A well researched book by Fr. James Valladares casts light on the case of Fr. Gordon MacRae and the state of due process for Catholic priests falsely accused.
Abraham Lincoln once told a story about a man who traveled along a backwoods road on a dark and stormy night. After several claps of earth-shaking thunder in the blackness, with just the occasional flash of lightning to show him he was still on his path, the man issued a plea: “Lord, if it’s all the same to Thee, a little less noise and a little more light, please.”
I’ve been making that very same plea for over a decade now. It resonates clearly in my three-part post, “When Priests Are Falsely Accused,” and other posts such as, “Are Civil Liberties for Priests Intact?” When I wrote them two years ago, I felt very much alone on that dark and noisy path hoping that someone might come along with some light amid all the hype.
The sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic priesthood has generated so much pointless, noisy rhetoric that light has become a precious and rare commodity. The “zero tolerance” policy of the U.S. Bishops’ panic-driven 2002 Dallas Charter added no light at all, but only turned up the volume on corrupt voices like the ones I described in “SNAP’s Last Gasp!” In this decade of scandal, many Catholics have been duped. The crisis has been used by some very noisy people to silence a Catholic voice in the public square. Recent news events are witness to that silencing.
In all times of moral panic, however, no amount of noise will dissuade a few courageous voices from the truth, no matter how much that truth is suppressed. One of these voices to emerge with full and reasoned Catholic courage is David F. Pierre, host of TheMediaReport.com and author of a landmark book we profiled last December in “A Book Every Priest Should Read: Catholic Priests Falsely Accused.”
Now there is another, and readers met him here on These Stone Walls a few weeks ago in “May Truth and Justice Prevail.” Father James Valladares has recently published a compelling new book that I now add to my must-read list for Catholics concerned with the downward spiral of justice and public discourse in the Catholic Church. I recommend with great enthusiasm, Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast (iUniverse 2012). I received my copy in the middle of May and it brought all my plans for spring cleaning to a screeching halt. I was stunned by this courageous book, and you will be as well.
Before I describe it further, however, we need some full disclosure. I’m in this book. In fact, I’m in this book extensively, and so is These Stone Walls. I find it very difficult to write about a book that I am in. Father James Valladares did his homework, and he did it well. His book exposes aspects of my story that made me tremble. I read it through two consecutive sleepless nights that left me spiritually and emotionally drained. It wasn’t because the author framed my case as a justice crisis for the courts, but rather as a greater and more crucial justice crisis for the Church.
Father Valladares is the very first writer to accomplish this nebulous task, and he did it with amazing clarity and courage. In the end, I’m not certain whether it should encourage me or frighten me. Not even I – after living in this nightmare for two decades – had a full understanding of the implications for the Church and priesthood that Father Valladares laid out so masterfully.
In Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast, Father James Valladares has excised these wounds upon the Church and priesthood with impeccable credentials in developmental, educational, and counseling psychology. Having served for a decade as a lecturer in psychology at Saint Andrew’s College in Mumbai, India, he has completed extensive post-doctoral research in religion, healing, and parenting. Today, Father Valladares serves in the Archdiocese of Adelaide, Australia.
CHANNELING FATHER NEUHAUS
As I have written many times before, I am no strong believer in random coincidence. I received my copy of Father Valladares’ book on May 14, the Feast of Saint Matthias, the man chosen by the Apostles to replace Judas, the Betrayer (Acts 1:26). TSW readers might know that May 14 would also have been the 76th birthday of the late Father Richard John Neuhaus, one of the inspirations behind These Stone Walls and forever remembered as a priest who served the Catholic Church in North America with exceptional light, clarity, and fidelity. Another is Cardinal Avery Dulles, to whom l owe the idea for These Stone Walls‘ existence. Both are cited and quoted repeatedly in Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast.
