In my life as a priest, there are many times when I know that if it had been some other priest in this particular situation, he would have done exactly the same thing. I just happened to be the priest on site. That's a lot of life. Then, there are those instances when I've witnessed a brother priest preach a homily or handle a situation and I've thought, "Boy, I'm glad it was him and not me." That's because that priest did a much better job in the situation than I ever would have done.
But, then there are instances like one I had recently. It was one of those moments when I knew that had I not been the particular priest in the situation, the person likely would not have reached out to a priest. For whatever reason, this person and I clicked. And so, by God's grace, we were able to live the life of the Church. Occasionally, as a priest you have the sense that you were sent to a particular parish in order to be there for this particular situation or for this particular person.
How I wound up in these situations was not through an infallible process. In fact, the way God brought me to my present parish was through a rather crazy situation. And so, by means of a lot of crazy and difficult things, God brought forth a lot of beautiful things.
So, this week, I had the opportunity to do some wonderful priestly work. That was possible because twelve years ago, I had to deal with an imperfect system. Grace is relentless. It can't be defeated. God takes imperfect systems and imperfect priests and nonetheless uses them for his glory.
We can be confident and unafraid. No matter what, if we entrust ourselves to Him, God will use us
as his instruments. And, he will place us in the right situations at the right time. Even if there are bumps along the way.
But, then there are instances like one I had recently. It was one of those moments when I knew that had I not been the particular priest in the situation, the person likely would not have reached out to a priest. For whatever reason, this person and I clicked. And so, by God's grace, we were able to live the life of the Church. Occasionally, as a priest you have the sense that you were sent to a particular parish in order to be there for this particular situation or for this particular person.
How I wound up in these situations was not through an infallible process. In fact, the way God brought me to my present parish was through a rather crazy situation. And so, by means of a lot of crazy and difficult things, God brought forth a lot of beautiful things.
So, this week, I had the opportunity to do some wonderful priestly work. That was possible because twelve years ago, I had to deal with an imperfect system. Grace is relentless. It can't be defeated. God takes imperfect systems and imperfect priests and nonetheless uses them for his glory.
We can be confident and unafraid. No matter what, if we entrust ourselves to Him, God will use us
as his instruments. And, he will place us in the right situations at the right time. Even if there are bumps along the way.
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