Dear Children,

Today (8/4/2024) is the Memorial of St. John Vianney—the patron saint of parish priests!  From iBreviary:

SAINT JOHN VIANNEY, patron of priests, known as the “Curé of Ars”. Saint John Mary Vianney, born during the days of the French Revolution, was ordained a priest in 1815. Three years later he was made parish priest of Ars, a remote French hamlet, where his reputation as a confessor and director of souls made him known throughout the Christian world. His life was one of extreme mortification.  Accustomed to the most severe austerities, beleaguered by swarms of penitents, and besieged by the devil, this great mystic manifested a imperturbable patience. He was a wonderworker loved by the crowds, but he retained a childlike simplicity, and he remains to this day the living image of the priest after the heart of Christ.  He heard confessions of people from all over the world for the sixteen hours each day. His life was filled with works of charity and love. It is recorded that even the staunchest of sinners were converted at his mere word. He died August 4, 1859, and was canonized May 31, 1925.

In our current age, it can seem as though the Church is going through a Passion in imitation of Her Savior.  As the Church goes through a proverbial agony in the garden, imprisonment & scourging, and crucifixion, the ministry of priests is indispensable.  Even the priest himself needs the ministry of another priest to hear his confession and give him last rites.  In this respect, we priests are just like you as children in need of a father. 

As I have come to see it over the course of my nearly 2 decades of priesthood, there are three ARCHETYPES of priests (ARCHETYPE: An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned):

JOHN (stayed by the Cross)

PETER (denied Christ, but was reconciled to Him)

JUDAS (the damned betrayer)

The JOHN-archetype priest remains faithful throughout his life to his vows, prayer, piety, & doctrinal orthodoxy, and serves the flock selflessly.  He is a truly holy man.  The JOHN-archetype is a rare & treasured variety that is usually recognized as such in his more senior years.  I’m sure we have all had the blessing of knowing one of these “living saints”!

The PETER-archetype priest falters (to some small or moderate degree) in his moral and spiritual life, but “finishes the race” in friendship with his Lord & High Priest, Jesus Christ.  He loves the Lord and the flock entrusted to his care.  He believes and teaches the TRUTH.  When he fails in some moral duty, he quickly seeks out the Sacrament of Confession and lays bare his sins so as to receive absolution & renew his holy dedication.  Of the priests that are generally classified as faithful, this archetype is most common.

The JUDAS-archetype priest will contend to be faithful, but his “faithfulness” will not be to Christ and the Deposit of Faith.  His faithfulness will be to himself, or worse.  By this priest’s works, you will know him.  The JUDAS-archetype priest is easily identifiable by the way he celebrates the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the principles he prioritizes, and his publicly discernible moral life.  This archetype of priest has chosen moral & doctrinal corruption, and, because of this, actively corrupts the flock to justify himself.  Christ says of such men as these, “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

JOHN & PETER, because they are obedient to the One, Holy, Catholic, & Apostolic Faith given to the Church by Her Lord, will experience some type of abandonment in the garden, some type of scourging & revilement at the pillar, some type of Via Dolorosa, some type of crucifixion (perhaps, a bloody one).  However, it can be no other way because for love of the Lord and for love of His flock they have taken up their crosses and followed Him.  Jesus told JOHN & PETER that the world would hate them because they were His.  However, in all of this, JOHN & PETER are happy because they are faithfully fulfilling their vocation in devotion to their Savior & His sheep, and have the hope of eternal life.

The JUDAS-archetype priest is one of the saddest things to behold.  Ordained to teach the most beautiful Truth and confect with his own consecrated hands the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, he kicks against the goad in pursuit of what he himself deems best.  It is a miserable life not just for him, but also for those he afflicts with his poison of heresy, immorality, and impiety.  Hell is more tolerable for Hitler than it is for Judas, and in the train to hell of the JUDAS-archetype priests are all the souls he corrupted.

My final words to you are these:  PRAY FOR YOUR PRIESTS!  PRAY FOR THEM!  PRAY FOR ME!  JOHN & PETER can fall into moral & doctrinal corruption, and die just as damned as JUDAS.  JUDAS can repent before he breathes his last and join JOHN & PETER in Heaven.

St. John Vianney, pray for us!

Your father in Christ,

Fr. Matt

4 August 2024

Memorial of St. John Vianney