{"id":16883,"date":"2015-10-18T01:01:10","date_gmt":"2015-10-18T06:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/?p=16883"},"modified":"2015-10-18T14:17:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T19:17:11","slug":"would-you-do-it-over-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/2015\/10\/18\/would-you-do-it-over-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Would You Do It Over Again?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<\/param>\r\n<\/param>\r\n<\/param>\r\n<\/param>\r\n<\/param>\r\n<\/param>\r\n<\/embed>\r\n<\/object>\r\n\n

\"Untitled<\/a>Occasionally priests receive this\u00a0question and this week someone asked it to me. “If you had the choice all over\u00a0again to be a priest would you still choose to do so?”\u00a0<\/span>If you expected me to answer and immediately say “Oh yes, absolutely, I did not.”<\/p>\n

I hesitated to think that question through. If given the chance would I choose\u00a0to be a priest again, yes, would I like to live my priesthood so far all over\u00a0again, that is a different question.<\/p>\n

It is important to understand this because,\u00a0I am not sure you would want a priest who would say yes.<\/p>\n

If you look at the normal world of\u00a0business, especially here in the United States, we really have a focus on\u00a0living the dream and living our life, our way. Indeed, this is the greatest\u00a0issue we have in our culture today. We can have it all. In other countries,\u00a0just a small percentage of what we have makes one rich. Even if we have a car\u00a0that does not work, it is still a car and we are rich compared to others. I am\u00a0not even going to address such things as computers and smartphones. There are\u00a0people in this world, who live a life that does not include one tenth of what\u00a0we have. I remember a group in Ecuador who never went to the movies because\u00a0they never had the money to go to see one. I am not describing these people as\u00a0poor. We might, but they live a lifestyle with less money so they cannot afford\u00a0what we have, but that does not make them destitute. It was there I learned a\u00a0simple fact: it is the rich who read newspapers,<\/span> the\u00a0poor cannot afford them and do not. Therefore, the media\u2019s target\u00a0audience is always the upper middle class and the upper class, because they\u00a0have the money. I learned that in Quito Ecuador.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, we have the ability,\u00a0even if we are not rich by US standards to have so many advantages, we have so
\nmany things. We have so many opportunities. However, that means we can demand\u00a0many things that others cannot. We can demand our world, our way and that is\u00a0part of our culture. We also have structures in place to attack others in court\u00a0when they do not give us our world our way. We have access to the media to make\u00a0others knuckle under when they do not give us our world our way. Look at the\u00a0non-stories in the media of the person who was offended by some issue and now\u00a0the world has to change to accomodate them.<\/p>\n

Spiritually, this is intensely\u00a0destructive. When we demand and get our world our way, we lose a sense of why
\nwe live our Catholic faith. The reason for our Catholic faith is to testify to\u00a0the truth of Jesus Christ and what He did for us. That requires sacrifice, risk\u00a0and struggle. It requires us to be as Jesus says, \u201cThe light shines in\u00a0the darkness.\u201d But John says that people prefered the darkness to the\u00a0light. What kind of a life do you live when you try to be a light and everyone\u00a0wants darkness. This is why it is a sacrifice to live the Catholic faith\u00a0including the priesthood.<\/p>\n

That is why that question is so\u00a0important and the answer cannot be given easily. Many people will tell you that\u00a0living the Catholic faith is not easy but point to the prize at the end of the\u00a0journey, but that is incorrect. We life the Catholic faith,\u00a0not for the prize that we will receive at the end of our journey, but what\u00a0others will receive because of our efforts.<\/span> Consider the ship captain riding\u00a0through a terrible storm. He is not going through the storm for his own
\nsurvival, but also the others on the ship and non-human cargo as well. Would he\u00a0still want to be a ship captain, probably, but would he want to go through the\u00a0storm again? Probably not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many times when we think of Padre Pio,\u00a0we think in overly positive terms. We forget that he suffered greatly. Many
\nthought his stigmata was false and he had to endure that experience. He did not\u00a0glory it as many would expect and considered it at times to be a burden. He had\u00a0a superior who hated him and he was falsely accused sex abuse. He was forbidden\u00a0to say mass during this time and had to spend his days praying in his\u00a0cell.<\/p>\n

