Priests Speaking the Truth

There is a "home blood type test" that you can buy online. It is supposed to give you everything necessary to find out what your blood type is and only for about $10 per person. Interestingly, there are a large number of complaints about it. Some people say they knew their blood type and it gave them a different one. Others said it gave their children blood types that were impossible for what the parents were. A few even said that they took the test more than once, and it did not give the same result! So, apparently, you can get a blood type from it: it might not be yours, but it will be a type.

Sadly, most people who take the test will not know any better, and will presume that it is correct. I pray that no one tells a doctor the wrong blood type and ends up dying as a result of being given the wrong blood in a transfusion. This is what happens when people are promoting something for their own purposes and gullible people follow them (the days of "snake oil" salesman are still here).

There was a day when Catholics could largely trust the clergy to lead them rightly. That day is not now. On a regular basis I have people tell me about crazy things that priests or bishops have told them; some of those things are completely contrary to the faith. I have no idea what would motivate someone to mislead the faithful and tell them an error; especially when you realize that clergy have to give account for how they lead God's people!

I am always saddened when I hear about a priest who refuses to help others; many times they will just say "go seek a professional counselor" or "I don't help with that, find someone else". In a sense that is better than being misled, but what has happened to God's priests? We are told in many places in Scripture that the people should be able to seek the truth from the priests' lips. It is one thing to have to tell people, "I'm sorry I have not studied that and do not know the answer" but you tell them, "I will find it out", and not, "Go ask someone else".

People are hungry for the truth and they want to be led rightly. Pray for priests that they will be able to give counsel and guidance to their parishioners. Pray that they would learn the truth better and be able to communicate it to others. Priests should be reading good theological and spiritual literature on a regular basis (it should be considered part of their duty to be growing in the faith if they want to help others grow in the faith), but most are too lazy. They want just to spend time in casual pursuits. If they actually did the work and answered their people's questions, then they would have less work in the end; their people would be more stable and better able to deal with life's challenges. Wouldn't that be wonderful?