Attacks on the priesthood have grown unrelenting in recent years, as incidents of sexual misconduct reveal chronic, deeply rooted flaws in seminaries, rectories, and chanceries across the country. Keen observers (among them some Catholics) foretell the end of the priesthood - and even perhaps a dissolution of the Church itself. Christ Himself instituted the priesthood; with tender love, He watches over it. When sin brings down some priests, He causes grace to abound in others. To remind us of this, author Michael S. Rose has gathered here the true stories of ten of these faithful priests. Some are young, some are old. They hail from different backgrounds and have different ministries; some work with the poor while others walk the corridors of power. Their talents vary as much as their temperaments. Above all, these stories remind us to be grateful to God for the gift of the priesthood itself, which He instituted on Holy Thursday as the earthly means by which so many of His divine graces flow to us. |
