Divina Pastora

A prayer for the redemption of bad priests

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Thou are the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. Oh, be in a very special way the Good Shepherd of those poor lost priests who are also appointed by Thee to be leaders of Thy people, but who have broken the oath of their holy ordination and have become unfaithful to their exalted calling. Bestow upon these poorest of the poor the very fullness of that pastoral solicitude with which Thou dost so faithfully seek the sheep that are lost! Touch their hearts with the irresistible ray of grace which emanates from Thine all-merciful love! Enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills, that they may turn away from all sin and error and come back to Thy holy altar and to Thy people. O most compassionate Savior! Remember that Thou didst once redeem the souls of Thine erring priests with Thy Precious Blood and in infinite preferential love didst impress upon them the indelible character of the priesthood. Put wholly to shame those miserable helpers of Satan who lay snares for the virtue of priests and endanger the holy ideal of the priesthood. Most graciously accept our prayers and sacrifices for poor priests who have gone astray and hear our earnest petition.

 Amen 

Imprimatur - Bishop John F. Noll (April 18, 1948)

St. Anthony of Padua, defender of the Holy Eucharist, obtain for us holy priests

St. John-Mary Vianney, model of sacerdotal holiness, obtain for us holy priests

St. Francis Xavier, patron of missionary priests, obtain for us holy priests

St. Therese of the Child-Jesus and of the Holy Face, victim offered for the sanctification of priests, obtain for us holy priests

Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.

Tough times call for tougher people

The filial correction and random thoughts on a Saturday night

Pray for us, Mother!

• Rorate Caeli has been Tweeting that they know something big for weeks now.  It got to be like a little kid singing "I know a secret," at the top of his lungs. Well, the shoe finally dropped and while I could have done without the hyping, yes it is impressive. For the first time since 1333, when theologians from the University of Paris  informed Pope John XXII that he was teaching a heresy, clergy and lay scholars have spoken out to the pope and issued a correction.  Will it matter to the pope? I don't know. I don't think so but I will say this: at least these people did not remain silent and when they go to bed at night they can do so with a satisfied mind. May St. Catherine of Siena intercede for them.
  
  
• One of my co-workers, in a fit of anger and disappointment actually cursed loud enough for me to hear her all the way down the hall because Hurricane Irma did not blow into Florida as a category 5 and didn't kill  as many people as the Great Storm of Galveston or Hurricane Camille.  She hates President Trump so much that she wanted a disaster in Florida so she could criticize him. I looked at her cubicle wall and thought, "You have no soul." In a second or two,  I corrected myself and thought, "No, you gotta a soul but it's corroded."
  
  

• Forty one families have shown common sense. 
  
  

• I stopped reading Catholic Answers several years ago. This by Jimmy Akin confirms that I haven't missed a thing.

• After coughing so much that I was actually embarrassed because people were staring I decided to get myself to the doctor. Sure enough I have asthma and have allergies. So far the inhaler is really helping.

This is not cute. God save us from cute, hip celebrity priests.

•  German, French and British people probably don't think of the Coptic Christians at all and would laugh if you told them that one day  the Coptic present could very well be the their  future. 

St. Dominic, pray for us!

The high flying celebrity priest is often a bad priest

Catholic University is affiliated with the Theological College seminary which gets seminarians from all over the United States, China and some African countries. The seminary probably dumped Fr. James Martin from speaking at its upcoming alumni days program because enough laity reminded them that the annual nationwide collection for Catholic University is this week and said that they were not going to be giving this year. I'm happy that Fr. Martin won't be speaking at the seminary but that doesn't solve the larger problem. Fr. Martin is a celebrity priest and that rarely works out. Celebrity is not the same as famous. St. John Vianney, Fr. Solanus Casey, St. Padre Pio and St. Andre Bessette were famous. Their fame served Christ.  Celebrity serves itself.

