Along the Path to Holiness

There are priests who believe things contrary to the Catholic faith. There are priests who encourage behaviors contrary to the Catholic faith. There are priests who perform the Mass contrary to the Catholic faith. I have met some of each of these categories of men; in these days you probably have also. If a priest has two of these errors, that is something more serious. Why is it that today it seems like the majority of priests have all three of these errors? It does say something about the state of the priesthood today.

There was a time when 99.99% of priests were solid; we do not live in such blessed days. The days we have been chosen for have their own challenges and blessings. Should we go about judging priests by making check lists to see how they match up? No, not a good idea (though I know some people who do this) because self-focused pride never leads to good results. Rather, we should be both humble and discerning.

We each need to know enough of our faith to spot the errors, but we also must trust the Holy Ghost to guide us along the path of holiness. Sometimes that path of holiness means that we have to walk through a few swamps and a couple garbage dumps to get to the goal. Sometimes that path of holiness means that we have to change course in order to avoid a sinkhole and a landmine or two. If we stay faithful in these things, then He will always lead us to His sheepfold where we can find hope and be confident that we are serving Him as He commanded.

We live in a time where we are called to recognize that there are wolves in sheep's clothing (just like Jesus said there would be--oh wow!) and we have watch more closely. Let us do so with faith, hope and charity.