From the blog of Fr. Zuhlsdorf - a post about the sometimes unrealistic demands placed on a parish priest. You can view the full post HERE, and read the content of a "chain letter" he posted below:The "Perfect" Priest
The results of a computerized survey indicate the perfect priest preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sins but never upsets anyone. He works from 8:00 AM until midnight and is also a janitor. He makes $50 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car, and gives about $50 weekly to the poor. He is 28 years old and has preached 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens.
The perfect priest smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls daily on parish families, shut-ins and the hospitalized, and is always in his office when needed.
If your priest does not measure up, simply send this letter to six other churches that are tired of their priest, too. Then bundle up your priest and send him to the church on the top of the list. In one week, you will receive 1,643 priests and one of them will be perfect. Have faith in this procedure.
One parish broke the chain and got its old priest back in less than three weeks.
The results of a computerized survey indicate the perfect priest preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sins but never upsets anyone. He works from 8:00 AM until midnight and is also a janitor. He makes $50 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car, and gives about $50 weekly to the poor. He is 28 years old and has preached 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens.
The perfect priest smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls daily on parish families, shut-ins and the hospitalized, and is always in his office when needed.
If your priest does not measure up, simply send this letter to six other churches that are tired of their priest, too. Then bundle up your priest and send him to the church on the top of the list. In one week, you will receive 1,643 priests and one of them will be perfect. Have faith in this procedure.
One parish broke the chain and got its old priest back in less than three weeks.
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3 comments:
Yep. That's hilarious. Very very true the paradoxes that Priests are expected to fill. "I became all things to all men." I think the key for these expectations not to crush but to carry our Priests through their ministry is prayer - God will make their pathways straight and put them in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. But first they have to decide that prayer is the most important use of their time. And we have to allow them to do that.
I would laugh really hard were this not entirely true....not of the priests but of the parishioners...we need to pray for our priests.....
I found this in one parish in my country. It said :
if the priest is serious, he's and old boring priest
If he laughs, he's not focused on his ministry
If he doesn't have a car, how is he going to attend people's nessesities
If he does have a car, he's rich and should be more humble.
If he is old, is strict
If he's young, is unexperienced...
YOu see, for the people, there is not perfect priest; nevertheless, he's really important to guide his people and is an admirable labor.
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