Greetings in Christ! A blessed, restful and joy-filled Labor Day weekend to you all!
I have a bunch of information for you, so let’s go one step at a time.
First of all, it is a recurring theme here that folks get emails or texts from people saying they are me. It usually presents as a situation where the person impersonating me sends an email or text asking you to email back. Then, when you respond, the email indicates that I am in some situation where I can’t talk, but need money. The scam continues with the person impersonating me asking you to send gift cards to give to sick people or orphans, etc. To be clear, I will never, ever do this. These are scams. If I ask for money, I do it from the podium at Mass or face to face. I’m so sorry that people are like this. Let’s pray for their conversion.
Speaking of asking for money…please support us if you can. Many have switched over to online giving, which is incredibly helpful. At the same time, we struggle sometimes because we do not take up collections. Instead, we place a box at the entrance of the Church in the hopes that those not giving electronically will place donations in the box to help us do our ministry here. If you don’t currently give, please know anything will help. At the same time, never feel like you have to donate to be a part of The Family.
Finally, I’ve received a few messages from people concerned about some of the young men who are studying to be priests. There is a lot of fake news out there right now about young men being persecuted and driven out of seminary because they are too conservative or too Catholic. Please don’t worry about that. In my vast experience, this is not at all true.
When I was in seminary, there were a couple guys who were asked to leave because they were arrogant, rude and superior. They went on to star in a book about how good men were being driven out of seminary because of their virtue. This has been the case for as long as I remember: bad men convinced of their own virtue being asked to leave seminary and then playing the victim. To be clear, the system is not perfect: bad men get through sometimes. At the same time, I can’t think of a Saint who suffered for righteousness and then went on a tour collecting money and attention because of it.
I hope this helps. Please don’t worry. If God wants them to be priests, they will be. Humans are not powerful enough to stop it.
Thank you with all my heart for loving The Church enough to ask, but please don’t worry. These are, as a general rule, not ministries or causes we want to be associated with.
With all my love and prayers, I remain your most grateful priest.
Fjk