Association Of Catholic Bloggers

feature image by Yongsung Kim Most of us rate our success in living out our Christianity by a worldly set of standards. Even those who select candidates for the priesthood look for strengths, not weaknesses.  They look for good grades in philosophy and theology classes, confidence in social situations, efficient managerial skills, financial acumen, flair as a public speaker, and psychological stability. Perhaps a better yardstick for assessing potential success as a priest or as a member of the priesthood of the faithful is how weak a person is. Have they experienced confusion and doubt? Have they been broken and lived through depression and anxiety? Have they tasted failure and defeat? Do they realise their tendency to sin? continue

The Spirit of God flows through our imperfections.   An Allegory.                 An  idealistic young man, Mark, traveled a great distance to find a well-known holy man to mentor him. Although this elder, Fr. Simon, was a confirmed hermit, Mark noticed he was becoming physically weak. Ingeniously, Mark offered the perfect exchange; he would do the heavy chores for the elderly monk, freeing valuable hours so Father would have more than enough spare time to teach him how to live a spiritual life. This earnest young fellow was determined to do his work so well the monk would never regret sharing his hermitage and more importantly, his wisdom with him. . One of the new novice’s daily chores was to haul water from a creek nearby with a yoke across his shoulders. On each end of a pole hung large clay pots. However, one of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always deliv...