Does The Church Need An Order of Married Catholic Priests? I Think So

I don't write this lightly. I take this subject very seriously as I do my love for the Catholic Church. Warts and all. But in God's holy name how can the Church continue to have as a Church law  mandatory celibacy, for all Roman Catholic priests, with the situation as it is. And everyone knows what I mean by that. And as we know, Church laws can be changed.
I have worked in the Church , I know many holy, married laymen, of outstanding character,  who would make excellent priests. Then there are the deacons in the Church who could enter an Order of Married Priests. As I mentioned in my last blog entry,  I visited a Greek Orthodox Church last week on Long Island with the Rosary Society of my parish and their Divine Liturgy was reverent, beautiful, sacred and holy. All three priests on the altar were married, their wives were present and one of them had an adorable little daughter in the congregation that day.
Celibacy is certainly a call and valuable discipline for some men, called to the priesthood, but not for all.
If the Church doesn't examine this with clear vision and through prayer to the Holy Spirit, and act with common sense, it risks a lot.
I've seen so many changes take place within one generation. It use to take many generations for social changes and traditions to change, but now in the modern world, things are changing rapidly. I fear young people are going to keep leaving the Church, with all the bad publicity involving sexual abuse and large payouts. This is a very different world than the one I grew up in.
What is God's will for the Church in this matter? To me the answer is obvious. What matters is God's word is preached, Eucharist is shared and people are cared for and ministered to. That's more important than anything else.
NJA

What Roman Catholics Can Learn From the Greek Orthodox Church and What They Can Learn From Us

Today members of the Rosary Society of my parish along with our pastor and a seminarian visited the Greek Orthodox Church of The Archangel Michael in Port Washington, Long Island, NY. We were invited by one of their church organizations and priests to celebrate, along with their congregation, the Divine Liturgy of the Ascension and to share fellowship afterward.  It was a very moving experience. I came away with a lot of impressions.
First of all when we arrived 15 minutes before their liturgy began, the priests were already in the midst of worship, prayer, chanting and incensing the sanctuary. So even before the liturgy began, the priests were deep in prayer and worship. Now you know what I was saying to myself, don't you? Of course I was saying, why don't we do this in the Roman Catholic Church, (at least on feast days and Sundays).  I get annoyed sometimes at Sunday Mass because I always arrive a half hour before Mass begins to read the readings beforehand and to pray and usually there is someone near me talking, which drives me crazy. So that would solve that problem......and it wouldn't have to even be done for a half hour but what about 10 or 15 minutes of prayer before Mass begins. I thought it was very holy and sanctifying and gave me a transcendent feeling.
The Divine Liturgy (as they call the Mass) was amazingly uplifting, holy and sacred. Before Communion was given out, the priests processed around the Church with the Blessed Sacrament while a priest was walking backwards and incensing the Blessed Sacrament.
It is a beautiful Church and the liturgy was very beautiful and sacred as well.
All of the priests, as we later found out, were married. All of their wives who we met at the fellowship, were helpful and very nice. But that's another story.
What can they learn from us? Some observations I made in a short time. They wanted to hear about the rosary, so the President of our Rosary Society showed them a rosary and explained how we recite it. Our pastor explained the mysteries. They don't say the Hail Mary as one parishioner told me.
But of course, they revere the blessed Mother, so why don't they recite the rosary or pray the Hail Mary? I have no idea, but I find it perplexing.
It was a wonderful morning and the welcome we were given was a blessing to all of us.
NJA

The Killing Of A Priest

Such a sad story coming from Notre Dame of Fatima, a Roman Catholic Church in the Central African Republic. The Church was attacked during Mass and the parish priest, the Rev. Toungoumale Baba was killed along with at least 15 other people. Innocents-worshipping God, praying, during the  sacred Catholic Mass and evil came through the door. Using grenades and gunfire the killers desecrated the holy Church and brought death and despair and pain to God. The worst of humanity.
A large crowd, protesting the violence and the death of their beloved priest carried his body to the presidential palace. But evil won the day. Their pastor is gone. The good priest died at the hands of the most fanatical, the most cruel and evil side of humanity.
And its not over. People want revenge. So the vicious cycle of violence will unfortunately most likely continue. No one wins. The children of the parish witnessed unspeakable horror.
I pray for the soul of the good priest who died celebrating Mass and those who care for him. So tragic. In this day and age, at this time in history and still, good, holy priests and good people are slaughtered because of misunderstanding, conflict and hate.
God bless the people of Notre Dame of Fatima Church, may God be with them during these difficult days. The United Nations peacekeeping group will have to work quickly to stop the spread of violence, God be with them and inspire their work.
NJA