Midterms Are Horrid

[Nihil Obstat]

That sounds like less a problem of poor academics as it does poor formation. And part of good formation is sending away the ones who simply should not be priests. Even here on Phatmass we have met people who deeply desired to be priests, but who had serious emotional and psychological issues which, if not addressed, would make them very poor priests indeed.

Tough to form good priests if we do not start with good, strong, healthy Catholics.

[Guest]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 4:36 AM, Nihil Obstat said:

 Even here on Phatmass we have met people who deeply desired to be priests, but who had serious emotional and psychological issues which, if not addressed, would make them very poor priests indeed.

Tough to form good priests if we do not start with good, strong, healthy Catholics.

I certainly am not aspiring to the priesthood!   What I have to state applies to the male gender too.

As a person with a physical and mental disability, we are constantly pushed to the fringes of The Church as objects for charity.  We seem to have no/little value in our own right in the daily life of The Church. We can have nice words addressed to us and/or about us, but it most always strikes me as efforts to be politically correct and rarely followed through in the day to day life of The Church with action - not that I have ever experienced anyway........other than, as I stated, objects for charity and charitable words .... often to 'get off the hook'.

Having lived in a few parishes where my mental illness was known, in my current parish I recognise that I am quite paranoid about it becoming generally known.  I fear the fringes of the daily life of The Church once more especially since I am a single woman living alone, divorced, who suffers bipolar disorder.  My marriage is now many years annulled but often in general Catholic cultural thought, annulment = divorced.

I do fear that my major mistake might have been to inform my pp and our parish secretary of my bipolar condition - I did add that it was then over 10 years since I had been ill.

No wonder I love and admire St Therese of Lisieux.

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[Nihil Obstat]

Not sure if you were joking... I was not referring to you. 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Nihil Obstat said:

Not sure if you were joking... I was not referring to you. 

Howdy Nihil - I'm not too sure if the above is addressed to me, but if so I did realise you were not referring to me nor sufferers of any sort of disability, but because the 'rather handy hook seemed present, I decided to hang my laundry on it'   And no, I wasn't joking.

I do, of course, realise that those aspiring to the priesthood would be granted by God gifts indicating vocation i.e. of strength, health and goodness in order to carry out the demanding duties of priesthood.  

Any exceptions proves that rule of course.

[Nihil Obstat]

Excellent.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Nihil Obstat said:

Excellent.

Gosh, if the above ....um.....er.......is for me.......... then goodness me it's near on top marks from the best methinks!