I had been reviewing some excerpts of “Scandal Time” in honor of Father Neuhaus’ birthday. His famous collection of essays on the priesthood crisis was published in First Things and is now gathered on These Stone Walls under “Articles.” On May 14, I had been reading an essay by Fr. Neuhaus entitled “In the Aftermath of Scandal,” (First Things, February 2004). When I first opened Fr. Valladares’ book I spotted this excerpt from the same essay:
“The niceties of Canon Law, due process, and elementary decency have in many instances taken a beating. As one cardinal archbishop said after Dallas (2002), it may be necessary for some priests to suffer injustice for the good of the Church. In the course of history, Caiaphas has not been without his defenders.” (p.25)
Some readers might find it odd that I agree, at least in part, with that unnamed cardinal quoted by Father Neuhaus. It has always been necessary that some priests suffer for the good of the Church. I hope that was clear in “Marking Thirty Years of Priesthood: If I Knew Then What I Know Now.” My greatest suffering is not wrongful imprisonment, however, as horrible as that actually is. I hope readers know by now that I have not been languishing in prison beating my own priestly breast in a litany of woe for eighteen years. My far greater suffering is that the Dallas Charter considers prison, even to be wrongfully imprisoned, to be the end of priesthood forever. Any Church bureaucrat who thinks that prison by its very nature marks the end of my priesthood seriously underestimates both me and priesthood. No consistent reader of These Stone Walls could ever draw such a flawed conclusion.
Father James Valladares most certainly has not drawn that conclusion. After reading his book, I was in awe of the extent to which he has been listening to me through his reading of These Stone Walls. I cannot speak for him, but I think I can safely write that he hasn’t listened to me because I am a priest or because I am a prisoner. He has listened to me because, to date at least, I remain both. I face every day as both. If I was not a priest in these extraordinary circumstances, not much of what I have had to say would have landed in this book.
So why did I conclude just a week ago that if I knew then what I know now, I would still be ordained a priest? The very day I am posting this – June 6, 2012 – marks thirty years since I offered my First Mass. I remember standing at that altar with great joy and profound peace surrounded by hundreds of my friends and brother priests who came to celebrate that First Mass with me. If elevating the Body of Christ for the very first time would have given me a glimpse of where priesthood would have me thirty years in the future, would I have ever dared to elevate that Host again? I have to answer not with a resounding “yes,” but with a sacrificial one, and for the very reasons Father Valladares describes:
“In June of 2002, during the height of the media’s focus on Catholic bishops and priests, the Los Angeles Times [no friend of the priesthood] sent surveys to 5,000 priests in the United States . . . The survey found that 91 percent of respondents were satisfied with their life as a priest; 90 percent of respondents would choose to be a priest again if they had the opportunity; and 91 percent of respondents thought it was unlikely that they would ever leave the priesthood.”(p.97).
It was upon reading this that I understood why Father Valladares would dare to name his book about facing and cleansing the darkest wounds of the Church and Priesthood, Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast. It’s because it does. In spite of all the noise and name calling, in spite of all the challenges and chastisement, in spite of all the suffering and sacrifice, priesthood in the Catholic Church is like that famous image of a flower forcing its way through pavement to reach the light of day. Priesthood, if centered on sacrifice, will survive all that is thrown at it.
You won’t read about this in The New York Times or the National Catholic Distorter – umm, Reporter. You won’t read about this at the toxic landfill websites of SNAP or VOTF or Bishop-Accountability. Writer, Ryan A. MacDonald made this clear in his essay, “Why Do SNAP and VOTF Fear the Case of Father Gordon MacRae?” These sites exist to promote agendas that have nothing to do with protecting children or serving the Church. They exist to restore the dissent of 1968 as I described in “Marking Thirty Years of Priesthood.”
The wounds of the priesthood must be healed, but they cannot be healed as long as only one side of the story is told. It is a fact that vulnerable people were once harmed at the hands of a small number of Catholic priests several decades ago. It is a fact that child sexual abuse in our society was and still is a reality of epidemic proportions. It is also a fact that scapegoating the Catholic Church does little to cast light on this topic and does nothing – absolutely nothing – to protect children in our broken culture.
It is also a fact that many Catholic priests have been falsely accused despite the unfounded and poorly informed rhetoric of commentators such as Monsignor Stephen Rossetti. The former Director of Saint Luke Institute recently spoke at a symposium for Vatican officials tasked with exploring the truth. They were not well served by his uncorroborated claim that in his experience, false accusations against priests are very rare. In my experience, they thrive and proliferate in direct proportion to the unquestioned money thrown at them by Church insurers and scandal weary bishops.
