Dismissed From Deacon Formation Program

[AcolyteLector]

Oh man… there’s just no satisfying these people.

When the Church and Her seminaries/theologates are more inclusive, we’re a ‘corrupt church knowingly allowing pedophiles and pedophile accomplices to enter’.

When the Church and Her seminaries and theologates are more discriminating and erring towards prudence, we’re a ‘corrupt church, a sinking ship’.

Don’t you understand? The EO, TR, &c. can all be vilified. This almost happened when our Holy Father published the Motu Proprio–all the secular media reported was (1) the purged Good Friday prayer for the Jews, and (2) Bishop Williamson’s support for the Latin Mass, with footnotes about his antisemitism.

**If the Latin Mass continues to be the ‘battle standard’ of everything weird and undisciplined in the Church, we will never be able to restore it to what it was. ** At the rate we’re going, you’d have an easier time as a Hindu/Buddhist reclaiming the swastika as a religious and cultural symbol.

That’s what we’re faced with.
Go ~10 posts back in OP’s post history, and you’ll find that… upon announcing his entry into formation as a deacon… he made some comment about the book Good Bye, Good Men being indispensable. This man’s time as a deacon incipient was numbered. It was him versus ‘the Great Lavender * Seminary Conspiracy’ right from the very beginning.

God bless him, but I sincerely doubt there’s much we can do for this guy except help him realize that he’s not a victim.*

 

[AcolyteLector]

Perhaps I was not articulate enough - the FACT that the bible was compiled

**There’s a gap in assumptions here.

Your first post included your misguided suggestions for how to–in your little opinions–‘save’ the Church that–according to your little opinions–is ‘corrupt’.

So, Brother forwarded the excerpt as a succinct expression of the fact that the groundwork of the Christian tradition was transmitted through Apostolic Succession (specifically the Primacy of Peter), from our Lord to Simon Peter. The Church is still our Mother, even when its servants fall short.

The assumption behind this …presumably]: you’re some dissident Catholic or Christian, as the people who tend to accuse the Church of being ‘corrupt’ (i.e., and therefore a perversion of the Christian message) and not ‘flat out wrong’ tend to be people who share in the Christian message and believe that it can be right… and not ‘corrupted/perverted’ by our Church.

These Gospels proclaimed by our Church are shared across the Christian sects–the fact that the Church compiles the Bible is sadly (for your line of reasoning) absolutely irrelevant. The content is not altered, and the compilation is irrelevant (assuming that you hold the same premises regarding the Bible as most Christians).

If you do not believe in a canonical or divinely inspired Bible, then there is no sense in quoting excerpts to you, to establish the Primacy of Peter–but you, in turn, should have nothing to say about the Church being corrupt.
**

by the RCC is why it’s the last think I would believe to verify their claims.

If I write a book or even gather a lot of books that say ‘Irish Joe is incharge’, and then say that the collection of books is correct/inspired/canon/whatever because I’m incharge then it seems a bit circular to me.

This is unfunny, and not comparable.

The bible is inherently catholic, I agree 1000000% with you on that, it’s also why I think protestantism is a bit short sighted. ‘Lets base our faith on a book that some dude* mangled that a church we think is wrong compiled’

So, what’s your angle? Be clear, or there’s no sense even talking to you.

*the dude being Martin Luther

 

[IrishJoe]

Well clearly you’re so offended at my ‘little’ opinions (ad hominem for the win!) there is little point trying to engage. Corruption in the church includes but is not limited many of the widespread shortfalls acknowledged by the clergy including his Holiness. Here’s an example The fact that fallible human men are involved makes corruption a part of the institution. Unless of course these men can do no sin. But it seems pointing out a fact earns the wrath of a mod here so there cannot be free dialogue.

 

[AcolyteLector]

Well clearly you’re so offended at my ‘little’ opinions (ad hominem for the win!) there is little point trying to engage. Corruption in the church includes but is not limited many of the widespread shortfalls acknowledged by the clergy including his Holiness. Here’s an example The fact that fallible human men are involved makes corruption a part of the institution. Unless of course these men can do no sin. But it seems pointing out a fact earns the wrath of a mod here so there cannot be free dialogue.

Just because its ‘slighting’, doesn’t make it an ad hominem. I did not try to say that what you had to say was invalid, by impugning your character or circumstances. I just said that what you said was invalid, and then pointed out why I thought so, with reference to what you said.

