The inspiration for this blog entry came after seeing two photographs of the candidates [3], [4]. The personal thoughts here are not in any way intended to insult or denigrate. Everyone has a reason to do, and the freedom to choose, what he/she wants. Before expressing them, one ought to be mindful of these words from 1 Corinthians 13:13 [5]:
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
One also ought to be mindful of the following sections quoted selectively from the Catechism of the Catholic Church ("CCC") without references [6]:
2444 "The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor. Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need." It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty. [Emphasis added.]
2445 Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:...
2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." "The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity":
When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.
2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God:... [Emphasis added.]
The photographs attached to article footnoted under [3] and [4] show two of the five transitional deacons to be rather obese. It is difficult to comprehend how one can grow to be so rotund consuming only a moderate, or a minimum, amount of foods and drinks needed to stay alive and healthy.
(A discussion of health risks associated with obesity is beyond the scope of this blog.)
Is over-eating consistent with "the poverty of Jesus" in CCC Section 2444? Is it "compatible" with "immoderate love of riches [here, foods and drinks] or their selfish use [here, gorging] " in CCC Section 2445? Is eating and drinking more than necessary to sustain life the same as not "enabl[ing] the poor to share in our goods [here, meals and snacks, which is like stealing] from them and [perhaps] depriv[ing] them of life" in CCC Section 2446? How often do obese clerics think of those who are hungry and of feeding them in CCC Section 2447 while they indulge in foods and drinks?
The two soon-to-be priests are not the only ones in the Catholic Church with big bellies. Many with oversized waists can be seen at every level of the Church's hierarchy all the way up to the very top, including some of those who are part of the mendicant religious orders, such as the " Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians (Augustinian Hermits), and Carmelites, as well as Trinitarians, Mercedarians, Servites, Minims, Hospitallers of St. John of God, and the Teutonic Order." [7]
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, modest consumption of foods and drinks is not a specific vow that needs to be taken by priests [8]:
Priests who belong to a religious order (e.g., Dominicans, Benedictine, Franciscans, etc.) take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Diocesan priests make two promises- celibacy and obedience; these promises are part of the ordination ceremony. It is also expected that diocesan priests will lead a life of simplicity consonant with the people they serve.
It would seem like the vow of poverty would be broken by overindulgences in foods and drinks, but that does not apply to diocesan priests. This is good news for fat diocesan priests and clerics who love to eat and consume alcoholic beverages and for the two already overweight soon-to-be priests.
Section 1866 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is quoted below without reference [9]:
1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. [Emphasis added.]
"Gluttony is defined as intemperate eating. The Catholic Church considers it the fifth of the seven cardinal sins." [10]
Should obese clerics be reminded of the sin of gluttony? It is not necessary. Quoted below without references is from Luke 16:25-31 [11]:
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ [Emphasis added.]
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Despite may be having a vice or two or three here and there, all five transitional deacons ought to be congratulated on their future profession as shepherds.
[1] http://diospringfield.org/wp-content/uploads/Five-to-be-ordained-Catholic-priests-on-August-15-2020.pdf
[2] http://iobserve.org/2019/05/26/five-seminarians-ordained-as-transitional-deacons/
[3] https://www.masslive.com/springfield/2020/08/springfield-bishop-mitchell-rozanski-to-ordain-five-into-priesthood.html
[4] http://iobserve.org/2020/08/01/five-men-scheduled-to-be-ordained-to-diocesan-priesthood-on-aug-15/
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13%3A1-13&version=KJV, quoted without references.
[6] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm, Sections 2444-7.
[7] https://www.britannica.com/topic/mendicant-Roman-Catholicism, quoted without hyperlinks.
[8] https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/priesthood/priestly-formation/faqs-priesthood-ordination-seminary, at 10.
[9] https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm
[10] https://www.alimentarium.org/en/knowledge/sin-gluttony#:~:text=Gluttony%20is%20defined%20as%20intemperate,bounds%20of%20codified%2C%20convivial%20meals.
[11] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2016%3A19-31&version=NIV
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