(Thirty-first Sunday of the Year
(A): This homily was given on October 30, 2011 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Thirty-first Sunday 2011]
The “celebrity priest.” That’s a term that’s been used quite often in
recent years in both secular and religious publications. And, most of the time, it has not been used in a complimentary way. For example, the National Catholic Register
ran an article just a couple of weeks ago that had the ominous title, “Beware
of the Celebrity Priesthood.” Similarly,
back in 2009, the New York Times had an online piece entitled, “Celebrity
Priest Torn Between Church and Girlfriend.” It was about a well-known priest
from Florida named Alberto Cutie. I’m
sure some of you remember this story. At
the time, Fr. Cutie had his own talk show on radio and television, and was a
successful author. He wrote a
best-selling book, as well as a column for several Spanish language newspapers
in the United States and Latin America.
Needless to say, he was a very popular and well-liked priest. People in the secular media referred to him
as “Father Oprah”—because he was such a good interviewer.
Well, unfortunately, Fr. Cutie was
also having an affair with a divorced woman when this New York Times article appeared. He has since left the Catholic Church,
civilly married the woman, and become an Episcopalian minister.
Priests are called to be
counter-cultural, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is always counter-cultural. We’re
called to be counter-cultural in what we preach and teach—and also in the way
we live. And this is precisely why so
many priests who become celebrities get into trouble. You see, it’s very hard to be
counter-cultural when the culture is patting you on the back and telling you
how great you are! And that applies as
much to the “Church culture” as it does to the wider secular culture. Just think of someone like Fr. John Corapi. People in the secular culture detested him because
he preached the full Gospel message without compromise—but faithful Catholics
in the “Church culture” loved him. They
thought he was great. They watched him
on EWTN every week; they bought his books and CDs. To them he was a kind of cult-hero.
Well apparently somewhere along
the line it all went to his head, so to speak.
As many of us know, this man who used to preach obedience to everyone
else has been defiantly disobedient to his religious superiors in recent months. There have also been credible accusations made
against him of immoral activities with prostitutes, illegal drug abuse and
financial improprieties.
Speaking of financial
improprieties, Fr. Frank Pavone, another popular priest who was on EWTN quite
often, is also being investigated for possibly mismanaging funds that people
donated to Priests for Life, the excellent pro-life organization that he used
to be the head of. Hopefully, he will
eventually be exonerated from any wrongdoing.
The list of celebrity priests who
have fallen in one way or another has gotten long in recent years—much too
long; although I should add that there’s no direct connection between being a
celebrity priest and getting into trouble.
One does not necessarily
follow the other. Many priests and
bishops, for example, have been treated as celebrities either in the Church or
in secular society—or in both places—and yet they’ve happily maintained their
moral integrity and faithfulness to Jesus Christ. Some are even on the way to
canonization. Blessed John Paul II,
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, and Fr. Michael Scanlan are
some of the more noteworthy examples of holy and virtuous “celebrity priests.”
But for every Pope John Paul II, Bishop
Sheen, Fr. Groeschel, and Fr. Scanlan, there are 10 Fr. Corapis. That’s the sad reality.
Which really shouldn’t surprise
us, because priests are weak and fallible human beings who are subject to the very
same temptations that the rest of the human race is subject to.
Now one of the unfortunate
results of all this is that some people try to use the disobedience and moral
failings of these members of the clergy as an excuse for not obeying the Lord
in their own lives. They say, “Well these
priests have disobeyed; they’ve been unfaithful to God in various ways in their
lives, so why should I make the effort to be faithful to God in my life?”
You’ve heard that excuse before,
I’m sure. Hopefully, you’ve never
actually used it, but you’ve no doubt heard it.
Well, the simple answer to that
question is this: We should make the effort to be faithful to God even when
others have failed, because Jesus Christ tells us that we should! Jesus taught that we must obey God and those whom God has appointed to
positions of authority over us, even when those leaders disobey God themselves! According to Jesus, their disobedience must
never be used as an excuse for our disobedience.
Notice what he said to his
disciples in today’s gospel text from Matthew 23. Here he talks specifically about the scribes
and Pharisees, who were some of the recognized religious leaders of their day; akin,
in some respects, to priests and clergy in the modern Church. From what Jesus said about them in this
scene, it’s clear that these men enjoyed a kind of celebrity status among their
fellow Jews. Or at least they often acted like they were celebrities. Celebrities, for example, like to be noticed—and
so did many of the scribes and Pharisees!
As Jesus said here, “All their works are performed to be seen.”
Celebrities also love to be
catered to and fussed over—just like the scribes and Pharisees enjoyed being
catered to and fussed over. As Jesus put
it in this gospel, “They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in
synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi’.”
But, as we also heard, they
didn’t practice what they preached!
Their celebrity status, in effect, went to their heads, and many of them lived lives that were filled with
selfish pride.
And yet, what did Jesus tell his
disciples and the others who were present that day? Did he give them permission to disobey these
men? Did he say, “From now on, you can
completely disregard what these evil scribes and Pharisees tell you; you can
tune them out completely. They don’t
obey God and Moses in their lives, so you don’t have to obey God and Moses in
your lives”?
No!
He said just the opposite. He said, “The scribes and the Pharisees have
taken their seat on the chair of Moses [the ‘chair’ spoken of here is a symbol
of authority—the legitimate authority given to them by God]. Therefore, do and observe all things
whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.”
Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you.
As long as what they were
teaching was in accord with the law of God and Moses, the people were obliged
to be obedient.
The disobedience of their
teachers was not a valid excuse for their disobedience.
It’s like the situation that many
of you parents face in raising your children.
Can you imagine your children ever saying to you, “Mom and dad, how can
you punish us for fighting with each other today? How can you send us to our rooms and take
away our privileges? That’s totally
unfair. After all, both of you fought
with your brothers and sisters when you were growing up! You did the same thing back then that we’re
doing right now. You told us you did!”
Parents, that kind of lame excuse
wouldn’t fly in your home, would it? You
would never allow your disobedience many years ago to be used as an excuse for
your children’s disobedience now!
Nor should you allow it!
It’s sad when great preachers and
teachers of the Faith like Fr. John Corapi fall from grace. It’s tragic and it’s scandalous. But his fall does not negate the truth that he
taught with such incredible clarity and conviction when he was a priest in good
standing. The truth he taught is still
the truth that will set us free, if we believe it—and live it!
There were unfaithful Old
Testament priests before the time of Jesus.
We heard God’s tough message to some of them in today’s first reading
from the book of the prophet Malachi.
There were unfaithful religious leaders at the time of Jesus, as we
heard in today’s gospel; and there have been unfaithful leaders ever since
then, as we know from watching the evening news.
Thankfully, most priests today are faithful—well over 90% of them. They do the work the Lord calls them to do
quietly and without any fanfare or publicity.
They’re not celebrities—and believe me they’re quite happy about
that. They can relate to the words of
St. Paul in today’s second reading from 1 Thessalonians 2, where he talks about
working tirelessly night and day to proclaim the gospel of God.
Pray for these good priests: pray
for them to remain faithful always. And pray for the conversion of the others,
especially those like Fr. John Corapi, who have allowed the trappings of
celebrity to tarnish and to undermine their true vocations.
