Comments on: St. Augustine Makes Clergy Squirm

By: chaco

chaco — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:24:00 +0000

Laugh Out Loud ! As a married man, I can relate SOooo well to the “…have wives..” statement. The other Sunday, when “wives should submit to their husbands.” was read, it dawned on me how necessary submitting our own will to another’s is in the sanctification process. A wife does well to submit BUT ONLY IF the husband has submitted his life to God & His Church.
I recall reading or hearing somewhere that Marian devotion has 2 main Fruits; 1) It causes us to love God’s will more than our own [This would be logical if Our Lady is sharing Her Heart with us.] 2) It can turn sufferring into Joy (at least to a degree) I’d appreciate it if someone could affirm this thought by identifying its source. I think a saint said it.

By: Terry Carlino

Terry Carlino — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:19:00 +0000

I think that this is one of the reasons bishops and priests are bound to pray the office. Being human I suspect that most would not choose to read St. Augustine’s Sermon on Pastors yearly. Who wants to be reminded of their potential failings and the hazards of their actions on a yearly basis?
The mother Church in wisdom realizes that bishops and priests, being human, need constant reminders of their faults. Since Catholic bishops and most Roman Catholic priests are not married they must count on St. Augustine to tell them. Deacons also are bound to read Augustine each year, but like the rest of us they are not the subjects of the sermon. Like many of us most also have wives, so they already have someone to make sure they know their faults,