So: using Latin terms wrongly for the win!

But I think we agree then, given what you’ve said above. However, this particular piece of information (i.e., the admitted humanness of the Church’s clergy, the abundance of sin) is not demonstrably relevant to the topic. As has been pointed out.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, laddy. :irish3:

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Just because its ‘slighting’, doesn’t make it an ad hominem. I did not try to say that what you had to say was invalid, by impugning your character or circumstances. I just said that what you said was invalid, and then pointed out why I thought so, with reference to what you said.

So: using Latin terms wrongly for the win!

But I think we agree then, given what you’ve said above. However, this particular piece of information (i.e., the admitted humanness of the Church’s clergy, the abundance of sin) is not demonstrably relevant to the topic. As has been pointed out.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, laddy. :irish3:

I just find a great hearty laugh when some comes to this form and attempts to argue with us and then tries to deny us the use of Catholic Teaching. This is a Catholic forum after all.

It is just too funny.

I believe that the humanness of the Church’s clergy is relevant to this topic, at least the part of the topic that irishjoe is attempting to discuss.

He claims a “corrupt Church”. The Church is full of fallen human beings but the Church is protected from being corrupt, see the scripture I posted.

If irishjoe wishes to deny this Catholic Teaching he may, but he needs to be aware that this is a Catholic forum and we will be using Catholic Teaching in our discussions. If he does not agree with that or like it then maybe this is not the place for him.

 

[TiggerS]

[bibledrb]Matthew 16:18[/bibledrb]

The Church is made up of human beings, it is not perfect, it will never be perfect but as has been pointed out, the reactions of the OP show that there might be something to the dismissal and the reasons he was given though he does not wish to see this.

Hello Brother David - The Church as a human functioning institution is not perfect but no reason whatsoever to accept what is not perfect and affirm it because we are not perfect - we do need to identify where we might fail and keep trying to do better and we always have room to do better and the Grace to do so, not that I am saying at all that the reason for dismissal of our OP was wrongful. I feel we are probably not aware of all circumstances that may have applied.

If perchance the OP does not wish to examine the actual reasons for his dismissal and a presupposition that he actually does know them all, then this is only one point in time and his journey will continue. He may be in denial now perhaps, but the time may come and I pray so, that he will move out of denial (if this is so)and face what actually applied leading to dismissal and they may be painful factors for him personally - that he will come to terms with them and move on from a painful situation without useless baggage from the past and into a happier future making Grace inspired decisions, and realizing his particular and personal call and vocation from God. We all have one.

This is one point only in the OP’s journey only and a painful one for him personally and I think that this is obvious. It can be particularly painful I can imagine to have in mind a certain vocation and way of life - and for life - and then to be dismissed from those ranks. It is a huge disappointment and personal blow to say the least, and that is putting it very very mildly indeed, I would think. His whole future as he envisiged it and may experience it seems to him probably to have been wiped away at this point and he is suffering and perhaps giving vent to what is a real knee jerk reaction to his personal situation just now and perhaps even to some of the comments in this thread.
TS

 

[Jenny_M]

Dear Benedictine,

No matter what the circumstances surrounding your dismissal (and none of us know those circumstances), your anger at being rejected is a normal human response. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty about being angry. But do get your anger out – chop wood, use a punching bag, or buy a bat and a cheap pillow and wham away at it. Talk to a psychotherapist too. Tell him/her how angry you are, and get some advice on how to handle this situation.

Once you get your angry feelings out, you will be able to think clearly again about God and the RC Church.

Good luck, and I’m praying for you.

Jenny M

 

[rap1962]

Dear Benedictine:
since you have done so well in your preparation to become a Deacon you surely understand that the Catholic Church contains the full deposit of faith and the full revelation of truth. You know that to leave the Church is to turn your back on truth. You have the right to feel hurt for the way you were treated. Offer that hurt and suffering to Jesus. Read Pope John Paul II’s Salvifici Dolores for a deeper understanding of how we can benefit from our suffering by its unifying effect with Christ.

Read the book of James again, and focus on the verse where he tells us to “count it all joy when we face trials for it leads to perseverence in faith.”

What a wonderful opportunity this gives you to demonstrate to Jesus how much you love him. He tells us “blessed are you who suffer all manner of persecution because of me, your reward in heaven will be great”. Please don’t leave the Church and waste this opportunity to persevere in the face of adversity. Pick up your cross daily and follow him. He does not promise it will be easy, in fact he almost guarantees it will be very difficult. If you run from this cross you will surely be faced with another, perhaps even more burdensome.

