The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-12-16
THE CATHOLIC PRIEST.

Ollie for the priest are little under
stood except amongst Catholics. Non
Catholics known we have great love
and reverence for them; but they, too
often, attribute our feelings to fear.
How little they understand us. The
priest is, to us, man apart; and he
is part of a great system which God
made. Given his powers by the re-
ception of one great Sacrament, he IS
the authorized minister of other Sacra-
ments. The main reason why Protes-
tants do not better understand the
Catholic Church is, that they know
nothing whatever about the Sacra-
mental system. They have saved a
few ideas about certain Sacramento;
but the Sacraments as the channels
through which Gods grace flows into
the world, form subject on which
but little is known outside the Church.
All the Sacramento that the priest
administers are, to Catholics, tremen-
dously important. Faith brings a
man nearer to God than all the book
learning in the world; the man who
has faith conceives the importance of
the Sacraments, though he may not
be able to explain all about them in
words. A Catholic looks upon the
priest as the authorized, ordained,
minister of the Sacramento of Bap-
tism, the Blessed Eucharist, Penance,
and Extreme Unction; ordained, sent,
by the authority of Church which
was founded by Christ, and founded
to last forever, and to teach the truth
forever.
Next, the priest is a trained theo-
Logan; and theology means some
thing in the Catholic Church. Cath
Ollie theology is an unknown field to
most of those who do not belong to
the Church. Protestant scholarship
ignores it; but there it is, the beauti-
full, consistent, harmonious, solid, but.
tressed system of learning and teach
ing in which the Catholic Church
teaches mankind the truths of God.
The theology on the Commandment
against stealing is world of learning
in itself 1t covers all the business
affairs of men in all their intricacies;
and maintains throughout the right of
every man to his own and the respon-
sibility of all men for entertainments
on the rights of others.
The study for the priesthood is
hard We look upon the priest some
what as the layman looks upon the
lawyer, as man who may make a
mistake in the law, but who is very
likely to be right; and a thousand
times more likely to be right than a
man who never studied theology at
ALL No one but a fool argues law
with a trained lawyer; and Catholics
seldom put their own opinion against
that of the priest on a question, for
instance, of justice and honesty in a
business deal. But Catholics do not
ask the opinion of the priest on every
matter that they have to deal with
fortunately for the priest. They con-
suit him when in doubt. When they
feel no doubt as to the law of God
permitting the act they have in mind
they usually go ahead according to
their own ideas. Only a very small
percentage of all that Catholics do is
ever mentioned to priest. Our sins,
of course, are told to him; and it is
there, in the Confessional, for the
most part, that our doubts as to the
lawfulness of our actions are men.
toned. And it is when hearing the
sad story of sin and when being asked
about matters of doubt, that the life
of priest is at it's hardest.
That is hard work indeed. To apply
his theological learning to the actual
lives of his penitents; to warn, to
advise, to exhort, to instruct, to check
evil courses, to encourage those who
are too scrupulous, to give a sharp
poke at skin that is becoming too
thick; such is the priests work in
the Confessional, before he admins
tiers the Sacrament of Penance.
Further, the devotion of the priest
to his sacred calling makes heavy
claim on our love and reverence. He
needs the call. BIT it yellow fever, or
smallpox, or diphtheria, that awaits
him at the end of the call; though he
must walk weary miles, descend into
caved-in streets, cross dangerous
water-whatever he must do-still he
will go. He must go. He has author
ity himself; but he carries our bur-
dens and his own as well. His vows
bind his conscience. The Church, of
which he and we are part, expects him
to do his duty. He does it.
The most impartial decisions in the
world are those given by the priest in
cases submitted to him in the Con-
fessional. In no other place do all
men come down to such a common
level of equality. There are no favors
in the Confessional. Only mailman
deceives the eonfessor; for all men
know that that is only to- make ones
situation thousand times worse. The
priest is no respecter of persons. The
Church is behind him and the Church
has that in it which is not the work
of mans hands or of mans brains.
The priest himself must go to Con-
fession. The Pope must go to Con-
fession. The Bishop must go to Con-
fession. And they must go on exactly
the same terms on which we all go.