Members of The Oratory sometimes say to me that they worry about the fact that people think that Pat the Blogger does not do justice to the man they know – Pat the Pastor.
And I can see their point of view.
Years ago during a retreat the retreat master talking of a priest said:
“The priest should be a lion in the pulpit and a lamb in the Confessional”.
And this duality can happen in all our lives – even at the basic level of being able to display tough live when required and tender love when also required.
All humans have “contradictions” and some of these contradictions can be used by Providence.
I very much see this blog as part of my vocation.
The Roman Catholic Institution is rotten to the core and many bishops and priests are rotters too.
There is no problem with bishops and priests being very weak. All us humans are weak and all of us are sinners.
But the problem is that the institution is EVIL and many bishops and priests become servants of evil.
It is this second category that this Blog is challenging.
Apart from being God and man there is a other duality in Jesus – the Jesus of righteous anger (the Temple) and the Jesus of utterly compassion (Jesus restoring to life the son of the widow of Nain).
As Christians we are called to share in the total vocation of Jesus. We must be full of righteous anger when God is mocked or humans are hurt.
And we must also be filled with the compassionate Jesus when dealing with those suffering or poor in any way.
THE STYLE OF THE BLOG
People complain of the style of the blog. They say it is unkind, cruel, unchristian etc.
That is because this Blog is often doling out tough love. And that has its place.
And this Blog has resolved many horrible situations:
Orgiastic Maynooth, the priest who made a parishioner pregnant and having a miscarriage alone, the sauna going abbot, priests showing their genitalia to young men via the Internet, the gay altar sex priest etc.
All this situations required tough love and challenge. There were jobs for the lion and not the lamb.
PAT THE PASTOR
This year I am 46 years a priest and I love being a priest now more than I ever did.
God, in His goodness, has always sent people my way people who needed tender loving, friendship, guidance, help and direction.
And I always try to respond.
YESTERDAYS EMAIL FROM DOMINIC WHICH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF:
Pat, it did my heart good to see you this afternoon, and to catch up. It was great to see you looking so well, and to be back at the Oratory. It is hard to believe that over thirty years have passed since you found me a place on a drug treatment programme. When I came to you, desperate for help, you welcomed me into your home, gave me tea, spent time listening to me, told me great stories and gave me hope. At that time, I was struggling to make it through each day, and I was so grateful that you continued to stay in touch with me, and to spend time with me. When you asked me if I would be interested in attending a drug treatment programme you knew of, and I told you I would, you drove me to my appointment. During my months as an in-patient, you continued to visit me, offering me support and bringing me tobacco and chocolate. I was introduced to a 12 Step fellowship whilst an in-patient, and continued to attend 12 Step Meetings when I was finally discharged. Through the 12 Step programme, I have remained clean and sober. I really do not like to think what would have become of me, if I hadn’t of benefitted from your intervention in my life. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the help you gave me, and for the example you showed me. Dominic M
This email is not being reproduced here to solicit praise. Human praise can be very empty.
Such emails reassure me that my life has been meaningful and my greatest pleasure comes from helping the struggling.
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 