Msgr. Rossetti’s baseless assertion may have been true in 1980. It is not true today. He would do well to spend some time at the Innocence Project website to examine the stories of 247 men exonerated after being wrongfully imprisoned for decades falsely accused of sexual assault. I can only respond to Monsignor Rossetti with something I wrote in “Padre Pio Under Investigation,” now quoted in Father James Valladares’ book:
“Justice has turned on its head when men who stand to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars for making a false claim are automatically called ‘victims’ by Church leaders now, while priests accused without evidence from decades ago are just as quickly called ‘priest-offenders’ and ‘slayers of souls.’ (p. 207).
AT THE TURNING OF THE TIDE
Over just the last year, some prophetic and courageous voices have emerged in the Catholic public square to stem the tide of unjust vilification of the priesthood. Let’s hope these voices reverberate throughout this time of crisis and conflicting agendas to inspire others. Father George David Byers has joined in with some courageous recent posts such as “The Judas Crisis . . . Follow the Thirty Pieces of Silver.” Ryan MacDonald has once again added to this trend with “Bishop Takes Pawn: Plundering the Rights of a Prisoner Priest.” So has David F. Pierre, host of The Media Report, with his “Bombshell Report” about false accusations and his “Exclusive Report” about new evidence in my own case.
These writers of just and merciful Catholic conscience have made me proud to be a priest, and have given meaning to the suffering inherent in 18 years of wrongful imprisonment. Our reluctant Catholic press would do well to put aside its “Father Maciel Syndrome,” and follow their lead to cover this story.
And then, there is you. Yes, I do mean you, for if you are reading this you have lent to your Church and faith a courageous ear, and the tools for spreading the rest of the story. If you have been reading These Stone Walls then you have demonstrated for me and the whole Body of Christ something that has been sorely lacking in this decade of scandal: hearts of courage and justice open to the whole truth, and not just the one-sided scarlet letter with which our scandal driven news media and special interest groups have labeled your Church. Fr. James Valladares and David F. Pierre have told the rest of the story.
I believe it is told here on These Stone Walls as well, but spreading the truth relies not just on their courage, but on yours. I have no doubt that you have such courage for I have seen it. Help us tell the rest of the story by sharing this post in the Catholic on-line world, among your social networking, and by sharing a link.
Awhile back, writer Ryan MacDonald bestowed a dubious honor upon me and These Stone Walls. In “The Prisoner Priest Behind These Stone Walls,” he wrote that my writing for TSW “has been the finest example of priestly witness the last decade of scandal has produced.” Were that ever true, I don’t think it is true any longer. Father James Valladares has knocked me off that throne with a painful, faithful, and astonishing gift of priestly witness for the Church. I am honored to recommend Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast, and add it to our short list of recommended books on These Stone Walls.
“The present scenario reported by Fr. Valladares is dark. Yet, he has surprisingly chosen a title for his book that speaks of hope. For sure, it is a hope based on Jesus’ words to his disciples, ‘I will be with you always.’ Therefore, far from pessimistic, Fr. Valladares presents the facts with confidence that ‘the truth will set us free.’ For his hard work, born out of a love for the priesthood and his brother priests, Fr. (James] Valladares is to be commended.” (From the Foreword by Father Michael Orsi, Ed.D., Ave Maria School of Law).
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God bless you, Father Gordon,
Your comments regarding Father James Valladares’ book are “spot on”! It is a masterful, useful and timely document.
A significant number of priests in Australia have also been subjected to various forms of discrimination and false accusations. Your example (and theirs) provides a great example of resilience, faithfulness and charity for all Catholics (religious and lay).
Thank-you.
Margret M.
When will this terrible time end? Father I think this suffering is worse for you when you think of the many priest who are suffering this same fate. It is so discouraging and horrific. I pray for priests and of course for you. What can we do to end this campaign of lies? I think of the martyrs that are so frightening and inspiring at the same time. Thank you for the stregnth to suffer as Christ did – for us.
Hi Fr Gordon, I remembered you before ” Blessed Sacrament ” ,6.6.2012,Yours in ,IHS.
Concerning Kathy Reilly’s article – Very enlightening – I’ll dream with you – dysfunctional n.h. judicial system (sic) will be evaluated at the Federal level. Nothing is impossible with God on our side!!
