tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578980753063154388.post5100916892741873414..comments2024-03-05T11:44:26.154-08:00Comments on The New Theological Movement: The ambition of a priest desiring to become a bishopFather Ryan Erlenbushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07557817305024750902noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578980753063154388.post-5983332461021545262011-11-01T23:13:15.858-07:002011-11-01T23:13:15.858-07:00I cannot imagine why anyone in his right mind woul...I cannot imagine why anyone in his right mind would want to be a bishop today. I cannot think of a more difficult, more thankless, more despised position in the world than that of a Catholic bishop. And with the ecclesial notions of authority and respect and obedience not well understood (let alone practiced!) among both clergy and laity, going back a couple of generations now, I would think it easier to be herding cats than leading a diocese. <br /><br />I think that there can be healthy ambition -- Fulton Sheen comes to mind -- oriented to service. But for the most part, on just a practical level, I think it will be harder and harder to find good candidates for the episcopacy. Besides the requirements of spirituality and holiness, there is a need for bishops who have superior homiletics, intelligence, social skills and media savvy, and experience with education, canon law and civil law. And be purer than Caesar's wife. That is a mighty small pool out of which to catch the right fish. I know that God will provide, but in this, I see the need for Him to be Miracleworker on overtime. Kyrie, eleison. Christe, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.CH (CPT) Brian Stanley, USAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578980753063154388.post-45728582364491829252011-10-30T09:58:05.528-07:002011-10-30T09:58:05.528-07:00Father,
Thank you for a powerful exposition. Yo...Father, <br /><br />Thank you for a powerful exposition. Your way of bringing concepts together to make them clear is so very helpful and effective. Your emphasis on the importance of the spiritual state of the priest and bishop is very good, thank you. Your reflection makes me think of the young single man who thinks he wants to get married to a beautiful, good Catholic girl some day, and without having met her yet, prays to God for her, and for his own preparation to be a good husband and father. To place the desire in the hands of God in prayer trusting that He will lead him to the girl for him, in all humility, is a healthy desire. <br /><br />So, as long as the seminarian, and priest is praying for his future and present flock, making sacrifices for them, praying and working hard to love them in Christ, leading them in the Faith with truth, humility and courage, and loving and protecting them as father of his own children, well, such a priest does good. Thank you, Dear Lord, (on this "other" Good Shepherd Sunday) for all our priests and bishops, guide and protect them by your Holy Spirit. Amen.Michelangelonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578980753063154388.post-25886470611218802222011-10-30T08:44:41.068-07:002011-10-30T08:44:41.068-07:00I think it's a really really important point t...I think it's a really really important point that bishops should be in the unitive way. While of course we are not able to judge this ourselves, I am grateful to feel no worry in regards to my own Bishop.Elizabeth Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16888400643867182872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578980753063154388.post-46211636196609028302011-10-29T13:46:49.584-07:002011-10-29T13:46:49.584-07:00@A Sinner,
Yes, you are certainly correct that (in...@A Sinner,<br />Yes, you are certainly correct that (in every age) there will always be those who aspire to the office of bishop, and thus fall into serious sin.<br /><br />However, I noticed that you took the main point of my article -- which is more of a personal examination for priests/seminarians -- and twisted it into a means of judging others (namely, the bishops).<br /><br />It is very dangerous to sit back and pass judgment on which bishops we think are in the state of perfection and which are not ... much will come to light at the end of time which is not known now.<br /><br />I don't make any judgement about the state of the soul of a bishop (and neither should you), but I do trust that God can work through ANY bishop (be he a saint or a sinner) to accomplish his work of salvation.Father Ryan Erlenbushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07557817305024750902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578980753063154388.post-73596242107052271962011-10-29T09:08:11.570-07:002011-10-29T09:08:11.570-07:00"St. Thomas (following the best of the Cathol..."St. Thomas (following the best of the Catholic tradition) maintains that only those who are perfect, who have passed through the dark night of the soul and have attained to the unitive way, are fit to accept the office of bishop. To become a bishop without being in the way of the perfect is not only a very foolish sin of pride, it also puts the flock at great risk."<br /><br />Ideally, yes. However, there is a great risk of clericalism in assuming that this "ought" frequently plays out as an "is."<br /><br />Call me a cynic, but I would tend to believe MOST bishops nowadays (or ever, frankly) are not in anything like the Unitive mystical stage, and to give them the benefit of this assumption as if it were the default (just because it SHOULD be) is naive and dangerous.A Sinnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05083094677310915678noreply@blogger.com