We come first to the prophet Jeremiah and his references to unfaithful priests.
An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes (Jer 5:30-31)?He does not mince words. He considers this to be "appalling and horrible", as should we. Notice how he connects prophets and priests; the prophet was primarily a speaker for God, and the priest was primarily a speaker for the people. If the prophet said things that were false (as we find in certain theologians today) then at least some of the priests will follow suit and begin doing things wrongly as well. In this instance, the priests are "ruling at their own direction". This means that they do not follow the proper commands of God or His Church, but instead make their own decisions on what is right. We can see this in the priest today who say "yes, you can take communion evens to though you are in an invalid marriage and do not want to get an annulment". Errors in theologians and seminary professors will lead to errors in priests.
I find it a bit disheartening that Jeremiah says that the "people love to have it so". This is one of the main reasons for every priestly error that occurs today. The people encourage it! Why would people encourage their priest to rule wrongly? Precisely because they do not want him to rule the way that God has ordered. That is "too hard" to endure for the "average Catholic". Thus, they prefer that priests come up with a different set of rules; one that is determined by the world and the devil, one which allows us to continue in sin. Do not encourage your priest in this way; let him know that you want to hear the truth so that you can be faithful.
Next we find Ezekiel telling how priests fail to teach the people what is right and wrong when they have not made a "distinction between holy and common".
Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them (Ezek 22:26).I will pick on the marriage issue again briefly: when a priest is not clear that an invalid marriage is genuinely invalid, then he is not making a difference between holy matrimony and a common bond. When the people do not even know what is faithful and what is sinful, then it is usually because of a priest who fails to teach them what is right.
The next passage we find is similar to the one from Ezekiel but it comes from the prophet Zephaniah.
Her prophets are wanton, faithless men; her priests profane what is sacred, they do violence to the law (Zeph 3:4).Again, we have a connection between prophets and priests. Here, though, we find that the priests have "profaned what is sacred" which does a violence to the law. The law made clear what was holy (both in actions, and in things) and to blur those lines (as so often happens today) is to attack God's law. As with Ezekiel, it leads people to continue in their sin since they do not know that they are supposed to stop. I have had parishioners say to me many times, "thank you for pointing that out, I did not know I was not supposed to do that"--that is always a great encouragement. We cannot help people to repent if they do not know that they need to.
The final passage I want to look at is in Amos.
And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart (Amos 2:1-2).This one is quite challenging for a priest to read, but it should give some substance for the laity to be praying about. Priests are warned that if they do not take seriously the command to glorify God (rather than self) then it will come back to bite them. Their very ministry will be ineffective ("I will curse your blessings"). Imagine if you were told that everything you do in your calling was going to be ineffective. The feeling of pointlessness is crippling, and for a priest, whose calling is to bless the people of God with the things of God, it has eternal consequences.
Priests are supposed to be teaching what is right, and explaining to people what to repent of. I could be a very "nice" priest, and always tell people "nice" things. I could preach "Jesus loves you, just keep doing whatever you are doing and don't bother going to confession". I may make a lot of parishioners happy (though I hope not!), but I would not be making God happy, nor would I be doing anything good for my eternal soul. Thus, because this is my calling, I need to point out what is "holy and common" and show respect "for the sacred". I need to rule for the sake of the good of God's people and not for myself; I need to do this to help them to find the path to Heaven, and in doing so, take all these things to heart so that I remain faithful in every way.
If you are in one of my parishes, I ask you to pray for me, and for any future priest that you may have; that we may all persevere in holiness and turn from the devil and his ways. If you are not in my parishes, then I ask you to pray the same for your own priest. For all of you I ask you to pray for those priests that we have heard about in the news; those whom have fallen into grave sin and have led others astray by their sinfulness. Do not just be angry at them, pray for them; pray for their eternal souls, and for those that they have harmed. The priesthood is a heavy calling, and it carries much responsibility; ask the Lord to bless His priests with diligent and faithful hearts. They are under attack from the devil and truly need your prayers every day.