When I received my second letter of\u00a0reprimand by a\u00a0current midwest bishop, the nun I worked with reminded me
\nthat St. John Bosco also did not get along with his bishop and the bishop\u00a0pulled his faculties for a time meaning he could not celebrate any sacraments,\u00a0yet here is a man considered one of the greatest of saints.<\/p>\n

This brings us to today\u2019s\u00a0gospel. Notice the Apostles are seeking all the glory,\u00a0<\/span>they want to be comfortable in the service of Jesus. Not only is that not\u00a0promised to them, they are promised and agree to great suffering and sacrifice,
\nwhich they in fact do encounter. However, if it was not for their sacrifice and\u00a0suffering you would not be here, nor would your place in Heaven be even\u00a0considered an option.<\/p>\n

Would they want to encounter those\u00a0trials again? I do not know.<\/p>\n

There is an ancient legend about St.\u00a0Peter called Quo Vadis in which he walks away from Rome to avoid execution. He\u00a0is met by Jesus carrying his cross. Peter asks him where he is going and the\u00a0Lord tells him that he is going to Rome to be crucified. Peter gets the message\u00a0and returns to Rome to be martyred.<\/p>\n

Currently, in Rome, there is a\u00a0discussion of changing our teachings to make it easier for people to live their\u00a0Catholic faith and some are resisting. Rightly so, the Catholic faith is a\u00a0challenge that if not met, it is not that one is lost,<\/span>
\nit is that many are lost. The language of sacrifice for each and every one of\u00a0us is essential language and if we do not live it, we fail in our duties as\u00a0Catholics.<\/p>\n

Attending mass on weekends is a sacrifice,<\/span> minor, but still a sacrifice. Praying everyday is\u00a0a sacrifice, minor, but still a sacrifice. Living Catholic teaching on all\u00a0issues including such things as money, family what the Church teaches on
\ncontraception, sexuality, marriage and divorce is part of the sacrifice, more\u00a0difficult and essential. It is because we are testifying to a truth against a\u00a0force that wants people to suffer and die by accepting its lie. It is a battle\u00a0literally for souls. It is not an easy battle. However, the prize is so great\u00a0hence the intensity of the battle.<\/p>\n

This brings me back to my original\u00a0statement. But I direct it to you. Are you living your Catholic faith as the\u00a0sacrifice it is called to be? When you do that, you become quite fruitful. So\u00a0look back at all the difficulties you have had in your life and ask,<\/span> would you live them again? Now, if you\u00a0would say no, ask, would you live them again for the sake of salvation of the\u00a0souls of your loved ones.<\/span> Now you see the meaning of that question. When\u00a0it is rooted there, you can see the meaning of all your difficulties. Padre\u00a0Pio, despite his difficulties, said that he wanted to spend his time in Heaven\u00a0standing at the bottom of the ladder to the Heavenly Kingdom directing people\u00a0to salvation.<\/p>\n

The question is not whether I would\u00a0want to choose priesthood again or you would choose your way of life. The real
\nquestion is do<\/span> we so believe in it, that despite the\u00a0difficulties we\u2019ve encountered we would go through them again for the\u00a0sake of salvation of souls. Yes, but isn\u2019t that the point in the first\u00a0place.<\/p>\n

God bless you,<\/p>\n

Fr. Robert J Carr<\/p>\n

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Can\u00e7\u00e3o Nova). He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA<\/a> and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Can\u00e7\u00e3o Nova. Which he podcasts on Podomatic<\/a>\u00a0and here on Catholicismanew. You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr <\/a>and on Google plus as +FrRobertCarr<\/a>. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Occasionally priests receive this\u00a0question and this week someone asked it to me. “If you had the choice all over\u00a0again to be a priest would you still choose to do so?”\u00a0If you expected me to answer and immediately say “Oh yes,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141872,9791],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16883"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16931,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883\/revisions\/16931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cancaonova.com\/catholicismanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}