If you are angry about the state of the Catholic Church; if you are angry at priests, bishops and the Pope; if you are publicly criticizing God’s chosen ministers, whether good or bad, then there are two things you must do.
These two tasks helped me adopt a less judgmental and more balanced and trusting perspective. It also helped take away my fear.
TASK 1:
READ THE FOLLOWING QUOTES
Jesus to St. Catherine of Siena from the book: The Dialogue.
“The sins of the clergy should not lessen your reverence for them.” (Dialogue 116)
“The reverence you pay to [priests] is not actually paid to them but to me, in virtue of the blood I have entrusted to their ministry. If this were not so, you should pay them as much reverence as to anyone else, and no more. It is this ministry of theirs that dictates that you should reverence them and come to them, not for what they are in themselves but for the power I have entrusted to them, if you would receive the sacraments of the Church, so the reverence belongs not to the ministers, but to me and to this glorious blood made one thing with me because of the union of divinity with humanity. And just as the reverence is done to me, so also is the irreverence, for I have already told you that you must not reverence them for themselves, but for the authority I have entrusted to them. Therefore you must not sin against them, because if you do, you are really sinning not against them but against me. This I have forbidden, and I have said that it is my will that no one should touch them. (116)
For this reason no one has excuse to say, “I am doing no harm, nor am I rebelling against holy Church. I am simply acting against the sins of evil pastors.” Such persons are deluded, blinded as they are by their own selfishness…. It is me they assault, just as it was me they reverenced. To me redounds every assault they make on my ministers: derision, slander, disgrace, abuse. Whatever is done to them I count as done to me….”
“By not paying me reverence in the persons of my ministers, they have lost respect for the latter and persecuted them because of the many sins and faults they saw in them. If in truth the reverence they had for them had been for my sake, they would not have cut it off on account of any sin in them. For no sin can lessen the power of this sacrament, and therefore their reverence should not lessen either. When it does, it is against me they sin”. (116)
To persecute priests with our tongue, especially publicly, and to deny them their due honor is a serious sin. Jesus explained to St. Catherine how this sin offends Him:
“more serious than any other,”
“If all the other sins these people have committed were put on one side and this one sin on the other, the one would weigh more in my sight than all the others”. (116)
Jesus tells St. Catherine that priests who do evil and lead their flocks astray are devils:
“Their dignity in being my ministers will not save them from my punishment. Indeed, unless they change their ways, they will be punished more severely than all the others, because they have received more from my kindness. Having sinned so miserably, they are deserving of greater punishment. So you see how they are devils, just as I told you that my chosen ones are angels on earth and do the work of the angels”. (121)
Jesus makes it clear to St. Catherine that His people must give reverence to His priests no matter how sinful the priests may be, and leave the judgment to God.
“Reverence neither is nor should be given them for what they are in themselves, but only for the authority I have entrusted to them. The sacramental mystery cannot be lessened or divided by their sinfulness. Therefore your reverence for them should never fail—not for their own sake, but because of the treasure of the blood”. (118)
:You should hold [these sinful ministers] out to me with tears and great desire, so that I in my goodness may clothe them with the garment of charity… Indeed, I have appointed them and given them to you to be angels on earth…as I have told you. When they are less than that, you ought to pray for them. But you are not to judge them. Leave the judging to me, and I, because of your prayers and my own desire, will be merciful to them”. (120)
“The more you offer me sorrowful and loving desires for them, the more you will prove your love for me. For the service neither you nor my other servants can do for me you ought to do for them instead. Then I will let myself be constrained by the longing and tears and prayers of my servants, and will be merciful to my bride by reforming her with good and holy shepherds”. (129)
A prayer from St. Catherine of Siena:
You said, eternal Father, that because of your love for your creatures, and through the prayers and innocent sufferings of your servants, you would be merciful to the world and reform holy Church, and thus give us refreshment. Do not wait any longer, then, to turn the eye of your mercy. Because it is your will to answer us before we call, answer now with the voice of your mercy. (134)
TASK 2
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW
This is a link to an interview between Dr. James, an academic and published scholar and Fr. Joseph Lannuzzi, PhD, StD.
Rev. Dr Joseph Leo Iannuzzi is a doctoral alumnus of the Gregorian Pontifical University. He obtained 5 post-graduate degrees, with studies in medicine, music, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and theology.
In 1991 he obtained a Ph.B. in Philosophy and studied Italian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and other languages. He also obtained an STB, M. Div., STL and STD, Ph.D. in Theology, with specialization in patristics, dogmatics, and mysticism.
CATHOLIC ARROWS 