If the priest is a saint, his people will be holy.
If the priest is holy, his people will be good.
If the priest is good, his people will be fair.
If the priest is fair, his people will be mediocre.
If the priest is mediocre, his people will be bad.
I have heard this anonymous quotation on several different occasions, most recently as part of a short homily for the Feast of St. Jean Vianney. Today, however, I thought about it and decided it was rot. :-) That is not to say I don't think it's true. The thought expressed, however, is almost always unhelpful because it's usually told by a priest to his congregation. A priest might need to remind himself of this axiom in private, and undoubtedly the faithful need to be reminded to pray for their priests, but this little jingle doesn't exactly spur the laity on to action. We are already good enough at excuses; this just gives us another one. We need to be extremely, fanatically holy, regardless of who our pastor is or the state of his soul, about which we should not speculate. Furthermore, we need to sanctify others, including our priests. It's our responsibility, not his! We have been clothed with the majesty of Christ, we have been transfigured with Him--not just ordained priests but every one of us! That is why, if the priest is mediocre, that is all the more reason to be holy. If the priest is fair, we should encourage him by being holy. If the priest is good, we should enjoy this by being holy. And if the priest is holy, we should all be holy together with him! :)
4 comments:
You make some very good points here. Before pointing our finger at someone else, look at ourself in the mirror and what do we see? As Jesus directs in the Gospels, be the leavening in the bread!
Hi Sylvia - Wondering if you'd be interested in joining our online group, the Association of Catholic Computer Programmers (http://accp.ning.com). It's a place where you can be "fanatically holy" about things Catholic and programmery.
Hmm...you make some good points, and I do wonder why the quote is so often tossed out to the laity. Seems like it invites a distorted spirit. ("I'm a rather mediocre soul--my priest must be only fair!") However, I do think that despite the sometimes unfortunate effects of the quote when used in a normal church setting (seminaries might be a better matter), it definitely does ring true at a deeper level. It does really emphasize the communion-of-saints aspect of our spiritual life and sanctification. We aren't in this alone, and a staggering amount of our sanctification depends on what our parish priest does behind closed doors at his prie-dieu. And that is a thought that should spur us to prayer...and thanksgiving!
So I dunno, problematic in some contexts, maybe. But rot? nah...just a bit trite. And sometimes a little triteness can be healthy! ;)
Great point, Joe. I did write that we should pray for our priests, but the other aspect is that our priests should pray for us. In fact, we should pray that our priests pray for us! (That reminds me of Fr. Heisler, who liked to throw out the tongue-twister, "Pray to Our Lady every day to give you the grace to pray the Rosary every day.")
I certainly don't dispute the truth of the quote, my main point was that it doesn't really belong in homilies, which are supposed to be exhortative. Maybe I was trying to make up for that lack a bit in my post! ;)
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