I wish I could find the words that would take away your hurt but I’m not that blessed. Turn to God in prayer and he will sooth your pain. And always remember, when he closes one door he always opens another. The problem is we often are so fixated on the closed door that we fail to turn to see the door he just opened.

My prayers are with you and I empathize with your pain.

May God richly bless you with the grace to love and serve him every day of your life

 

[TiggerS]

Turn to God in prayer and he will sooth your pain. And always remember, when he closes one door he always opens another. The problem is we often are so fixated on the closed door that we fail to turn to see the door he just opened.

Excellent and sound points, I thought! Sound advice too from JennyM to my mind too.

If we turn away from The Church and our Faith because of some situation involving humans in The Church, then our Faith is more in the humans in The Church than that Truth which The Church proclaims and that Truth is the foundation of The Church and Christ. The humanity which comprises the Church does not compromise, with our many weaknesses and failures and - indeed any scandals in The Church brought about by human beings, that Truth which The Church proclaims, which is Christ. I read somewhere that The Church is a hospital for sinners and not a club for saints.
Knee jerk type of reactions when we feel we have been treated wrongly are not unusual and rather human displaying just how human, weak and fallible we are. When that emotional content settles down, and it will, then it is time to examine, I think, the reason one is Catholic i.e. The Church which Jesus established and to last for all time and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. We humans and faulted, weak and fallible can very often fall short of the ideals that the Teachings ofThe Church and The Gospels ask of us - and are hence not the best of examples of the best in Catholicism but these failures can never compromise nor make in any way ineffective those Teachings nor the Promises of Christ re His Church nor The Gospels.

And indeed, when one door closes, The Lord opens another but we can be so busy on focusing on the door that has closed and what we wanted, then to sight that door that The Lord is opening for us. And a very good and important point made by the previous poster, rap1962. We can find it very hard to let go of our own dreams and hopes and humbly ask God in prayer “where to now, Lord?” and there is another “where to” perhaps not immediately obvious however. We need to pray and to trust. Letting go of our own hopes and dreams can be a very painful exercise in detachment - and detachments on perhaps deepening and more painful levels can become essential to growth in a sound spiritual life.

I am hoping and praying that our OP once his emotions settle will be able to think more clearly and objectively making sound Graced new decisions. Few if any can think clearly and objectively when emotions and especially negative emotions are very strong and forceful and tending to drag us along with them. And when we are hurt or offended personally and to some quite hurtful and personal degree, those negative emotions are primarily a physiological reaction to a negative situation. Most often our emotions are amoral, it is what we do with our emotions that introduces morality and right and wrong. We can all make wrong decisions, but it is not the end of the journey rather a stage in our journey and most often wrongful decisions can be corrected and better decisions made.

TS

 

[TiggerS]

Dear Benedictine,

No matter what the circumstances surrounding your dismissal (and none of us know those circumstances), your anger at being rejected is a normal human response. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty about being angry. But do get your anger out – chop wood, use a punching bag, or buy a bat and a cheap pillow and wham away at it. Talk to a psychotherapist too. Tell him/her how angry you are, and get some advice on how to handle this situation.

Once you get your angry feelings out, you will be able to think clearly again about God and the RC Church.

Good luck, and I’m praying for you.

Jenny M

Jolly good advice.

 

[DaughterOfMary6]

Benedictine, I know this won’t be very consoling, but you are not alone. There have been cases where good, faithful priests have been dismissed! Faculties removed, fired, no salary, no benefits. Done! Hit the road, Jack! Their “crime?” Being too faithful to Church teaching. Doing things like encouraging folks to pray the Rosary. Fr. John Corapi was giving a mission in one parish and a group of priests went to the bishop and demanded he be fired or they would “go on strike.” Luckily, the bishop ran the diocese like he had a backbone and backed them down. He said if they could prove that what he was teaching was not in line with Church teaching, he’d fire Fr. Corapi. Clearly, that wasn’t the case, so they shuffled off. Fr. Corapi told him he missed his chance. He said had he been bishop, he’d have lined 'em up and said, “Okay, boys. Who’s first? Step across the line here.” He said the first one that did would have had his faculties removed! Fr. Corapi also shared that he had been dismissed from a Franciscan monastery for complaining that they weren’t treating the Eucharist properly. They’d say Mass, then not clean the chalice, etc. Instead, they’d stick 'em in a broom closet! Jesus in a broom closet! They gave him one hour to clear out! He found a faithful order to join and that’s the group to which he belongs now. (SOTL)