I have been reading daily the saint of the day. A great many saints were imprisoned for their faith and killed. You Fr. Gordon are just one of those suffering saints that we are hearing about in our life time. You will be canonized a saint some day by the reigning pope. You are a priest forever in good times and bad times, which you are suffering to this day. GOD BLESS YOU on your ANNIVERSARY OF YOUR ORDINATION.
Take the worst case scenario for a moment.
Just say that Father Gordon is “laicized” because of the false evidence proffered by the Diocese of Manchester, as is indicated by Ryan MacDonald HERE.
Yes, Father Gordon would still be a priest in eternity. But here he would be forbidden to present himself as a priest unless someone was actually dying and needed the sacraments.
Father Gordon would be humilitated and marginalized, despised by all clergy and laity even more than he is now. Or would he? Would we run away in that circumstance of crucifixion? The apostles ran away from Calvary. Are we sure we’re better than they were? Because we’re not, you know.
We must totally depend on Jesus for the grace to stand under the cross with Mary, the Mother of all priests, the grace, mind you, to see that in that circumstance Father Gordon would still be on the very front lines of the battle of this Church Militant, shot dead, but still standing — his very life being an intercession for the Church as it is already now — with Father Gordon offering this total identification with that “Divine Criminal” who died on the Cross, abandoned by His closest friends.
But Saint John came back, did he not? And that is just so totally cool. We can also do that in our Lord’s grace.
As it is, however, Father Gordon is NOT “laicized”, and that says something already, does it not? Actually, it is just plain ridiculous to come to any conclusion of guilt when one reads all the documentation to date. The real criminals are those who stacked the jury so as to protect the agenda of The National Catholic Risk Retention Group (members of The Judas Crisis.
The NCRRG, as Father points out, seriously underestimates the priesthood and Father Gordon himself! Go Father Gordon! Ooo-RAH!!!
Mary’s Son is watching over you Father Gordon!
Father George
I am with you all the way, Fr. MacRae.
Anyone who really thinks the priesthood is just another job, or can be put to an end, needs an education in the truth. Even if I knew very little, I could remember enough about the sacraments to realize a man who has been ordained by the sacrament of Holy Orders, is imbued with a special character, a mark upon his soul which is eternal, just as the mark upon each soul of the baptized is eternal. We are recognizable throughout eternity.
I think we, and that includes the hierarchy, get so caught up in the things of this world, that we forget we are only passing through this world for now. Eternity exists outside what we can see here. I think it is time for all priests, bishops, cardinals, all religious and laity to spend time, often, with Our Lord who awaits us as He remains hidden in the most holy Blessed Sacrament. How else can we handle what we are exposed to here on earth with reason and sense? The truth, Jesus Himself, sets us free.
You are a priest forever, and thanks be to God you are. You have helped those of us who love our faith to come out of hiding. We must defend you Fr., because you are another Christ. This is our chance to witness to a real faith, not a false set of ideas made up to sound good.
Thanks for everything Fr. I can’t add to anything anyone has said who makes comments here. But I am impressed. I am humbled. I am grateful to be among your supporters. Prayers and blessings to you always, dear Fr.
I offered my Mass for you on your anniversary.Every Sunday I offer Mass for all the priests of the world, and that includes you by name.
Fr. Gordon,
For along time I have been stating my opinion that throwing money on the problem of abuse by priests would not solve the problem but create a travesty. I have always believed the sudden explosion of abuse cases can be directly atributed to the fact that the church handed out dollars instead of wisdom and healing.
TSW convinced me that I was correct. You are like St Paul, witnessing and preaching from prison through you writing. Keep the faith, Father, you are in my prayers. God says, ‘my ways are not your ways’. It seems you are truly sharing in the ‘scandal of the cross’. If you don’t see justice here and now, you will surely see and share in the glory of God for eternity.
Congratulations on your anniversary. It’s good to see this book coming out. I agree that you’ve done a great job as a priest witness to the injustice done to many priests since the Dallas charter. May justice prevail in your case. You are a good servant of God and I always learn from reading your blog.
Fr. G. -
Funny thing, I just read this weeks article by you (congrats on your 30th Anniversary! The Lord knew what He was doing when He prepared you along the way to today) and then turned to the Readings for Thursday of the Nine Week AFTER PENTECOST from Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, Chapter 2 verses 8-15):
“Beloved: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.
