Let me begin this evening with a quote from St. Francis of Assisi. Given the fact that I’m a diocesan priest presently surrounded by a lot of "Franciscan gray," it does seem like the diplomatic thing to do! (And I like to be diplomatic, at least every once in awhile!)

St. Francis said, "We need to be especially alert to the evil subtlety of Satan. His one desire is to keep people from having a mind and heart disposed to their Lord and God."

As we all know from our own personal experience, Satan’s tactics are many and varied; but, as I see it, over the last 40 or 50 years he’s been trying to poison the minds and hearts of people by focusing his attacks primarily in 3 areas. And yes, sometimes he’s done this subtly as Francis implies here; but, quite frankly, most of the time he’s been anything but subtle!

First of all, he’s gone after the family (which includes, of course, the sacred institution of marriage). Secondly, he’s tried to undermine people’s faith in the Holy Eucharist (for proof of that just read any news poll concerning how many Catholics actually believe in the Real Presence). And thirdly, he’s attacked the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Now he’s definitely been working overtime on that one since Lent of 2002, when the horrible sex abuse scandals made news throughout the country. (Although it should be noted that he had been doing his dirty business in this area long before that happened; otherwise there would have been no scandals to report in the first place!)

Now I’m sure you’ve noticed that in the last year and a half there has been a failure—especially in the secular media—to distinguish the condemnation of the sexual abuse committed by a small number of priests from the condemnation of the priesthood. Thus, in the process of condemning the sins of these clerics (sins which should be condemned!), members of the media and others have gone on to attack the priesthood itself. I’d like to think that this is just a coincidence—just an honest mistake—but I’m not that stupid. I may be dumb, but I’m not that dumb!

I remember one of the Providence television stations taking an audience poll last year in which the following question was asked: "Can the Catholic Church survive these scandals?" I sensed a tinge of diabolical hope behind those words—hope that the Church and the priesthood would finally go the way of the dinosaurs!

It reminded me of something Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard University said in a First Things article she wrote a few years back. There she rightly observed that many enemies of the Church today will never, ever be satisfied until Catholics "apologize themselves into non-existence."

But in the midst of their perverse hope, those who have been predicting the Church’s demise in the midst of this crisis have forgotten one crucial fact about the priesthood: they’ve forgotten that whenever the priesthood is attacked, its power and glory are revealed!

This is a truth that is rooted in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior—and that means it will never change! Thankfully, it will never change!

Let me explain it in this way: The Letter to the Hebrews calls Jesus our Great High Priest—and rightly so! This means, quite simply, that it’s his priesthood that we ordained presbyters are blessed and privileged to share in. But I ask you this evening: When was our Lord’s priestly ministry exercised most powerfully? When was it? It was not when he healed the sick, or fed the 5,000, or preached the Sermon on the Mount (as important as those events were). You know when it was? It was when they tore the flesh off his body with barbed whips, beat him to a bloody pulp, drove a crown of thorns deep into his skull, stripped him naked, and put 5 gaping holes in him!

It was when he died for our sins on that Cross. It was that priestly sacrifice—that priestly self-offering—which destroyed the power of sin and won for us the kingdom of heaven! As Scripture puts it, "By his wounds we are healed."

When the priesthood of Jesus Christ was attacked on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, its power and glory were revealed. That’s why our Lord spoke of the hour of his death as the hour of his glorification.

And this is the pattern we have seen throughout history with respect to the priesthood.

Look, for example, at today’s first reading. This story is taken from Acts 9, and it occurs right after the conversion of Saul (that is to say, during a time of intense persecution!). The first priests—and all who professed belief in Jesus—were being harassed and sometimes killed for their faith. But notice the last line of the text: it says "[the Church] was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers." That incredible growth was due in large part to the work of the very first priests. In fact, later in this same chapter Peter, the priest, heals a paralytic and raises a woman from the dead—all in the midst of a terrible persecution.

When the priesthood was attacked in the first century, its power and glory were revealed in the ministry of Peter and the other apostles.

One of my favorite saints of modern times is Maximilian Kolbe, yet another follower of St. Francis. Here was a man who ministered to his fellow prisoners at Auschwitz in an atmosphere of intense hatred and persecution—beyond anything most of us can even imagine! And, of course, the Nazis treated St. Maximilian worse than the other prisoners precisely because he was a priest. In the end, as we know, he offered his life to save a fellow prisoner from execution.

When it was attacked in the person of Maximilian Kolbe, the glory and power of the priesthood were revealed once again.

This should give us all great hope for the future! I know it will greatly disappoint the editors of the New York Times and some others to hear this, but the present scandals—as horrific as they are—will not destroy the Church. Not even the gates of hell will prevail against it, as Jesus reminds us in Matthew, chapter 16.

What this crisis has done—and is doing—is illustrated beautifully in the teaching of Jesus found in today’s Gospel. Here, in John 15, our Lord says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit." That’s what the world has been witnessing in the last year and a half: the Lord has been pruning his vine. And let’s face it, his vine desperately needed to be pruned! And it still needs some pruning! Those of you who have studied in Catholic seminaries or colleges within the last 40 years know that all too well.

And in this same text, the Lord gives us the answer to the crisis—the answer that the entire Body of Christ needs to take seriously, not just the clergy. He says, "Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me."

Fr. Richard Neuhaus has said many times that this crisis has been about 3 things: fidelity, fidelity and fidelity! He’s absolutely correct. It’s infidelity—disobedience to Jesus Christ and his Gospel—that has caused these terrible scandals; it’s fidelity to Jesus and his timeless Gospel message which is the necessary remedy.

And that fidelity needs to be present in the whole Church. All of us—clergy and laity alike—have a part to play.

So, Fr. Juniper—and Fr. Sylvester, Fr. Joseph and Fr. Luke—be faithful. Above all else, be faithful! Be obedient priestly servants of Jesus Christ—and be part of God’s solution!

Let me conclude my homily today with these words of the poet, George MacDonald.

Every priest, I think, will recognize his own experience of the Lord’s call somewhere in the words of this poem. They remind us that obedience to the Lord and faithfulness to his commands are never easy—but they always have their reward—even in this life.

I said, "Let me walk in the fields."
He said, "No, walk in the town."
I said, "There are no flowers there."
He said, "No flowers, but a crown."

I said, "But the skies are black;
There is nothing but noise and din."
And he wept as he sent me back;
"There is more", he said; "There is sin."

I said, "But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, "Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone."

I said, "I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say."
He answered, "Choose to-night
If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given.
He said, "Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide."

I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, "My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into his hand went mine,
And into my heart came he;
And I walk in a light divine
The path I had feared to see.