Celebrity priests are not a new phenomenon. History is littered with them. Around one hundred years ago Fr. Thomas Macgrady was a nine day wonder who caused scandal, got laicized and died in his 40s.  We now know that Fr. Thomas Merton was a rather large pain the posterior to his superiors and his brother monks but they put up with it because his books made so much money. Fr. Teilhard de Chardin  has been dead since 1955, and his books are still causing trouble. Fr. Williams and Fr. Cutie both gave the Church's enemies a chuckle. The list could go on and on.  It's almost always the same sad story....a priest forgets what he is and Whom he serves. His superiors are either so rotten bad themselves that they can't say anything or they are lax and just don't bother to do so. The priest falls into scandal and ruins himself and leads people away from the Church. 

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Thou are the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. Oh, be in a very special way the Good Shepherd of those poor lost priests who are also appointed by Thee to be leaders of Thy people, but who have broken the oath of their holy ordination and have become unfaithful to their exalted calling. Bestow upon these poorest of the poor the very fullness of that pastoral solicitude with which Thou dost so faithfully seek the sheep that are lost! Touch their hearts with the irresistible ray of grace which emanates from Thine all-merciful love! Enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills, that they may turn away from all sin and error and come back to Thy holy altar and to Thy people. O most compassionate Savior! Remember that Thou didst once redeem the souls of Thine erring priests with Thy Precious Blood and in infinite preferential love didst impress upon them the indelible character of the priesthood. Put wholly to shame those miserable helpers of Satan who lay snares for the virtue of priests and endanger the holy ideal of the priesthood. Most graciously accept our prayers and sacrifices for poor priests who have gone astray and hear our earnest petition.

 Amen 

Imprimatur - Bishop John F. Null (April 18, 1948)

St. Anthony of Padua, defender of the Holy Eucharist, obtain for us holy priests

St. John-Mary Vianney, model of sacerdotal holiness, obtain for us holy priests

St. Francis Xavier, patron of missionary priests, obtain for us holy priests

St. Therese of the Child-Jesus and of the Holy Face, victim offered for the sanctification of priests, obtain for us holy priests

Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.

Confession- The rescue

When you go to Confession, especially if you haven't been in a long time the priest is just like this monk going out to rescue lost souls on the Alps.

The Gospel Writers

 

Dies Irae

Your Eminences, It's Not Just Bannon

I've been saying for years that the US Bishop's obsession with illegal immigrants stinks in the nostrils of many Americans and NOT necessarily for the single reason that they are anti-Catholic. I have told people in vain, that it's not just our bishops but the Lutherans and Episcopalians also get money for processing immigrants and refugees but it doesn't resonate.  The 19 year old who lost his mother to a car crash caused by a multiple times deportee who was helped by "the Catlics"  and who may or may not be Alt Right probably feels that we don't care about his suffering. Anybody who has had to flee an apartment  or rental townhouse because Catholic Charities paid  the landlord to house  a bunch of immigrants who have never seen running water, electricity or ovens before has been left with a bad taste in his mouth concerning the Church.  1Peter5   and Church Militant have published reports on the amount of money the bishops have gotten from the government. Curious people of all walks of life who wouldn't read 1P5, Church Militant or the bishop's last available financial report can easily go to the  usaspending.gov site to see that the bishops are getting quite a bit money.

 The problem is not just with Protestants and the unchurched either. Steve Bannon  may have kicked the hornet's nest  but many Catholics have been saying for years that it bugs them that their bishop seems to care more about illegal aliens than his own people and have whispered that it all came down to money.  Elizabeth Yore of The Remnant wrote about the money trail last year.  I read a comment on a major blog from one man who got up from his pew and walked out of Mass  because the priest used his homily to talk politics and to support DACA. Hopefully, this man will go to another parish and not leave the Church but he's not the only one who is fed up.The bishops are hissing at Bannon but completely miss all the people standing behind him nodding.

Stay with Him

No matter what appalling thing comes out of the pope's mouth, stay with the Crucified One. 

Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us

Pray for us St. Anthony

I think St. Anthony must have a sense of humor. He has never let me down. He's returned my lost keys, my cell phone (repeatedly) and my commuter train pass, not to mention the more important requests I've made to him.