“I hate other priests who tell me I’m on a slippery slope for not saying the Liturgy of the Hours” — That’s a direct quote from a priest who just told that to me out of the blue about what another priest told him, making him flabergasted with moments of spittleflected livid anger.
That same priest, some months later — after he had been caught out doing something terribly, terribly wrong — told me, “I don’t know why I did that.” He was just as flabergasted, but instead of anger, was shaking with fear, his voice quivering. A bit of a fright, really.
“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Down they go. Sad, that. Very sad.
Each one of us is, quite literaly, a born genius (because of original sin), when it comes to finding rationalizations not to pray the Liturgy of the Hours which each of us promised to recite upon our reception of Holy Orders. A promise… to God… Pretty serious, that. “But our Lord is so NICE! He doesn’t mind. He won’t hold me to that. Not me. I’m liberated from that oppression!” But it weighs on you, doesn’t it, Father? Take advantage of the admonitions of your conscience while you have them. Soon you may not have your conscience telling you what is right from what is wrong. And then you won’t even know that you are, in fact, a sinner in need of forgiveness, in need of going to Confession. That would be catastrophic for your priesthood, for you. When’s the last time you went to Confession? Is it because you’re “a bit behind in the breviary”? There is no sin so huge that our Lord cannot forgive us. To think that would be another sin of pride. Accept the grace of humility our Lord is granting you right now, and go to Confession. Start fresh, like at your ordination. That would be great, wouldn’t it? All yours, for the asking.
One of the most important things in the life of a priest is going to confession. Find a good confessor. Go regularly.
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned…”
I would ask our readers to please stop and say a Hail Mary so that the priest or bishop who needs to see this post, and take it to heart, will… Hail Mary…
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Good post!
If I may also suggest that we pray for our priests, deacons and religious:
I pray for the priests, deacons, and religious who serve at (insert parish), that they will be faithful to the Church and her teachings as they lead us in our faith. Help them turn away from sin and be an example of holiness.
†
You have added a new word to my vocabulary. “spittleflected “. Got to see if I can work it into conversations this week..
3 Aves for priests and bishops-
what saddens me, terribly, is when i meet Priests or Bishops who dismiss the value of the Rosary.
since the Rosary is especially held as an enemy of heresy, and is a simple and useful teaching aide… i would think it would be highly supported by any priest (even if they say the hours instead)
when i went in to RCIA (yes, i am a convert) i had the eye opening experience of having to argue for allowing me to hand out Rosaries… and had one of the visiting priests (not our usual one, thankfully) actually come in and preach heresy at us
he was shocked that the 3 preachers kids in the class (myself and two others) thought his comments that married priests, *and women priests* were inevitable… was a bad idea.