Fr. Richard OMOLADE

Recently, a boy, about eleven or twelve years old approached me and said “Fr, I want to ask you a question.”  Since, I was with someone else, I stepped aside and asked him to talk.  “Do priests commit sin?”, he asked.  How do I respond to him without causing any scandal? Yet, I cannot comfort him by tell him a lie. The best approach is still to speak the truth and that is what I did.

“Yes”, I said, “priests are human beings, and they commit sins.” I wasn’t prepared for his next question. “What kind of sins, do they commit?” Were I not a priest, it would have been easy to answer. Should I use myself as an example or explain to him generally? I looked at his face begging for answer. He wasn’t looking to indict any priest. He wanted to know. I guess, he must have had a discussion with some of his friends and he must have been blown away by some of their assertions. This is a teaching moment, a moment to strengthen him in his faith, but also a moment to empower him. I begged God for the grace for appropriate words.

Priests sin because they are human beings and human beings are week. Priests face temptations like other people and sometimes they fall. But they also enjoy the grace of God that helps them to keep sin at bay. “What type of sin do they commit?” He asked again. Now, I must answer him. Using various examples, I led him to understand the reality of human life that priests face daily. I went from simple lies to anger, to cursing, to acts of wickedness. I could clearly see he was baffled. He obviously held priests in very high esteem, and it looked ridiculous to entertain the thought that any priest would sin. It was a wakeup call for me. “Let not those who hope in you be lost through me, Lord God of Host.” (Ps 69: 6) A priest definitely is not his own, he belongs to God and therefore, following his ordination, he is no longer at liberty to do as he wants.

Priests sin and this is a scandal that must be avoided at all times. There is so much expectation from the people of God. Priests are alter Christus, other Christs, and in another way, Christ himself. This is a great mystery, a grace, and a burden. Yes, priests can only fulfil this demand of their life only through the grace of God. Human strength will always fall short and those who rely on their own power have been brought low. It is a burden we carry, because we know we are weak and unworthy, yet we must mirror Christ to others even in the midst of our weaknesses and unworthiness.

“Do priests sin?”  I wish I could have told the boy, “No”, “priests don’t sin.” It would have made a lot of sense to him probably uplift his spirit at that moment. But that would have been a grave sin, an act of deception and a lie devised to bring comfort, but ultimately a false account and a proposition that may leave many in the land and shadow of death. The sins of priests are constant witness to the fact that we are unworthy of the high office entrusted to us, we are earthen vessels, holding a great treasure, no matter how good we are or become, we remain unworthy servants of the mysteries of God and each priest must devote time and energy to pursue the holiness that binds us to God and help us to be truly who we are called to be.

 

Priests belong to God and must live for God. Yes, sin is always lurking by the corner, no wonder Jesus reminds us that we are in the world, but not of the world. The priest must project this ideal to the people he has been called to lead and pasture. Do priests sin? Yes, and we feel ashamed to admit it, but it is in this act of acknowledgement that our hope of redemption lies because if we are truly ashamed of our sins, we will feel sincere sorrow for them and do everything humanly possible to avoid them. Only then will the grace of God take over.

What happens when priests wallow in sin? What happens when we commit sins that the laity are scared to commit? What happens when we put ourselves in compromising situations where avoiding sins becomes an uphill battle? For priests, the battle against sin and temptation is a never-ending battle that will cease only at death. Overcoming temptations and avoiding sin then must become a daily enterprise. Priests being human cannot pretend to be immune from temptation and sin. But there is good news, the priest may be sinner like the rest of the people, but a priest is also an instrument and God who can do all things can and will still bless the people in spite of the sin of the priest because his power is always greater than the sin or the agent.

So, do not be discouraged by the sins of priests but pray that they will strive for their own holiness and the good of the people entrusted to their care.