You are a casualty, through no fault of your own. We forget, sometimes, that we are all in the midst of a tremendous battle between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. Between principalities and powers and the God’s faithful. The best thing you can do is offer it up to Jesus and continue doing whatever you can to build the kingdom of God. That takes a lot of humility, which is necessary for the spiritual life, anyway. I would just tell Jesus, “Okay. I accept Your will that I not be a deacon. Your will, not mine, be done. I offer You the humility and embarrassment this has caused me. I forgive all who have hurt me and ask that You forgive me if I have hurt anyone else. Your will be done.”

Excellent reply. I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[Medic_Mark]

And with that painful, insensitive, dismissive statement, ByzCath, you have pushed me away once and for all from the Roman Catholic Church. I may not have the right to ordination, but I DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE REAL REASON WHY AND I DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD!

I am no longer a Roman Catholic.

Dear Benedictine,

Allow me to call attention to the Lord’s Prayer:
*
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. *

One of the most basic elements of our faith and yet one of the most difficult to do. Do not renounce Christ or his Church, but forgive and love and get on with life. I believe if you are able to do this, it would please the Lord as much as, if not more, than if you were to serve as a deacon the remainder of your days.

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[roveau]

I was admitted to my diocese’s deacon formation program and was doing very well. I received excellent grades in the course work, was very active in my parish’s ministries, attended and participated in daily mass, and even did things outside the parish such as visiting the needy and teaching the faith outside the parish (all approved). The parish pastor completely supported me and told me frequently that he looked forward to the day that I was ordained! My program reviews were all excellent and there was absolutely no indication of a problem at all.

Then about halfway through the program we got a new formation director and something seriously changed. He took this instant disliking towards me, which I could not understand at all. Everything I did was wrong to him and he became very critical. My course work continued to excel and I had the admiration and support of all the guys in the program, but this new director seemed to be really out to “get me”. There may have been two possible reasons for this: 1. My support for the Tridentine Latin Mass as per Pope Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum motu proprio, though of course I complete support and promote the modern Mass as well as Vatican II, and 2. My weight. I have been seriously overweight, but have since trimmed down. The director is a serious health nut, always talking about his workouts and nutrition.

Then on my first review with him, I was brought into a room with another priest there (I had no idea why he was there) and told that there was “recently discovered discrepancy” in my initial psychological evaluation at the beginning of the program! He then suggested I “get counseling” and dismissed me from the program! I was horribly shocked! And the worst part is that my neither my pastor or bishop (who is very liberal) would hear me, ignoring my requests to talk to them about this. I was then treated like a pariah by the parish staff and the diocesan chancery, and have been the laughingstock of my parish and diocese ever since.

I have no idea what happened to me and have been completely numb ever since. It has been months now and I have tried to move on, but cannot. I am so wounded by what happened that I have been seriously considering to finally leave the Catholic Church all together. I am sick and tired of the patronizing statement “Well, you can still be a GREAT layperson!” I have always believed that I am called to clerical ministry, but if the church rejects me for no reason given or no chance to work out whatever is the problem, then how can I go on? Was it my support of the Latin Mass? And why was my initial psychological evaluation brought up when there was nothing wrong with it beforehand? I was admitted to the program with this evaluation reviewed and approved, was I not? If there was a problem, then why was I admitted to the program? I cannot talk to my pastor about this, and the other guys in the program, who were so supportive and loving, now avoid me like the plague, for fear of being associated with me and finding themselves kicked out so close to ordination.

I just don’t know what to do or say. Has anyone else had this experience, and if so how did you move on? I just do not understand what happened. I really want to leave the Roman Catholic Church, but only stay for my wife and family. I have no love for the church any more.

Guys, I am appalled at some of the uncharitable, judgemental and even underhanded imputations this man has received as a result of his displaying his immense disappointemnt at a process that was going very well until a certain point.

This post was clearly a cry for a sympathetic ear, a few sympathetic and encouraging words… and for your prayers. And I praise the ones that have done exactly that.

