A Tale of Two Priests

This has been quite a week in terms of news about the priesthood, even if you haven't heard any of it yet. I pose for your consideration two priests, one a Jesuit, one from a diocese. The Jesuit, Fr. Joseph Billotti and the other, Fr. Michael Pfleger.

Fr. Billotti says that he finds Jesus through his vows especially his vow of obedience. You can read about that here.

On the other hand you have Fr. Pfleger. He has decided that if he can't be a priest at St. Sabina he will "continue his ministry" outside of the Catholic Church. You can read more on his situation and the response of Cardinal George here.

What we have here is beauty mixed with sadness. This illustrates that even within the Church man is still fallen. It also shows that man can, by relying on grace, be capable of amazing depth and holiness.

While it is true that I don't agree with much that Fr. Pfleger teaches and evidences about obedience, priesthood, and ministry he does have some things right. He desires stricter gun control laws because he knows how much violence exists in the neighborhood of his parish. He wants economic justice, an end to racism, and he wants to have laws which encourage peace. While he is wrong about obedience, priesthood, and ministry there is a lot of good that he works for.

Every priest is someone's favorite priest so let us not drag Fr. Pfleger through the mud.

Pray for Fr. Pfleger to be open to his vocation and his promise of obedience. Pray, too, for Fr. Billotti that his joy in his vocation will be so infectious that people will be drawn to a profound and unquenchable desire for our Blessed Lord.