The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-03-20
H PRIEST.

There is in the midst OF us a man
little appreciated, too often little
loved, and sometimes frightfully
illuminated, and yet who is, never
theless, just the one man who is most
worthy Of the reverence and conf
dence of all. This nan is the Cath
Ollie priest-the CONSIDER of all who
suffer, and the friend Of all the friend
less; and it is against him that the
scofing and the i~rreligious, enemies of
God and of society, constantly en-
deavor to prejudice the minds of men.
The priest is attacked in this man
ner only because he is the minister
of God. The mar who would have
no God, would also have no PRIEST.
and knowing that he is powerless to
impose silence upon this announcement
preacher of the divine law, he seeks
to expel him, or at least rob him of
the confidence Of men in order to
~paralyze his ministry.
The priest was sent to his brethren
by Jesus Christ, even as He. Himself
was sent. Even as My Father hath
sent Me-" said Jesus to the Apostles,
His first priests, Il also send you!"
Jesus was sent to ave the world by
the sacrifice of Himself, to enlighten
it by His teachings, and to console it
by His mercy. And thus lie sends
His priests to save, instruct, console
and sanctify their brethren; or rather,
He Himself fnEfills by means of His
priests, His divine and beneficent
mission, speaking by their mouth, and
developing by their sacred ministry,
His divine life in the midst of men.
Ministers of God, though they are,
priests are, however, men. Therefore
they are not perfect. Still more, they
can, if forgetful of their holy vocation,
fall like the rest of us into serious
faults; but their priestly character is
no less worthy of our reverence; and
we should always carefully distinguish
between the man and the priest.
Weakness and error are proper to
man, and we must condemn them in
the priest as in all other men, but
the ministry of souls, the duty of
teaching the law of God, the power of
administering holy things, of celebrat-
ing Mass, of absolving from sin, in one
word, the faculties of the priesthood,
are proper to the priest as the repre-
sentative of God, and are independent
of the virtue or negligence of him
who holds this sacred trust. We
should not forget that there was one
Judas among the twelve Apostles;
and when we reflect on human weak
ness, we have reason to thank God
that there are so few priests forget
full of their duties and unworthy of
their vocation.
l.. Let men say what they please, there
is n fact, which is perfectly apparent
and perfectly undeniable. Our priests
are, Notwithstanding the many imper-
fections imputed to them, and which
are almost always exaggerated, far
better than other men. They are more
charitable to the unfortunate, they
lead a purer life-a more virtuous life,
a life more in conformity with the law
of God-than are the lives of those
who surround them and who often cry
out most loudly against them. In fact,
how can their life be defined il not as
one of devotion, self-sacrifice and good
works?
BY teaching our people and our chill
dren to fear God, to love Him, and TO
serve Him, do they not constitute
themselves the most effectual, the only
effectual, guardians of innocence and
virtue? Where is the father or the
mother who would be unwilling that
the priest should tell the child to be
pure, to shrink from evil, to be duti-
full and obedient, to fulfill all duties,
and to pray to God-in one word, to
be a Christian and a Catholic? Where
is the man who would fear to have
such counsel given to his wife? And
is it not pure w~ickedness to call such
~salutary influence a meddling in fam
lily affairs?
People sometimes complain that the
priest lives like a recluse, shut out
from society? Who is to blame? Is
it not the fault of society itself which,
by listening to false -insinuations,
builds up a wall against the priest
or by petty jealousies renders it i'm
possible to go among his people as he
would wish to oftentimeS?
Men of the world, so indulgent, so
forbearing to themselves, when pro-
nouncing their structures on the priest,