I’m reading a lot these days about “cancelled priests” and one from Wisconsin seems to be at the front of the line. Lots of interviews about how he’s being persecuted just because he was “preaching the truth”.

Can we admit that being a good pastor is about more than just the words that come out of your mouth?

For example, if you’re gifted at preaching but lead the parish into financial ruin, your pastoring will be lessened. Or, if you have a good bedside manor when you visit the hospital patients but can’t preach worth a lick…you get the point.

I know one priest who has a gift for beautiful liturgies. Yet, he can’t manage his staff for the life of him resulting in few opportunities for parishioners to grow outside of Mass. If you go to his parish, you’ll find uplifting liturgical music but little else.

My advice for when you hear of someone in the Church who has been disciplined is this: there’s often more to the story. We don’t know how many times the Bishop corrected the priest privately. We don’t know what else was going on that led to a public discipline.

As I watch these interviews with the priests who claim to be wronged, I see a lot of anger and it’s quite public. The Quiet Life isn’t like that. It’s humble and at peace, even in the face of perceived slight. It doesn’t cling to its own reputation to the point of burning the house down.