Monday, June 20, 2011

Response from a priest on the Fr. Corapi situation

"I guess it bothers me reading the constant comparisons of Fr. Corapi’s to saints like Padre Pio and St.Gerard Majella. There is no one-size-fits-all template for holiness. Jerome was arrogant, bombastic, ...self-referential, and obnoxious. The objects of his venom were men like Augustine. Yet he recognized this weakness of character, and became a saint. I have no idea of what the truth is regarding Fr. Corapi, but I hate seeing any man dismissed simply because he does not as yet appear to show the signs of heroic sanctity. Why do we even remember Sts. Pio and Gerard? Because men like them are so bloody scarce in the Body of Christ! As scripture says, “the Lord is glorious in his saints.” Still, the day to day work of the Church is sadly not, for the most part, done by Pios and Gerards, but by men who deeply love Jesus, but also have big mouths and egos, kick themselves in the butt when they get home to the rectory at night over the dumb things they’ve said and done that day, and then pray for mercy and amendment of life. Please don’t compare Corapi, or me, or any other priest to the saints. That’s not why they’re there, and can only lead to being pharisaical about priests who don’t meet your criteria. Rather, let each one compare our own soul to the great saints so we can learn to say from the heart, “God, be merciful to ME — a sinner.”  Fr. Frank

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1 comment:

belinda said...

I love Father Frank. Thanks for sharing this.