---to serve the Military Archdiocese for a period of at least three years. 'The Army needs around four hundred priests,' he says. 'They now have fewer than a hundred.'" (Pg. 55)
Another, who is a vocations director, "readily admits that for the past four decades, some vocation directors have not faithfully fulfilled their duty in selecting proper candidates: 'Working in vocations is a two-way street. There are candidates to be avoided, and those to be promoted. In the topsy-turvy world of the last four decades, someone switched the street signs. Vice became virtue, and virtue vice.'" (Pg. 81)
Another points out, "What many fail to realize, however, is that Jesus Christ was celibate, even though He, theoretically, could have married. What many more fail to realize is that ... it was the custom at the beginning of the Church... that priests could be married men at the time they were ordained, although no priest was allowed to marry after ordination. In ancient times, these married priests and their wives promised to cease conjugal relations after ordination. This was done... so that the priest could prayerfully dedicate himself to building up the household of the Lord." (Pg. 147)
This book is much more "positive" (and less provocative) than Rose's "Goodbye, Good Men"; and will be of keen interest to anyone wanting some "good news" about the modern Catholic priesthood."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews