Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Priest: Another Social Worker, Counselor, Feminized Neuter, Ineffectual Twit?

In the words of Fr. Dwight Longenecker:

When I was first ordained as an Anglican priest I dropped by to see Fr Richard–a retired priest of the old school. He would regularly celebrate the early morning Eucharist. When I asked him how many were at Mass he smiled and said, “Millions! But I could only see four.”
As I celebrated Mass today–only seeing twelve–I thought how secretly God works in the world. In the midst of the hurly burly, hurrying world God’s priests quietly go to church to say Mass. Here an ancient priest who can barely walk hobbles into a drafty church and celebrates the Mass faithfully with love and simplicity. There a young African priest strides to celebrate Mass in a church that is little more than a thatched hut. Here an Archbishop celebrates Mass in his cathedral or there an imprisoned priest huddles secretly over a little table to recite the words over a scrap of bread and a thimbleful of smuggled wine.

And the hurried, harried world goes on, and God works behind the news.This is always his way–to work secretly in the world. A young girl in a backwater village receives the message of an angel and says “yes” and the course of history is changed forever. An uneducated shepherd girl receives the apparition of that same woman who reveals herself to be “the Immaculate Conception” and the course of history is changed. A Mexican peasant receives an apparition of that same woman who, in time, becomes the Empress of America and the patron of a great superpower. So God works secretly–always behind the scenes.

And it is the same with the Mass. In millions of churches all over the world, with a simple unity of expression and an amazing unity of voice the priests of Christ faithfully celebrate these holy mysteries, and as they do they bring the Lord of the Universe into the present moment. They make him real in their own community, their own church, their own hands and in their own tabernacle. In millions of locations around the word Christ is made present by priests who are gifted and priests who are not so gifted, by priests who are saints and priests who are still a work in progress, by priests who stumble and fall and priests who always get up.

If the Mass were to suddenly stop . . .

if all the priests on the world went on strike or if some malignant power were to stop all Masses from being said, I firmly believe that in a very short time the worst kind of violence would break out. War would erupt, killings would burst forth, hatred and violence would flare up in every corner of the world. The demonic rage lurking just beneath the surface would be unrestrained. The enemies of the Light would burst from their secret lairs and wreak havoc on the world. Chaos, anarchy and the dark forces of hell itself would be unleashed.

Why is there a shortage of priests?


Because this understanding of the priesthood has been forgotten. The Catholic priest has become just another social worker–a counselor — a feminized neuter in society an ineffectual twit – a Mr. Bean who seems worthless and whose real role and identity cannot be understood by the worldlings.

Even this seeming foolishness of the priesthood in society’s eyes is part of God’s secret plan, for in today’s Mass reading for St John of the Cross we hear St Paul proclaim like some saintly Don Quixote on a hopeless quest, “We preach Christ crucified! Foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews…for the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men!”

If you believe this to be true as I do–if you believe that it is only the Mass and Christ present there which keeps our fragile world from falling into chaos and darkness, then support your priests
Give them a break. Love them and pray for them. Share these truths with your sons and grandsons and pray for them to be priests.
By Fr. Dwight Longenecker

No comments:

Post a Comment

Like This Blog? ... Then please click to FOLLOW :)


A request was made that I make a video tutorial on how to make a Macramé Rosary. 1st effort by myself and my brother, the camera man :)
*** The tutorial shows and mentions #11 seed beads ... ERROR! LOL .. should be #6 seed beads! ***


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow Me on Pinterest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood." ~1 John 4:6 [The "us" to whom St. John refers are the Apostles, and their successors the Bishops.]


Abortion Alternative - The Adoption Movement


"THE BORN SUPREMACY: OUR UNBORN IDENTITY"


LUISA PICCARRETA ~ DIVINE WILL
It WILL change your life!


Prayer to avoid the Sin of PRIDE:
“Oh My Jesus help me to avoid the sin of pride when I speak in Your Name. Forgive me if I ever belittle anyone in Your holy Name. Help me to listen Jesus when Your Voice is spoken and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can discern the truth of Your Word when You call out to mankind. Amen.”


A prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:
O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.


“My children, let your speech be chosen with great care—it must be a light in the world. Know and believe that all you say has repercussions in time and eternity. Therefore, choose your words with wisdom and prudence, choosing to remain silent rather than fill the air with useless chatter or worse, gossip or virulent speech. Let your speech be a perfect mirror of your peaceful heart, a heart firmly grounded in the love of God and in complete trust in His goodness. Silence is often the more virtuous path. Bridle your tongue and you will be working for peace in the world.”

In the Name of Jesus I renounce as lies all thoughts that enter my mind from the evil one who accuses. By the authority of Jesus, I command them to leave me. I consecrate my mind to God for transformation into His Thoughts for my protection, salvation and His glory.


SWANSONS ONLINE -
THE BEST QUALITY, SERVICE AND PRICES FOR ALL YOUR VITAMIN, SUPPLEMENT AND HERBAL NEEDS!!!! Been with them over 20yrs and LOVIN' IT! :)

ZULILY ~ GREAT PRICES & GREAT STUFF!

Father Donald Calloway's New Book: ROSARY GEMS
Check it out!


Please Drop by and "LIKE" Battlebeads on FaceBook

Rosary beads, Chaplets and More by BattleBeads - Home of the USA Chaplet
Please Click here and "LIKE" us today!



Why you should pray the Chaplet

Stations

Full Rosary

Chaplet of the Holy Face

St. Gertrude Chaplet


Chaplet of Protection

MUSIC



Great Older Marian Playlist!
May Each Day

One Pair of Hands


Walking With the Lord
A Video Meditation


Lectio Divina

Please join to END ABORTIONS NOW!


FREE AUDIO BOOK:
The Story of a Soul by St. Therese
ANOTHER FREE AUDIO BOOK Father Solanus Casey

Little Latin Readers

Popular Posts

Universalis (weekly) Liturgy of the Hours

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

My Blog List

Great Catholic Sites

Flag Counter

free counters
since 6/6/10

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
—Editorial, Pravda, April 27th, 2009; http://english.pravda.ru/

AddThis

Bookmark and Share

Just a Note:

Through the grace of God and many prayers, I survived a double surgery (with cancer) in the fall of 2008. Since then has becoming increasingly important to me to enhance my prayer life. I have taken on the task of praying for strangers and those with little hope and much adversity. To that end, I've also begun (July '09), to make rosaries and related items to put prayer into the hands of as many as I can that will PRAY for others.

The world is at the precipice ... we need to TAKE ACTION ... NOW. Time for fence sitting is quickly coming to an end. We all need to do what ever we can in the way of PRAYER & PENANCE to beg God's Grace upon humanity that we may shake away this sinfulness and pride to get back on the road that leads to heaven and our Glorious Triune God!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.
~St. Ignatius of Loyola


BATTLEBEADS UPDATES, SALES & INFO!