Editor's Note Honor and thank our priests By Darcy L. Fargo

Sept. 25, 2019

It was the toughest penance I’ve ever been given.

After hearing my confession and offering counsel about a particular sin I’ve battled for longer than I’d care to admit, my confessor simply said, “for your penance, do something about it.”

I was instantly thinking, “What happened to the days of, ‘say 10 Our Fathers?’ That would be way easier.”
But my confessor, one of the many outstanding priests of our diocese, knew I needed to cooperate with God’s grace and put in a little effort to work to overcome this sin. The penance truly helped me.

I avail myself of the sacrament of reconciliation at least once a month, often more frequently. It’s not that I’m particularly holy, I’m just incredibly efficient at sinning. Each time I confess, I’m reminded of two things: It’s amazing that we have a God who loves us enough to grant us mercy and forgiveness, despite the fact that we don’t really deserve it, and we are blessed to have these men in our midst who can be instruments of that love.

And that’s only a small fraction of what our priests do. In addition to administering sacraments and celebrating Masses, our priests are bringing Jesus to the sick, ministering to law enforcement and emergency responders, ministering to school children, writing columns for this newspaper (thank you, Father Bill Muench and Msgr. Paul Whitmore) and participating in countless other ministries. They’re also working in the diocesan offices, attending countless meetings and events, and conducting the day-to-day business required to run a parish. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Priesthood Sunday is Sept. 29. Now is a great opportunity to honor and thank our priests for all the time, energy, prayers and work they give us, the members of the Body of Christ, and all they do for our Lord.

We truly love and appreciate our priests.

I will note, despite our love for our priests, and I believe all our priests are loved, there are some who aren’t mentioned in these pages. Despite best intentions, people forget to submit their ads or stories, and people miss the deadline. These priests are loved, nonetheless.