Some of you have suggested that he left out the real reason for his misfortune. Why would he do this? He is writing anonymously! He has nothing to gain by withholding a so called ‘real reason’. Another suggested that the new formator detected a defect in him. If that was the case why wasn’t this picked up during the first half of the program when he was doing so well?

Some of the OP critics have clearly not had a major undeserved disapointment in life otherwise it would have been clear that this man was not himself. The disappointment and the subsequent loss of closeness of his fellow deacons to be and the loss of respect he had in his congregation would have played on his mind day in and day out.

On a personal note I was once instantly demoted with loss of working hours and status when the boss believed a misrepresentation of my actions by a co-worker. I was sent to what seemed to me ‘the coal mines’. The whole situation played itself out in my brain day and night for a good three months… the injustice of it all, and all that. I was obsessed by it and it took a lot of strength for me not to flare up if anyone broached the subject. In my case I got out of the ‘coal mines’ after six months and was sent to the best department ever. Thanks be to God. But there is no such hope for Benedictine, at least not as a deacon.

I think he will come around if we pray for him but he has a lot of hurt to process. Lets show a little more of God’s love and compassion on CAF.

 

[CatholicFireman]

I agree to a point.

Some of the OP critics have clearly not had a major undeserved disapointment in life otherwise it would have been clear that this man was not himself. The disappointment and the subsequent loss of closeness of his fellow deacons to be and the loss of respect he had in his congregation would have played on his mind day in and day out.

You can’t make an accusation like that unless you know the posters personally. Some may be cruel but for some it may be “tough love”. We don’t know the OP. He may truely be distressed or he may be an attention getter; used to being coddled.

But then again, I don’t know him either so I won’t make assumptions. I’ll simply pray for him.

A Blessed Christmas to you all.

 

[AcolyteLector]

Guys, I am appalled at some of the uncharitable, judgemental and even underhanded imputations this man has received as a result of his displaying his immense disappointemnt at a process that was going very well until a certain point.

This post was clearly a cry for a sympathetic ear, a few sympathetic and encouraging words… and for your prayers. And I praise the ones that have done exactly that.

**Sympathy at what cost? I think everyone here can and does sympathize with OP. I for one believe that Christianity should be tender, but not sycophantic or at the expense of being honest with each other.

OP, at least ostensibly, framed his post as a question: he wanted to know why he was rejected by the formation program.

After being reminded of one of the basic premises of a vocation–that no one is ‘entitled’ to an ordination, that upon entry to a formation program a person places their vocation in the hands of the spiritual/vocational directors–the OP decided that he had just ‘had enough’ of the Church which he was months away from dedicating the rest of his life to serve.

This would be like an Officer Candidate cutting his ties with America after being dropped from an Academy or officer candidate school course. Except worse. **

Some of you have suggested that he left out the real reason for his misfortune. Why would he do this? He is writing anonymously! He has nothing to gain by withholding a so called ‘real reason’. Another suggested that the new formator detected a defect in him. If that was the case why wasn’t this picked up during the first half of the program when he was doing so well?

**On the contrary, he’s told us all he needed to. Both before and after this post.

Before leaving, he cited ‘Goodbye, Good Men’–a text that is obsessively critical of the entire seminary process, and which has proven itself inflammatory and imprecise–as ‘indispensable’. After returning, he tells us that he was a vocal advocate of Church traditionalism throughout his participation in the formation program, &c–he does not explicitly connect this with his rejection. However, when you take the message of ‘Goodbye, Good Men’ (i.e., that traditional/orthodox seminarians are being squeezed out of seminaries across America, and those who do make it to ordination face ostracism from their ‘brother-priests’) and compare it with the narrative arc of the post where he tells us about his time in formation (i.e., ‘I was an outspoken traditional and orthodox student who had friction with my formators"’)–he’s setting up a question that he already feels he knows the answer to.

And if this isn’t correct, by all means, let OP correct me.

America could use more traditional clergy. But these clergy probably shouldn’t be a voluble source of disagreement and friction with other sections of Church opinion.

Otherwise the only person who can help OP is OP himself. If he really believes himself fit for ordination, try another diocese, ministry or another vocation. Its not like there is any shortage of clergy in the history of the Church who had their ‘jets cooled’ during their first attempt at pursuing a vocation. From Fr. Corapi to the over-eager ‘young man’ in Matthew 19:21-22 that Jesus dissuades from somehow instantly becoming a disciple–there were prerequisites that the young man needed to take care of before leaping into discipleship. The latter went away downtrodden, too.

