Tag Archives: Opus Bono Sacerdotii

This is from a letter from Father Bill to Joe Maher and Pete Ferrara of Opus Bono Sacerdotii. Father Bill is dying. I’m taken that his last thoughts are for his fellow priests. Very kind, that. The last thoughts of a dying man are his very last will and testament. What a great way to go before the one and only priest, Christ Jesus.

Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee.

“My Dear Joe, I’m writing to let you know that I can no longer talk to you or Pete on the phone. My condition has weakened. The staff here at the manor are wonderful. I’m blessed to be able to offer daily Mass when I am able and also to counsel patients as well as administer the Sacrament of the Sick and Penance when needed. However, I am now fighting aspirating pneumonia and I have also developed a problem with swallowing that is permanent. My foods need to be pureed. Also, my overall condition has worsened and I’ve lost a lot of weight. My breathing is more labored. I would appreciate your continued prayers as I prepare to leave this world soon. Please be assured that you are in my heart and my prayers as are all who share in this ministry. I ask only that you would continue your good works! With much love and gratitude for all you do for us priests, Fr. Bill”

And, here’s Father Clement’s second homily in his series on the priesthood:

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Fr. Byers

Wow! What an uplifting and moving homily on the state of the priesthood delivered in Our Lady of Priests Chapel located in our offices at Opus Bono Sacerdotii. Below is an excerpt from his inspired six-minute homily on the feast of St. John Bosco:

…as we look around at the state of the Catholic Church in the world today in particular the state of the Catholic priesthood. How dismal things have become for the Catholic priesthood. There are so few priests, parishes are closing, clustering, merging, the situation is very bleak. However, that which I just expressed is a very human and worldly way of looking at things. It is not the way that Our Lord, or his bride Holy Church, sees things. When we go back to the first centuries…”

You can view this inspirational homily at our YouTube channel. Father Clement, OSB, will be presenting a series of weekly homilies on the priesthood over the next few weeks during our Noontime Holy Mass. Please take a moment to visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/opusbono On behalf of the thousands of Catholic priests who have contacted us, I thank you for your support and taking the time to visit our YouTube channel.

May Our Lady of Priests be your health and your protection.

Gratefully, Joe

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HSH comment: I also like their opening effort:

From Opus Bono:

“Sometimes it feels a little bit like we’re Habitat for Humanity for priests.” Opus Bono’s president Joe Maher said. “People don’t realize the extent to which Catholic priests are alone and hurting and they don’t all have the ability to take care of the poor homes they are living in. Winter can be very cruel and life-threatening to a sick or elderly priest in a broken down ‘shack’. We have to make sure they’re warm and safe, and that sometimes means a lot of back-breaking physical labor for our staff. We’ll do whatever we have to do for a Catholic priest.”

We literally have dozens of Catholic priests in dire need waiting in line for our support. The need is so urgent right now. Please, please consider making a donation now to help these poor suffering priests at the link below:

http://www.opusbono.org/donate.html

On behalf of the thousands of priests that have contacted us for help, I thank you!

May Our Lady of Priests be your health and your protection…

Pete

You may ask, “But who are these priests? Why don’t their bishops take care of them?”

Some priests simply did not prepare for retirement, but gave alms all the way through life, taking care of this or that seminarian’s expenses, etc. But then they have nothing. It used to be that a priest would retire in a rectory, but now they are shipped off to it-doesn’t-matter-land. Some have no destination, and are destitute. Times change, and they did not expect such cold hard-heartedness on the part of their fellow bishops and priests. But this can happen more frequently than you might expect.

Then there are the priests who have been accused of abuse. As we know, even as much as 50% of those accusations were false. I would put the number even higher, including a high percentage of the myriad who have done a plea deal in order to get out of prison in months instead of decades or life in prison, while all the time they are innocent. This happens all the time.

As it is, in the rather ferocious The Judas Crisis Series widget on the sidebar of the blog (http://holysoulshermitage.com) one reads of The National Catholic Risk Retention Group (TNCRRG), which boasts a membership of a great number of our bishops and archbishops and religious superiors. TNCRRG holds all priests to be be guilty from the day of their ordinations. They are just looking for an excuse to pay a settlement. There need not be any accusations, nor even an accuser if the abuse attorney is clever enough to get money with no clients.

Anyway, some of those priests are put on offender lists, and, though out of prison, can get no job. They live absolutely marginalized. There is hardly a priest or bishop anywhere at any time who will help them out, ever.

Leave it to Opus Bono Sacerdotii to help them out.

I myself have gone to Habitat for Humanity to build the hermitage. I’ve very often wondered what those priests do who are hermits not by choice, but because of other circumstances, those who are in bad health, those who are elderly. Could they throw about the windows and doors and roofing like I did? Could they lightly toss logs weighing hundreds of pounds about like I’ve done? No, probably not. Even I couldn’t. I got a hernia, and then an operation, thankfully before Obamacare kicked in.

Anyway, there are very, very many priests who are helped by Opus Bono. Could you help Opus Bono carry out their apostolate?

Today, our president Joe Maher, received two urgent pleas for immediate assistance from Fr. James and from Fr. Francis. Fr. Francis just returned home after a three week emergency stay in the hospital. His cupboards are bare and he is requesting $450 for food and medicine. Fr. James needs $500 for car repairs in order to return to work on Tuesday. Both of these men were directed to Opus Bono by their brother priests who have helped them as much as they can financially.

They have no one else to turn to, but to us!

I ask you out of the kindness of your heart and your great love for the Catholic priesthood to please make a donation so that we can assist these men. As always, I am only writing to you now because our hearts are broken that we do not have the funds available in our account at this time to help them. With over 1,000 priests needing our assistance on a regular basis, it is impossible to give Fr. James and Fr. Francis what they need to survive without your financial support.

Please, please consider making a contribution on-line today at our website: http://www.opusbono.org/donate.html

Or by mail at Opus Bono Sacerdotii, P.O. Box 663, Oxford, MI 48371. Making a donation on-line will get to Fr. James and Fr. Francis quicker.

No amount is too big or too small!

We appreciate your prayers and for your financial sacrifice to love and care for Catholic priests. I thank you in advance for your support.

Gratefully,

Pete

Pete Ferrara

/// HSH Comment:

• One would wrongly think that all priests thrown out of the priesthood or out of active ministry for whatever reason are all guilty as hell. One would be wrong about 50% of the time. Those are the stats.
• One would wrongly think that, whatever the case, surely their (arch)dioceses will support them in some way. One would be wrong most of the time on that. They are just thrown on the trash heap (even when known to be totally innocent). It just looks better if they are slowly executed in this way, right?
• One would wrongly think that HSH has backed away from advocating for priests going through the purgatory of this life or the next. It’s just that yours truly has had many distractions of late. But advocating for priests has not slipped out of my heart and soul and mind in the least. On the contrary. You’ll be seeing a few more posts coming up soon.

Meanwhile, please, please, please consider clicking on the link above and clicking through to make a donation, however big, however tiny. Every single dollar helps. http://www.opusbono.org/donate.html

I remember one priest, not accused of anything, just retired, a saintly old man, who, though living in the Pennsylvania mountains in a trailer, donated what he had to those less fortunate than he. And then he was scolded by the bishop who paid him a visit, scolded because the toilet had broken. How, you ask? Because it was so cold inside the trailer that the toilet bowl shattered because of the ice. Just a thought. Sometimes we can be in need because we’ve been too generous. I wonder, in fact, about those 1000 priests helped by Opus Bono Sacerdotii, just how many fit that description. I bet many more than many are willing even to think about. Because it’s shameful how we throw away priests, accused or not, innocent or not.

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