I gave the ordination retreat just down the way here at Arlington
earlier this year to 13 seminarians. Now
there are 61 parishes in the Arlington diocese. This year
they ordained 13 men to the priesthood. Last year 10. The year before last 9. In 3 years, they've
got more than half of the parishes taken care of, I think they’ve got over 20 entering this year.
What's the secret? Well, there's not a secret. They've got an orthodox bishop and orthodox priests
and they celebrate the Mass reverently, they love the priesthood, and they’ve got a great vocation
director. It's easy. In the little, tiny diocese of Fargo, North Dakota (what good can come from
Fargo?), Bishop James Sullivan has 53 seminarians! So I think that the home is
already, but must continue to be and grow in numbers to be the monastery of the new Dark Ages. Each
family must be a monastery.
Link (here) to read the lengthy talk by Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J. at Catholic.net
3 comments:
Well put. Let's hope these new orthodox seminarians and priests can help right the wrongs of the past generation/40+ of shameful church history.
The article praises St. Benedict - and characterizes his search for God as being a role model for civilization because he "did it not by trying to influence society" and "did it not by forming a committee for some kind of social betterment" and "did it not by running for political office".
Aside from being a rather peculiar view of a search for God, the article is mistaken to believe that it is so simple to characterize God's will. Does anyone really believe that our society does not impact our neighbors?
I would have thought that it would be obvious by now that God chooses not to reveal Himself to most people. For many people, going to a monastery is an absurd waste of time. God has many plans. It is extreme hubris to claim that we have such a deep understanding of His will.
Father Fessio's homeschooling applies to the conditions in the USA for families in a comfortable economic situation. But our Church is universal. In Africa and most countries in Latin America the education of the parents, many illiterate, and/or their economic situation would not allow such an undertaking. The Jesuit order has always distinguish itself by the quality of their schooling. Now that most Catholic grammar schools have disappear because of the scarcity of nuns, it would be a noble task for the Society of Jesus to attend to this situation. Go to the slums, teach those children, create schools in the poorest areas. We don't need another Jesuit university, but we need Jesuit teachers.
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