Fr. Benedict Groeschel on How to Deal with Injustice on a Personal Level
“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. For today though, I’ll bring to you a recent episode of Sunday Night Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel:
Why does life seem unfair?
The title may seem trite considering that you may have been shown the door with a few hour’s notice and stripped of most, if not all, of your priestly faculties with absolutely no due process. I assure you, this is not a light weight talk. Father answers the question:
So what do you do to deal with this injustice?
He answers the question in a broader context that still speaks to priests suffering from their own situations. If you have just been removed from ministry, please contact Joe Maher with Opus Bono Sacerdotii, so that you can get the canonical, legal, moral, and spiritual support that you need. There is no cost to the priest. In the meantime, this is a time when faithful priests and laity can also help you.
Father Groeschel also touches on suicide at the end of the broadcast. He mentions a few resource I’ll leave at the end for your convenience. Before I close for today, I leave you with this post:
A Vocation in Response to Evil
Fr. Groeschel recommends:
Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To by Anthony DeStefano
Arise from Darkness by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
Psalm 88
1 O LORD, my God, I call for help by day; I cry out in the night before thee. 2 Let my prayer come before thee, incline thy ear to my cry! 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit; I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom thou dost remember no more, for they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me, and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves.
8 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; 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon thee, O LORD; I spread out my hands to thee. 10 Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise thee? 11 Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are thy wonders known in the darkness, or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, cry to thee; in the morning my prayer comes before thee. 14 O LORD, why dost thou cast me off? Why dost thou hide thy face from me? 15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless. 16 Thy wrath has swept over me; thy dread assaults destroy me. 17 They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in upon me together. 18 Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me; my companions are in darkness.
Job 38-40
Related posts
What It’s Like
- Read these letters sent to Opus Bono Sacerdotii mostly by priests. They allow us into their hearts and minds as they suffer through this wintertime of the Church.
- Follow this imprisoned priest’s fight to clear his name and expose abuse payout scams.
- Read Carol McKinley’s blog as she uncovers the shameful treatment of our priests.
- Follow this “chartered” priest’s dark night through his series of posts, Living in the Catholic Gitmo.
- Listen to Fr. Benedict Groeschel on How to Deal with Injustice on a Personal Level
If you have been unjustly removed from ministry,
know that you keep good company.
John 16: 1-4
1 I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them.
John 15: 18-27
18 If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 He who hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 It is to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’ 26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; 27 and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.
John 6: 67-70
67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.
John 16: 20-33
20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
21 When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. 24 Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
25 “I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father.
28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure! 30 Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 33: I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
