I made the topic title comment in another thread, and received almost no response, which I attribute to the comment being lost inside another thread title. So, here I place it front and center.

The Priesthood Attracts Lazy Men

Let me add a real example, that of say Fr. Hewko. Fr. Hewko could have stayed right where he was in the SSPX and lived a comfortable life like all of the other SSPX priests. However, he is a unique brave priest, not a priest seeking comfort and ease, Fr. Hewko chose to follow truth, and suffer the consequences. He is a rare priest. Practically all of the priests in history have been at the very least not brave heroes, and on average were just hirelings that wanted no troubles.

This was the opening comment which started the questions posed by Incredulous, it is to be read in its entirety, for it is all tied together:

I think we are all under the false impression that priests in the past were brave heroes and that only in our times, they are pathetic milquetoasts. We see few heroes like the resistance priests who have given up an easy life to follow truth.

Priests in our times certainly are milquetoasts, however, if we look back in history, we will see also conclude that the brave saint heroes  were always rare finds. There is one saint here and one saint there in a period of 100 years! The rest of the clergy went along with the flow. That means that 99.99% of the clergy were at the very least not brave heroes, and on average are just hirelings that want no troubles. Look how all of the clergy in England caved in to Henry VIII. When the faith was taught by the Church, they went along with the flow. When the faith is not taught by the Church, (the Arian Heresy, Henry VIII, Vatican II) they go along with the flow.

I believe the priesthood for the most part attracts lazy men. People like St. Ignatius and the great missionary martyrs of North America are the exception. Militaristic priests are rare.

Didn't the devil once say that if there were just three St. John Vianneys that the whole world would be converted?

Saint Jerome : "The whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian".

Quote from: bowler

 I believe the priesthood for the most part attracts lazy men.

Bowler, I don't believe this one.

I think most priests are brave.

When one thinks of their "duty of state"... they are brave!

I could never have the courage do it, and most men I know couldn't become a priest either.

I knew that line would get a response. Your response as I read it says that priests are courageous because of their "duty of state", that you and most men do not have the courage to do this "duty of state". Please explain what this "duty of state" is and exactly what priest is carrying his duty out? Like I said, they are rare finds, today and all through Church history. Read my posting again, it is all tied together.

No.

Bowler,

I think your post and comment is rather disturbing and overly anti-clerical. Just because our good Fr. Hewko stands for truth, and is willing to sacrifice worldly leisure to do so, doesn't make other priests who disagree with him 'lazy'. Its an illogical conclusion, as far as I'm concerned.

Not many Trad priests I know could be described as lazy.  In fact I know zero priests like that.

Plenty of forum posters could however.  Myself included.

Being a priest is no cake walk.  Must be a lot of late nights, giving last rites, visiting the sick with the Eucharist. I spent a few weeks once with an SSPX priest and his schedule was VERY busy.

I knew that line would get a response. Your response as I read it says that priests are courageous because of their "duty of state", that you and most men do not have the courage to do this "duty of state". Please explain what this "duty of state" is and exactly what priest is carrying his duty out? Like I said, they are rare finds, today and all through Church history. Read my posting again, it is all tied together.

Tell me what person in any position of importance or any business owner that does not have lot of late nights, doing what he does, attending to, entertaining his clients, worrying constantly about loosing everything? I don't see the job that priests have as being anything but easy. Out of all of the Catholic priests in the Church today, 99% are hirelings. I'm not impressed. I'm impressed by the soldiers, the young men that went to fight in say Vietnam. Comparatively speaking, these priest today are doing nothing.

Now, St. Athanasius, St. Lawrence, The Cure de Ars, all the martyr saints, they are the exception.

Quote from: s2srea

But I would argue that the priesthood as a whole has not be a vocation for the faint of heart.

But that is exactly what it is today. They are all milquetoast fat cats, and effeminate, hirelings.

Pretty gratuitous, I think.

In third world countries the vast majority become priests in order to work in Europe or the USA. If they succeed, they end up making more money that engineers make back in their country.

This may be true in some cases, but I don't think you can apply this as a blanket statement.

Of course, I'm speaking of Trad priests, primarily. I am unsure of who exactly you are referring to.

Quote from: s2srea

Bowler,

I think your post and comment is rather disturbing and overly anti-clerical. Just because our good Fr. Hewko stands for truth, and is willing to sacrifice worldly leisure to do so, doesn't make other priests who disagree with him 'lazy'. Its an illogical conclusion, as far as I'm concerned.

All of the priests in the entire Church are useless hirelings. Fr. Hewko is an exception. You are focusing on the other SSPX priests, they are like 0.0001% of the worlds priests.

Ah. This clarifies things. I was unsure of which priests you were speaking of specifically. When it comes to the Novus Ordo, my experience dictates that you are not entirely incorrect.

I didn't post this in an SSPX forum, because I'm talking about all priests today, and in history.

Again, my conscience tells me that I disagree with you here. Primarily, your attitude betrays a anti-clericalistic tendency. I don't think a Catholic should speak this way, and I don't think its true. Perhaps there are experiences you have had which have led you to believe this, but I think its just an unfortunate sign of the times in which we live. I don't believe for an instant all priests have been this way always.  

The SSPX priests are all pretty much heroic.

That is a ridiculous statement.