Fr. Corapi becomes the "Black Sheep Dog"

As many of us are just becoming aware either last night or this morning, Fr. John Corapi has announced that he will be leaving public ministry.  I'm quite certain this will come as a shock to a great many people, it was a shock to me.  The video above is the statement he issued, it can also be found on his new website, under his new persona, the "Black Sheep Dog".  Our prayers are certainly with him at this time.  Fr. Corapi has done marvelous work in the course of the 20 years of his ministry.  I was first introduced to him through his series of videos explaining the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I know he has been and continues to be an inspiration to many, and has no doubt brought many people to the faith.

All that being said, I can't help but find this statement somewhat troubling, and I know I'm not the only one.  Many people in the history of the Church have been falsely accused of this or that, indeed some have drawn comparisons with Padre Pio and others.  The simple fact of the matter is, that to put on a Roman Collar makes one a target, it's sad, but very true.  You can do everything in your power to try and avoid it, but short of hiding in your room, periodically emerging to say Mass, you're never going to be totally off someone's radar screen.  For priests it goes with the territory, to be a priest means to be another Christ, and Christ was falsely accused and condemned, should we not expect the same treatment.  Of course it hurts all the more when it appears to come from within the Church itself, but it really shouldn't matter where it comes from, because God has permitted it for some reason.

St. Alphonsus Liguori in his short work, Uniformity with God's Will, says:

Furthermore, we must unite ourselves to God's will not only in things that come to us directly from his hands, such as sickness, desolation, poverty, death of relatives, but likewise in those we suffer from man -- for example, contempt, injustice, loss of reputation, loss of temporal goods and all kinds of persecution. On these occasions we must remember that whilst God does not will the sin, he does will our humiliation, our poverty, or our mortification, as the case may be. It is certain and of faith, that whatever happens, happens by the will of God: "I am the Lord forming the light and creating the darkness, making peace and creating evil." From God come all things, good as well as evil. We call adversities evil; actually they are good and meritorious, when we receive them as coming from God's hands: "Shall there be evil in a city which the Lord hath not done?" "Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches are from God."

Ultimately it is not yet clear what Fr. Corapi means by his statment, he has not directly said he is leaving the priesthood, though it seems to be implied.  He notes that given his present situation he had two options "1. I can quietly lie down and die, or 2. I can go on in ways that I am able to go on."  Are those really the only two options, is leaving the priesthood and maintaining his fanbase really the more appealing option rather than living a quiet life amongst his community.  Being suspended, he had lost his priestly faculties, and I'm sure that was and still is very painful, but nonetheless, he is still a priest, and even leaving the active ministry he will remain a priest.  I don't wish to judge, but sadly this seems more an act of pride, than a submission to God's will, even in an unjust situation.

Of course we all could only hope that faced with a similar situation that we would take the route of humility rather than trying to pridefully try to defend ourselves.  Let us continue to pray for Fr. Corapi, that he will make the right choices, for the right motives.  Let us pray for all priests that they will have the strength to stand up to the slings and arrows that come their way.  Let us pray for each and every one of us, that we might have to courage and strength to accept God's will in our lives no matter how difficult it might be; "if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10)

The Last Week of Advent - December 22nd

Today Mary proclaims her Magnificat in the gospel.  After receiving Elizabeth's greeting, Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit burst forth into this hymn, a hymn to humility.  The Incarnation itself is an act of utter humility, the Almighty and All-powerful God hiding his divinity, becoming a human being to dwell with us.  In every celebration of the Holy Mass, God engages in an even greater act of humility, hiding his divinity to come under the appearance of bread and wine.  These acts of humility are ultimately motivated by love, God's love for us.  God calls us to humility as well, as I said in another post, God does not ask much from us, but he does call us to be humble.  Pride seeks the self, pride is self-love in the extreme, humility is always focused on the other, putting the other before self, and it is always an act of love.  I once heard the definition of Joy as Jesus, Others, then You, in that order, true humility motivated out of love leads us to find true and lasting joy.  May we be humble, so that God might raise us up.

