How to Pray for Troubled Priests
... When you see a priest who has gotten himself into hard times, it’s pretty hard not to fall into gossip. In this first of two articles, let’s look at two strategies of prayer that will really help him and the Church.
"What to do now?" Fr. James said to himself. "I’ll just sleep in my car, transfer the payments of my credit card debt between the different accounts, and see if God helps me in some way. And they’ll see what they’ve done to me!" It was 11:00 pm; suspended from ministry by his bishop, James had just left the rectory without thinking where he should go, much less calling the bishop to ask what he could do. In addition to the untreated alcoholism, there were a string of negative psychological reports, but James’ take on them was that "God was not in the reports; I have to make up my own mind about what I am going to do. It’s because all these people want to do me in that all this is happening; they’re jealous of all the good I have done… and ungrateful! They want revenge. They’re judging me." A million thoughts – it was all a whirlwind in his mind… or unrelenting nightmare. The next months would be the most painful of all trials, trying in vain to prove that he was morally, psychologically and spiritually able to continue with the priestly ministry, given the shape he was in. It would be a process on all those levels of coming to grips with the damage James had caused himself, those who were dear to him, and several communities where he had ministered. But for now, everything was at a dead end.
In the life of most human beings there are times of being in trouble and priests are no different. Fr. James got into serious trouble that disrupted his life, that of his bishop, his friends and several communities. What can be done by people who are either affected by priests in trouble or simply see them at a distance in a process of self-destruction?