Treasure in Clay

Loving our priests and praying for them

05/14/2017

Acts of the apostles 6:1-7 As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

         Many years ago I learned a wise Latin aphorism that I often reflect on. It goes, “corruptio optimi pessima.” All of you Latin scholars will immediately know what that means. In case you are not a Latin scholar, it means, “The corruption of the best is the worst.” But what does that mean practically speaking? Well, in any given group, when the best of the best fall, they become the worst of the worst. The timeless example of this is in the world of the angels. When God created the angels, long before he created human beings, do you remember who he made the best and the brightest of them all? It was an angel by the name of “Lucifer” whose name means “light bearer.” Sadly, he rebelled against God – you can read about that in Revelation 12 – and he became corrupt, was literally “dis-graced,” he fell into hell, and from then on was called “Satan.” The corruption of the best becomes the worst.

         Here’s another practical application of “corruptio optimi pessima.” A friend of mine, Fr. Erik Pohlmeier, likes to say that his favorite century of Church history is the 15th century, or the 1400’s. I was shocked when he said that because that was a time of terrible corruption in Church leadership, going all the way up to the pope. I’m not going to describe it to you because you might all leave the Catholic Church and become Mormons. All I could think of was “the corruption of the best is the worst.” But Fr. Erik’s point was more subtle than that. He argued that the fact that the Church survived such a period of scandal and sin – and is today over 1 billion members world-wide – is the strongest evidence that she must have been founded by Jesus. Think about it: if the holiness of the Church depended on us priests, the Church would have never made it past the first century; it would have ended a long time ago. Ironically, the weakness of priests provides proof that God must be sustaining his Church. St. Paul says in Romans 5:20: “Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more.” In other words, God’s grace works through everything, even through the corruption of the best, the priests and the pope.

          I always smile when I hear today’s first reading from Acts of the Apostles. Why? Well, the last line reads: “The word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.” I love that last line, “even priests were obedient to the faith.” Now it’s not talking about Roman Catholic priests (obviously), but rather about Jewish priests, the Levites. Nevertheless, that line makes me chuckle, because it could very easily be applied to all priests, and I remember what Fr. Erik said about how the weakness of priests argues strongly in favor of the Church’s divine origin. Sometimes people ask me, “Fr. John do you want to be a bishop?”  And I always say, “Not on your life.”  Why? Well, because it’s a lot easier to be a shepherd to the sheep than a shepherd to the shepherds. Priests are the toughest nuts to crack, and if you can convert them, everyone else is easy.  I’ll stick with what’s easy. But here’s my point: there is plenty of the best and the worst in every priest.

          My friends, think of all the priestly shepherds that God has sent to St. Boniface Church over 125 years. First, you were blessed with a long line of brave Benedictine monks, starting in 1887, when this church was founded. Two particularly stand out in my mind: Fr. Hilary Filatreau and Fr. Placidus Eckhart. I always went to Fr. Hilary for confession because he could not hear very well. Some of you still remember them fondly. In 1998 diocesan priests started to provide pastoral care to you. Fr. Bill Elser, Fr. Jon McDougal, Fr. Jason Sharbaugh and starting Monday, Fr. Mario Jacobo. Each has certain skills – like Fr. Bill Elser’s famous homemade ice cream! – and each has his shortcomings, including the priest speaking to you. These men were ordained by the laying on of hands and the power of the Holy Spirit. However, that did not change the fact that every morning they still put their pants on one leg at a time (black pants). They are human, and seek salvation, like the rest of humanity. Pray for priests, be patient with priests, and put up with your priests. They are not perfect, but they are still priests of Jesus Christ, whom you may not have chosen or called, but they are the men Our Lord has chosen and called.

           Archbishop Fulton Sheen, after a long and celebrated career as pastor and preacher – he was called “the great communicator” by Reverend Bill Graham (not shabby praise) – the elderly archbishop wrote his autobiography entitled, Treasure in Clay. He explained why he chose that title, which he took from 2 Corinthians 4:7, saying, “God did not call angels to be priests; he called men. He did not make gold the vessel for his treasure; he made clay.” My friends, don’t let the clay of the priesthood distract you from the treasure that’s hidden inside.

Praised be Jesus Christ!