FD: Okay. Okay. This has been a stressful week for me. On Monday I handed in my resignation as Chaplain at St Joseph's Catholic School. It's complicated. I love SJCS. In many ways it's a great school. I love the kids, the families, my colleagues, but it was too much trying to do two jobs--being chaplain there and being priest at Our Lady of the Rosary parish. As one person said jokingly, "You're doing two full time jobs...badly." 'Bout right.
So I'm free now to focus on being parish priest at OLR. We're building a new church. The parish is growing. Our little parish school is bouncing back from a few years of turbulence, and I've got a lot of different media and writing projects going on. Oh yeah. A wife and four kids, two dogs, some fish and all that other suburban American stuff.
I don't think I'll be idle.
Father, as a priest would being celibate make the job easier or not, I am not playing gotcha, I am interested in your opinion since I have been in too may arguments with well meaning people about married priests,
ReplyDeleteincluding some very deluded people that still think that if priests were married there would never have been an abuse problem in the church. Sigh.
We certainly have missed you, but figured you must have been extra busy, and even priests have to sleep sometimes. Now that you've cut your workload down a little, I do hope you'll put on your Mrs. Brady hat and let us hear from the old girl soon. As a relatively recent convert of -- um--ah--very late middle age, I've sort of taken her as my role model. I love her graciousness, her warmth, her unflappability, and her wise perspective on things. She seems to understand that most changes do not signal the end of the world (something I'm still learning), and I really appreciated her statement that she didn't join the Catholic Church because it was the perfect church but because it was the true church--or something very like that. I intend to use that line the next time one of my Protestant relatives points out the foibles of some member of the Catholic clergy or laity. We need more women like Mrs. Brady--in their quiet way they do a lot to keep the world glued together.
ReplyDeleteA good decision Father, I reckon. It takes wisdom and humility to be able to say enough/too much already/stop.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, He came to give us LIFE to the full, not TOIL!
Beadelia - I agree. I also am "a relatively recent convert of ... very late middle age". Mrs. Brady is a solid Catholic, and I enjoy her perspective on things Catholic and the world. --- Rosemary
ReplyDeleteWow, that can't have been an easy decision. I'm sure they will miss you.
ReplyDeleteWe miss you when you aren't blogging but figure that you must be extra busy. We continue to pray for you daily.
Kay
My pastor, who is a tireless promoter of marriage, John Paul II is his hero and "Love and Responsibility" his favorite book, his favorite thing to do is to dispense dating advice to the university students, who would actually love to be married but loves being a priest more, is a very good one, and knows it's what God wants for him, said "I would never want to be a married priest! That would be hell!" Because both marriage and priesthood require everything of you.
ReplyDeleteMmmm, not sure I agree with the priest who described marriage and priesthood as hell, maybe for him personally, it would be. On a more positive note however, The Holy Spirit, who's working Power eternally sustains MULTI-universes, is more than capable of sustaining married/parent converts, ordained as Catholic priests. I believe this, as God calls these men to the priesthood, and whom God calls, God equips! Fact! Rejoice and revive in God's truth, not men's wavering opinions.
ReplyDelete"Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us"
Ephesians 30:20
Douay-Rheims Bible
I reckon that your duties in your real life take precedence. You're not my priest, you're priest to Our Lady of the Rosary Parish. Your first duty is to them.
ReplyDeleteFr, not a reproach, but:
ReplyDeleteWill they have priest bishops on St nicolas wi'out you?