Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1:20-28)
Ever fascinating, Pope Francis does not sidestep
criticizing the clergy. His reprimand of
the German bishop who spent a lavish amount of money on his residence made
world news. Not so noticed by the press,
he took aim at insipid clerical preaching in his recent exhortation The Joy of the Gospel. Francis realizes that the people follow their
clergy. Where priests zealously live the
gospel, the people will follow suit. The
first reading provides an example of a priest from the Old Testament whose
laxness created great trouble for ancient Israel.
In the reading from I Samuel Eli harshly and erroneously rebukes
Hannah for coming to the temple drunk. In
the end he sounds contrite enough for his mistake; however, further reading of
I Samuel reveals Eli making other costly misjudgments. He does not ban his two sons Hophni and Phinehas
from temple service after they wantonly extort people. More tragically, he evidently allows the Ark
of the Covenant to be used as a talisman in the war against the Philistines
leading to its loss in battle.
Although the universal priesthood of the baptized is rightfully
given center attention in the Church today, we should not underestimate the
need for competent, hard-working, holy priests.
At least in the United States, they do not need money or other material
gifts, but they should be prayed for. When they err in a significant way (or are
perceived as having done so), they should be told politely rather than criticized
behind their back or excused frivolously.
