Father, Forgive Them!

When thinking of Jesus' words on the Cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."(Luke 23:34), some might argue that His persecutors knew very well what they were doing to Him. They might say the same about priests who have offended or injured others in some way, sometimes catastrophically. Some might insist that with all the advantages of priestly education and the special graces of their vocation there is no excuse for them.

+++++++

I like to think that most of us would not do bad things to other people if we really "knew" what we were doing--if we weren't somehow blinded spiritually. Would any of us who claim to know and love Jesus deliberately strike Him, spit in His face, beat Him, torture Him, crucify Him? If we could actually see the effects of our sins and what Jesus suffered for our sake, would we be as quick to look in His eyes and say , "I don't care how this hurts You, Jesus. I'm going to do it anyway!" I don't think so, at least not if we really love Him.

+++++++

We all suffer from a degree of spiritual blindness, some more, some less-and not because we necessarily want to be 'blind' or resistant to His grace. For various reasons known only to God, He allows us to walk in a measure of darkness and struggle to find the light.

+++++++

Priests are no different than the rest of us in this struggle, but their responsibilities before God are much greater. Because of the spiritual power of their vocations as other Christs and Fathers of souls, priests are the ones under the greatest attack by the unseen forces of evil who seek to destroy the priesthood and the Catholic Church. These words of St. Alphonsus Liguori bear repeating:

+++++++

"For every one demon which attacks a layman, one thousand attack the priest."

and

"The good morals and salvation of the people depend on good pastors. If there is a good priest in charge of the parish, you will soon see devotion flourishing, people frequenting the Sacraments and honoring the practice of mental prayer. Hence the proverb: Like pastor, like parish."

+++++++

It's not hard to see that the prince of darkness and his cohorts have a lot to gain by the spiritual decline of even just one priest. In his years as a priest he is responsible for the salvation of thousands of souls. If they can make only one priest compromise the truth, become lukewarm, or in some way fall from grace, the eternal effects on souls entrusted to him can be disastrous! A priest never falls without taking others with him., and that is the goal of evil personified.

+++++++

It is in the best interests of the Catholic Church, of all Catholics, and of future generations of Catholics that we get serious about the spiritual warfare being waged against all of us, especially through attacks on our Catholic priests. We must "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21) The unseen enemy is deadly serious. His goal is for souls to be lost for all eternity. We need to be equally serious about defending our Church, our priests, and Jesus in the Eucharist. Powerful weapons available to us are Eucharistic adoration, prayer, fasting, and sacrifice.

+++++++

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests, and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.