Fr. Owen Gorman preached a retreat during Holy Week. Father’s from the Diocese of Clogher in Ireland. On that particular Tuesday, he discussed Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests, a booklet released by the Holy See’s Congregation for the Clergy on December 8, 2007. This Vatican initiative encourages the vocation of spiritual motherhood for priests. It’s a vocation for all women, and men as well, not just for those in the consecrated life.
Here’s the beautiful pdf of
“The vocation to be a spiritual mother for priests is hardly known, barely understood and consequently, rarely lived, although fundamental and vitally important.”
~ Congregation for the Clergy, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
“Thou hast caused my companions to shun me; thou hast made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow.” Ps 88: 8 (cont. at end of post)
If you are a priest who has been railroaded by diocesan officials, take solace in today’s post. Chances are that your former confreres won’t touch you with a 10 foot pole in case trouble is catchy. I’ll address this phenomenon in depth in a future post.
The tone of the past few posts tended to be a wee bit depressing (Oh ya think!), so I will unleash Fr. Stan Fortuna, CFR on you this time. He’s from Noo Yawk, he’s IN YOUR FACE, and he’s right.
In the last post, I mentioned the Servant of God Catherine Doherty and her Madonna House Apostolate.
Fr. Benedict Groeschel when founding the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, along with Fr. Stan Fortuna, was deeply influenced by Catherine Doherty’s Poustinia. She’s not the only Catherine he mentions frequently. Catherine of Genoa and Catherine of Siena are other lay reformers who get plenty of air time on Fr. Groeschel’s broadcasts.