This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him we shall also live with him;
if we persevere we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
Remind people of these things and charge them before God to stop disputing about words. This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen. Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace,
imparting the word of truth without deviation. ”
If these words say anything, they say everything about you and your priesthood, which is shared by other priests in the Priesthood of Christ. That our stories are now being absorbed by the Laity, who are speaking out and supporting you and others, is a testimony to the workings of the Spirit. That Fr. Valladares and David Pierre, Ryan MacDonald and the commentators of this blog continue to intercede for TRUTH be told, shows the magnitude of the Spirit’s Call.
Yesterday in the New York Times there was a 13 page article about “sexual abuse at Horace Mann School, a prestigious school in the Bronx” which responded in a similar way to reports as did the Church. The sad fact is that unlike the Church’s accusers (SNAP and VOTF), the victims could not organize to get the same results as the aforementioned groups — they could not move legislation to suspend statutes of limitation, they could not force the investigation of thirty or forty year old cases, they could not even file civil cases, let alone criminal cases. As disturbing as that is, NOT ONE COMMENTATOR (at least at the point that I read the article) saw the parallel to the Church’s situation and the priests accused! So continue to expose and influence , continue to be Alter Christi — continue in your role as Priest!
united in Christ, our Brother,
keith
Father Gordon,
The very first moment, so to speak, in which we enter the gates of our heavenly Father’s Kingdom — by way of His goodness and kindness — we’ll know that our lives on this earth have been so very terribly short, just exactly long enough to have us dragged into the embrace of Jesus’ Father and ours, brought to be in joyful, humble thanksgiving for our Lord’s providential and permissive will.
In the very next moment — however much we priests were maligned on this earth, marginalized, beaten down, imprisoned — it is then that we will realize that we are priests forever: Tu es sacerdos in aeternum!
Father Gordon, I very much recognize, from my own experiences of betrayal in the priesthood, your well stated hierarchy of suffering. You say:
I have to wonder just what the bishops voting for the Dallas Charter will do before the judgment seat of God, when our Heavenly Father will surely recall when His Son, When Jesus Was in Prison, and when Saint Peter was in prison (Acts 12,3 ff), and, as you mentioned in The Conversion of Saint Paul, when Saint Paul bragged of having been imprisoned more than all the others (2 Corinthians 11,23 ff ) due to dangers from — oh my… — ψευδαδέλφοις, from false brothers…
As with Saint Paul, there have been some quiet conversions of a tiny handful of those having anything to do with the Dallas Charter. This is, of course, our hope, that no hatred of one’s brother priests is stronger than the solicitous goodness and kindness of Jesus, also for our bishops!
You say that “the wounds of the priesthood must be healed,” and also that the raising of the Sacred Host at the consecration at Mass is very much sacrificial. And I think that it is that sacrifice which will bring about a more rambunctuous conversion of some bishops, who will then have the wherewithal to counter the self-congratulating rhetoric of a Rossetti, or an Arsenault, or a MacCormack. It is for this reason that you are very much the priest’s priest. You’ve certainly shaken up my priesthood, to know what that priesthood is all about. I thank you for that, Father.
You and Marty and others have had very charitable things to say about me, but I beg that such comments be seen with the understanding that I’m someone in the midst of facing a steep learning curve. I don’t deserve to know what you’ve taught me about the priesthood, Father, but in that way you also reflect the goodness and kindness of Jesus, and, again, I thank you for that. Thanks for showing us the Way. Thanks for also being this priest’s priest. I’m sure Father Michael and Father James echo these sentiments, and that such thanksgiving resounds in the hearts of the likes of Ryan and David and so many readers of These Stone Walls. For all of us, tu es sacerdos in aeternum!
Father George
Hi Fr. Gordon!
Hope will always spring eternal not only in the priestly breast but in all of his believers. They cannot take away that which is not theirs to take away! You are always His and always His priest!
Your words truly brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart that His life stays alive in us no matter what the world and the evil one tries to destroy! I send His blessings to you all and my continued prayers. In His love, Jeannie
Dear Fr. Gordon,
Thank you for bring this book to our attention. I just downloaded it to my NOOK.