RCIA Wednesday - A question about Confession

[Sorry folks, getting a little behind on publishing, this article was intended for December 15th] 

Like most Associate Pastors I am in charge of RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) here in the parish, and like many places we have our RCIA sessions on Wednesday night.  It seems like very fruitful ground to offer some reflections, since RCIA is all about learning and growing in the faith.  I can't hope to cover everything that we discuss in a two hour session of RCIA in this space, but I hope to be able to reflect upon at least one issue that comes up every week.  We are on hiatus from RCIA until after Christmas right now, but I thought I'd start with an interesting question that we posed to me last week in RCIA, a question about Confession.

Our topic last week, just before the Christmas break was an Introduction to the Sacraments, which included just a brief overview of each of the seven Sacraments.  When we got to the Sacrament of Confession, the question was posed, "Will the priest think less of you because of the sins you confess?"  A fair question, especially at this time of year when so many are heading to the confessional as part of their spiritual preparation for Christmas.  Now, I can't claim to speak for every priest in the world, but as for myself, and for other priests I have spoken to about the subject, an honest, sincere, thorough confession will never cause your confessor to think less of you.  Most confessors simply try to forget what a penitent has told them, and with the great volume of penitents, especially at this time of year, that is fairly easy to do, but if your confessor does have a lingering opinion, it will usually be to think more highly of you, because you have come before the Lord in humility to ask for his help and forgiveness.

That being said, there are a few confessional don'ts that I'd like to offer for your consideration:

1. Don't argue moral theology with your confessor.  This is the penitent who comes in to confess "x, y, and z", but then says, "But I don't really think x is a sin", or some variation of that opinion.  One might ask the question, "if you don't think it's a sin, then why confess it in the first place", ultimately though, we must remember that the confessional is a place for acknowledgment of sins and for God's healing power to wipe those sins away.  If you sincerely have questions about the Church's teaching on a particular matter, feel free to ask your priest to see if he can clarify the issue, but the confessional might not be the best place to do it.
2. Don't mitigate your sins.  The Sacrament of Confession is there to remove the stain of mortal sin, venial sins don't require sacramental confession, a sincere Act of Contrition will suffice (note here I'm not speaking of devotional confession, that is a different subject altogether).  Occasionally a penitent will come to confess "x", but then give a long story why it really wasn't that bad.  Again, if it was not really that bad, in other words not a mortal sin, then you have no need to confess it, but if your conscience is telling you to confess it, then just be honest and straightforward, acknowledge the wrong, and listen for your confessor's advice.
3. Don't tell your confessor that you're not a sinner.  Again, occasionally a penitent will come, confess a couple of things, then say "I don't really have sins to confess."  Certainly there may be saints in our midst, but real saints are those who are usually most keenly aware of their sinfulness.  To say that "I don't remember anything else", or "I honestly can't think of anything else, but am sorry for any sins I cannot remember" is fair.  Some may simply not have as intense a level of self-knowledge regarding sinfulness as others, because of where they are in their spiritual lives, but to still acknowledge that I am a sinner even though I don't recall all the specifics is probably much closer to the mark for most of us, than to say I have no sins to confess.  

Incidentally, I myself seek out the Sacrament quite frequently, and at times I am tempted to employ one of the above, but if we get right down to it, all of these devices are aspects of one reality, pride.  Pride is the Original Sin, and it continues to be the biggest stumbling block in the spiritual lives of most people.  Pride seeks to build up the self, to the point where we don't think we need God any more, and isn't that what we are saying in all of the above instances, I don't really need the Sacrament, and thus I don't really need God's forgiveness, because I don't really think I've done anything wrong.  God doesn't really ask for much from us, at least in comparison to all he is willing to do for us, but he does ask for real sincereity and humility, particularly in acknowledging our sinfulness, and our need for his forgiveness and grace.  Next time you step into the confessional just be honest and open, and you may find God's grace is much more powerful and effective in your life.

I realize that I have strayed somewhat from my initial consideration of what the priest might think of you, but just to conclude, a truly humble penitent, regardless of their sins, will always be a source of joy to the confessor, because true humility goes hand in hand with true holiness (perhaps a subject for a later post).