Support Your Good Priest(s)

Irenaeus writes about Canada, but it's true mutatis mutandis of the US as well. Support our good Priests and pray for all Priests!

From Toronto Catholic Witness

By Irenaeus

Much of what has been done in the Archdiocese of Toronto regarding the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of head-hanging. I cannot bring myself to say much about the clergy as opposed to what I have said in the past because I have a keen sense of where that will lead me. Fortune may favor the bold, but not all are called to be bold in the same way.

Having said that, it is right and just to point to someone who exposes the Truth and makes it easier to separate light and darkness: Vox Cantoris. Have a read of what he's been saying for the last few weeks - it doesn't paint a pretty picture of pastels but it has fallen to him to expose the rot in a way I cannot. 

Something which has been implied in Vox's writings but (I think) hasn't been spelled out in as many words is the need to support the persecuted priests. Some priests have been - or are being - left out in the cold for health-related decisions they have made in recent months. Much of this decision-making has been on the Q.T. - as it should be, given the nature of the decisions - but it is important to recognize that these priests need help. As laity we ask so much of them, yet (comparatively) give so little in return for their service.

Priests need to live and eat just like the "poor laity." Help him out. We may not be in the era of priests having housekeepers anymore, but bring him proper meals to fuel his body and give him the energy to keep going. If you can't do that for some reason, offer to drive him places or otherwise make his life easier by bringing him his necessities - even if it's just toiletries or little things like that. If you can't do that either, give him money to help him with gas or  other expenses. A priest's salary isn't handsome, and at least in Canada, he has to pay taxes on his income like so many people do here.

My list isn't exhaustive, but I hope the point has been made. The priests who have made certain decisions regarding their medical profile in recent months appear to be on a verboten list, so to speak. From what it looks like to me, they are going to need some serious material help - both during this crisis and afterwards.

In my time as a blogger and a traditionally-minded Catholic, I have seen so many laity bemoan the lack of good priests, as well as those who have been persecuted, and subsequently write against the bad ones. Maybe it's what I read, but I haven't seen as many calls to support the good ones. Vox Cantoris, Barona, Everyday for Life, Canada, and Dymphna at Dymphna's Road are exceptions in Blogger-land. However, they prove that one's Catholicity is not to borne out in boxes, but is to inflame every fibre of one's being.

Ora et labora. Support your good priest(s). No one needs to know. God will, and that's all that matters.