That the Dallas Charter would come out and make a statement as ludicrous as saying that prison, right or wrong, is the end of a man’s priesthood is outrageous, and I dare say, scandalous! My own opinion, as well as so many who read TSW, is that could not be farther from the truth. You are living your priesthood in ways you may not have foreseen 30 years ago, but your priesthood is the epitome of sacrifice. Living your priesthood as you do behind those stone walls, has brought Jesus to all those you have contact with, and brought some to the faith~Pornchai is a shining example. I know you know all this already~just wanted to assure you that I and all those who visit you here do as well.
Thank you for your priesthood and for allowing God to use you in this way.
Continued prayers. God bless.
Dearest Fr. Gordon.
What a joy to have you back with us, and with such resounding truths! Last week when I read your post, which was thoroughly moving, you asked your readers, to read your post on the Sacrifice of the Mass. Although, I have read them, 4 or 5 times, I ended up in tears again, at the injustice you have been made to endure. Your posts on the Sacrifice of the Mass, are worth re-reading, especially part 1.
When I first found TSW, I admit, that I was terribly disappointed by the actions of your Bishop and the Church, concerning your case. Until one day, it dawned on me, that in a sense, we are all responsible for this mess because of our lack of fidelity to Christ, and His Church. As Fr Richard Neuhaus, so aptly put it, the sexual abuse scandal in the Church can be traced back to 3 things, or the lack of, fidelity, fidelity, and fidelity. How true!
I must also admit, that I did not have much hope for your case to be reviewed, much less, that you would one day be exonerated from these lies. But now, I do, and I pray fervently that you may be exonerated, and your freedom restored. I see things changing around me, I see it in my own family, where my 3 young nieces, are as in love, and enthralled with their Faith, as I am. I see it in the public support of Fr Michael, Fr George, and Fr James for you. I find myself compelled to pray for them. I never leave my Church after the celebration of the Holy Mass, without praying for your intentions, and those of these 3 brother priests.
For anyone who does not seem to worry about the concerted effort to exclude the Catholic witness from public life in this country. I invite you to go see the movie, “For Greater Glory”. It is based on the true story of the Cristero War in Mexico, which officially started in 1926 (to 1929). The rebellion was set off, due to the federal government’s persecution of the Catholic Church, and its ban on public practice of the Faith. A strict enforcement of anti-clerical provisions were made by atheist, and then president Plutarco Elias Calles. An uprising and counter revolution arose against the Mexican govt. It was the lay faithful, who launched the resistance. The effects of the war in the Church were profound. Many people lost their lives, including a great number of priests.
We as lay Catholics, have a huge role to play in the restitution of our Church in this country, and else where, so let us step up to the plate! Let the world see, that we support the Church as the last institution left, that is willing to proclaim truth, and what is right in the eyes of God.
Let others see that lives can be transformed, if we live our life according to the Church’s teachings. What joy it brings me to be able to commune with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. And I can, only because of God’s immeasurable kindness, in allowing me to be Catholic.
Thank you Fr Michael, Fr George, and Fr James for supporting Fr Gordon, publicly. It’s no small thing. Your reward will be great in Heaven for defending what is right. Only through the hands of a Catholic priest, do we experience the miracle of receiving the Body and Blood of our Divine Savior. Thank you for answering the call of God, and for your faithfulness to your priesthood. I will continue to offer my humble prayers for all of you.
Fr George, if you are reading this, your series on exorcism on your own site, is both powerful and informative. Thank you for writing it. Most all, after I finished reading it, I saw what kind of priest you are. Your humility, and your love for Christ is awe inspiring, and I love you for that. Thank you.
May God continue to bless you all.
In Christ our Savior and Redeemer,
Marty
As I told you already, it is a campaign against the Church in order to destabilize the clergy and make money…
Keep hope and courage!
Dear Father Gordon,
+Peace be with you as you celebrate the 30th Anniversary of your Ordination. Upon learning of your anniversary,on June 4, on June 5th, I called and left a message with Bishop Peter’s secretary, Louise. My request was pretty simple, asking this new Bishop to consider visiting you on your anniversay 6/5/12. I asked Louise to ask him to extending to you, his brother priest, his prestly blessing on the occasion of your Priestly Anniversary. It is my hope if he has not yet done so that the Holy Spirit will urge him to do so …soon.
