An open letter to our young clergy, seminarians and their families
From – a mother of a priest, daughter of God, woman who works for the Church

I wake from a dream where I am drowning in the ocean, lost in the midst of a horrific storm, desperate to keep my head above water while frantically looking for my children and trying to understand what is happening. Where did the storm come from, I thought it had past; I just want to save my kids.

This storm rages on – this tempest of evil – but we know God triumphs over evil. Christ calmed the Sea when the Apostles were frightened. God, Himself, will assure us that He is never far. We know the devil has no chance of winning, but let’s be clear, it is with our cooperation that he can call forward the hatred and revolting acts too many have suffered from, so I ask you: which side of the battlefield will you be standing on when judgment day arrives?

I have been struggling to write this post. There are no words that can even begin to express the depth of my anger, my rage, that I feel for not only the bishops, priests and religious who committed heinous sins towards our children but for those bishops, priests and laity who looked the other way. There is evil in action: the Grand Jury report from Pennsylvania, the former Cardinal, now Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and even back to 2002 when the scandal which first broke in Boston and quickly went world wide. It is what is now being rightly called a “Moral Catastrophe;” it is, quite simply, evil in action.

But evil does not triumph. The Apostles were terrified when those in power looked on and allowed our Lord to be put to death. They hid at first, but, then filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, they went forth from that Upper Room and proclaimed that Christ had conquered Death.

I am writing to say thank you to our young clergy and seminarians, those of you who have stepped forward and answered the Lord’s call since 2002. Some of you have gone on to ordination, others of you have grown in your faith and though not ordained to priesthood became beacons of good, holy Catholic men. Thank you all for your courage, your faith, your witness. Many of us will struggle and we will look to you to strengthen our faith when we, like the first Disciples, feel too afraid to leave the Upper Room.

We need priests who stand up and say, “I will fight for Christ, come fight with me.”
We need priests who will witness to us what it means to be unapologetically Eucharistic.
We need priests who will show us what it means to be unapologetically Marian.
We need priests who are willing to be uncomfortable, unpopular and teach us what we may not want to learn – what we may not want to hear – but will lead us closer to the Truth.
We need priests who will hold up the teachings of the Church
We need priests who will not water-down our faith, but lead us deeper to the Living Waters of Christ.
We need to see you praying and inviting us to pray with you.
We need to see you in love with Christ Jesus and His Church even while you yourself may be struggling with our Church leadership.

Faithful Catholics stand ready to fight with you for Christ and His Church but we need you to show us the way. We need you to help us dive into a deeper relationship with God, one where we ourselves can hear His voice and invite Him to transform our lives. We need you to remind us and show us by your witness how to order our lives around the Eucharist and Mary.

To the families of our seminarians and Priests:

There are times, some say too often, where the Lord calls us to stand and hold our ground. To be where we would rather not be. To struggle through, sometimes needing to reach out for the hand of Christ through the darkness. Why am I here Lord? What are you asking me to accomplish? Why can’t I be over there – there being any place other than where I am now. You want to “protect” your sons from the storm. You want them to be safe; choose someone else’s son to step forward and fight this battle Lord, don’t take my son. But he gave us His Son, and He watched His Son die on the cross for each of us, including your sons.

Remember your son is not called to do this alone, nor are you. If we are honest, we will admit that maybe we haven’t always been aware that Jesus has been walking with us. Do we really understand that we have NEVER been alone? That Christ is right there besides us? Always has been, always will be. Some have asked me “where the hell is God”….He is right there with us as the storm of evil seems to engulf us, saying – get into the boat I am here to save you. God will NEVER LEAVE YOU.