MY
It turns out I'm a southern boy at heart... southern part of the Steubenville diocese, at least. As much as I love the northern churches I grew up near, I enjoyed visiting all the different churches in a part of the diocese I hadn't really experienced before. In an age where the standard of excellence is bigger, flashier, and more extravagant, the reverent simplicity of a country parish is all the more beautiful. Although they're smaller, I found that many of the church communities I visited were more homely in a way that I could be very satisfied with.
A diocesan priest will never be as good of a preacher as a Dominican, have as deep of a spirituality as a Carmelite, or be able to live in the same holy silence that a Carthusian can. But like any biological father, he chooses to sacrifice some level of "career excellence" for the sake of his family. My experience of this summer so far has given me the opportunity to appreciate the simplicity and family-like quality of the diocesan life, particularly in my own diocese. Like any young man who's entering a serious relationship, my continuing discernment is showing me the imperfections in my diocese more closely: parishes in need of renovation, funding, parishoners, and more priests to staff them. Every person, every diocese has problems, even if some seem to have fewer problems than others. At the same time, true discernment also shows all the ways one can fall in love, and love covers a whole lot of faults. I think I could joyfully serve as a small-town diocesan priest.
1 Comment
cHUG AND dEBBIE
7/7/2022 10:26:59 am
We hope you get assigned to one of our local parishes!
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