I also called Father Bill McCarthy of ” My Father’s House” located in Moodus CT. Father had not heard of your suffering, but asked me to tell you that “you are a suffering soul!”
I will have a Mass celebrated for you and your intentions here in South Carolina. It is my hope that parishioners in NH will include you in their parish prayers and also their tithing. Since, we, are all members of the Mystical Body of Christ all of us therefore, should be very concerned and outraged over the injustice, which you are still enduring.
My prayers and thoughts are with you as you live the present moment; living in His time, offering your sufferings for the cleansing of our church hierachy and the dysfunctional justice system, especially that which appears to be alive and well within the State of New Hampshire.
It is my hope, after you are released that the entire dysfunctional n.h. judicial system (sic) will be evaluated at the Federal level. Call me a dreamer but nothing is impossible for God.
In Christ,
Kathy Reilly
Thank you so very much for being a priest especially at this time of the anniversary of your ordination. Your witness to hope in the midst of tremendous suffering is such a blessing for the church and it’s people.
We follow a falsely accused Lord who died the death of a criminal .
As it went with the Lord so it will be for us .Resurrection follows on the third day. Judas is history, Jesus is Lord and master of all.
As a true disciple of His your resurrection is at hand and we will help you in every way possible.
Elizabeth Rodgers.
Hello again, Fr. Gordon:
God bless You, God bless You, God bless You..(and, of course, free You)!!
Thank You for, again, sharing Your torn heart with a world so deprived of Truth. I feel so privileged to have been introduced to You thru a prayer request on Virtual PrayerCast. Now, that prayer is NOT the ONLY one requesting world-wide prayer for YOU.
(http://virtualrosary.org/viewprayers.php).
Fr. Gordon, I am looking forward to the day when we will be able to actually “see” You saying Mass. It’s a thought/vision that continues to excite me. You are a priest…FOREVER.
I believe, as a priest once said of You, that You ARE a “Priest’s Priest”.
God bless You, mightily, Fr. Gordon…and please know that You are in my daily prayers!!!
Here is a little poem I thought You may enjoy…. unfortunately, the author is unknown…..
The Beautiful Hands of a Priest.
We need them in life’s early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek it while tasting life’s woes.
When we come to this world we are sinful,
The greatest as well as the least.
And the hands that make us pure as angels
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness
Their dignity stands alone.
For there in the stillness of morning
Ere the sun has emerged from the east,
There God rests between the pure fingers
Of the beautiful hands of a priest.
When we are tempted and wander
To pathways of shame and sin
‘Tis the hand of a priest that absolve us.
Not once but again and again.
And when we are taking life’s partner
Other hands may prepare us a feast
But the hands that will bless and unite us,
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress,
What can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him who chose them to bless
When the death dews on our lids are falling,
May our courage and strength be increased
By seeing raised o’er us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.
Author Unknown
Father Gordon,
Anniversary Blessings! You are a such a witness to our Faith and to your brother Priests! I have the book, I ordered it right after I read your recommendation on TSW, I have not started reading it yet. I look forward to reading it, and know that I’ll be encouraged to do more to help defend and protect you our Priests. Please know that you remain in my daily Prayers as well as our Spiritual Motherhood for Priests Apostolate Prayers. We offer a Rosary every week for you and your brother Priests as well as at least one Holy Hour a week.
God bless you Father, keep on shedding light on this
Cheralyn
Fr. Valladares’s book is wonderful. It’s courageous and, in spite of the evil that he uncovers, it IS hopeful. It bothers me when I read about such evil, but the truth is that the evil was already there and it is better that such evil is exposed. When I read this book I am humbled that God gave us such an incredible gift of the priesthood. It made me so grateful for the priests in my life and what they have given me. Prayers for Fr. Valladares!
God bless you, Fr. Gordon. Hello to Pornchai, Skooter and all!
I ordered this book a few weeks ago, and have been reading with a mixture of admiration for the priesthood and great dismay over what modern american culture has done to it. For all it’s technological prowess, religion in america is still very much Calvinist. The purging of the priesthood is not only painful and merciless for falsely accused priests, but for all good people who witness the downfall of justice in both the Church and democracy. Father MacRae is a perfect example of this downfall, and this book makes that very clear.