This is what Scripture says. Its what Church history says. Its what our extensive hagiography says. If he can’t follow his predecessors, and continue on his way towards service, maybe his formators were not mistaken? Moreover, if he rejects not only their opinions, our opinions here at CAF, and the Church’s teaching as a whole–maybe… wonder of wonders… his formators were right?

---

Some of the OP critics have clearly not had a major undeserved disapointment in life otherwise it would have been clear that this man was not himself. The disappointment and the subsequent loss of closeness of his fellow deacons to be and the loss of respect he had in his congregation would have played on his mind day in and day out.

**You and OP are not the only two people suffering this Christmas. Believe me. But I think that’s pretty much the ‘take-away’ message from all of this: that you’re not the only one having trouble, and blaming others only makes your problems worse because it obscures how to correct them. **

 

[LCMS_No_More]

We only have one side of the story here. I am not “zealous” in any way.

I know of a handful of people who have been released from programs, they all claim that they do not know why they were released. Every single one did know, or at least was told why, but they refused to listen. They were in denial, they had issues.

I am not, in any way, saying that this is the case here.

Please point in my post where I said that the OP has no right to know. I said that the diocese and diaconate program will not comment, when I said that I was stating that they will make no public comment on this issue. When he was released they should have told him why. We only have his word that they did not. I find that hard to believe from my years in formation. But if it happened then it happened.

My main point is that this is a very personal and sensitive issue and should not be put out for comment on an anonymous internet forum especially since we will only ever get one side of the story.

My favorite SciFi show, Babylon 5 had a line. Made by the Vorlon ambassador to (I believe) Sheridian (commander of the station), it goes, “The truth is a three edge sword, your truth, his truth, and the Truth.”

Actually, Kosh was fond of saying, “Understanding is a three edged sword.” Sheridan sussed out the “your side, their side and the truth.” I love the line that ends that whole diatribe, btw, “Now get the hell out of our galaxy! Both of you (Shadows and Vorlons)!”

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Actually, Kosh was fond of saying, “Understanding is a three edged sword.” Sheridan sussed out the “your side, their side and the truth.” I love the line that ends that whole diatribe, btw, “Now get the hell out of our galaxy! Both of you (Shadows and Vorlons)!”

Thanks for the correction, but it still works.

 

[Deacon2006]

Most are dismissed for anger issues not weight, orthodoxy, children theological grades or any other such thing.

Pax

 

[ElizabethPH]

Should not your faith stand up to much more than this. You will be faced with much trials and tribulations throughout your life…keeping your Faith will get you through them.

 

[mozier]

I read this thread some time back, but held back since it was very much like my situation and was hitting close to home. Like Benedictine, I too was dismissed from my diocese’s deacon program. There were all sorts of reasons that could have been given falsely in my case, including my own support of the old Latin Mass (some friends thought that was the reason), but it was nothing like that.

For me, it was my behavior that greatly concerned my director. I was starting to melt down mentally during my aspirancy year, and it was bad enough to have me shown the door. However, it turned out not to be mental problems, but rather a physical illness. This illness had led to extreme sleep deprivation which was altering my mental state to the point where my behavior was seriously worrying me, family, friends, work colleagues, and yes the deacon formation team. I did not even know this was the cause, for I thought I was sleeping! But it was finally diagnosed and properly treated. Since then the director has understood my situation and I am welcome to reapply for the next aspirant class. Meanwhile, I have taken the “time off” to get better and discern if returning is the right thing to do.

I have tried to write to Benedictine, but he has refused to write me back.* He and I are oblates and have written before, so I thought I’d get through to him. Apparently not, for he is seriously wounded over what happened. And to be put down like he was in some of the responses to his posts, that is not good. He was apparently very close to ordination and so to go that far only to be thrown under the bus – well, you can imagine how bad that must be, especially when you were not expecting it and people treat you terribly because of it. I heard from a mutual friend that he may have gone Baptist and Anti-Catholic. Sigh. Keep Benedictine in prayer and hopefully he will make his way back.

My point is this: We never know where or how things will go when it comes to such matters, but we just need to remember that if you are rejected or dismissed from a vocation program, keep confidence in God and don’t lose your Catholic faith.* There may be another avenue somewhere else that opens up and will make you happy in fulfilling God’s Will. And don’t listen when others put you down or question your hurt.*