Wednesday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time (2025)

Our Gospel reading today tells us about people who didn’t respond to Jesus’ preaching — and they didn’t respond to St. John the Baptist’s preaching either. Yet they still felt entitled to judge them both, because they carried in their minds a fixed image of what the “perfect prophet” should look like.

In reality, no one could ever meet their expectations.

There is a beautiful text about a very similar situation. It resonates deeply with me, especially when I think about what I sometimes call the “love letters.”

As priests — even here at Saint Mark — we often face these same kinds of expectations: expectations that can never fully be satisfied.

I’d like to share this text with you, which Fr. Tom who visited us to give a retreat shared with me.

It’s called “Who is a Priest?”

For the practicing believer, he is a man of God;

For the non-believer, merely a “religious functionary.”

Some bless him, others curse him;

Yet everyone claims the right to judge him.

If he talks with the rich, he’s a capitalist;

If he stands with the poor, he’s a communist.

If he has a cheerful expression, he’s a pleasure-seeker,

If he looks serious, he’s an arrogant snob.

If he’s handsome: “Why didn’t he get married?”

If he’s unattractive: “Nobody wanted him!”

If he goes to a bar, he’s a drunkard;

If he stays in the rectory, he’s lazy and idle.

If he wears a short clerical collar, he’s worldly and frivolous;

If he wears a cassock, he’s a rigid traditionalist.

If he’s overweight: “He spares himself nothing,”

If he’s thin: “Surely a miser and a penny-pincher.”

If his homily lasts over ten minutes: “He’ll never stop talking!”

If it’s short: “He doesn’t know how to preach.”

If he has long hair, he’s a rebel;

If he has short hair, he’s outdated and old-fashioned.

If he marries and baptizes everyone who comes: “He’s careless and sells the sacraments.”

If he’s demanding and sets standards: “He drives people away from God.”

If he stays in the church: “He never cares about anyone.”

If he visits parishioners: “He’s never in the church.”

If he doesn’t organize pilgrimages or trips: “Nothing ever happens in this parish.”

If he starts a construction project: “He’s throwing money away.”

If he speaks of contemplation and prayer, he’s an idealist lost in the clouds;

If he focuses on practical matters, he’s a “pure materialist.”

If he has a parish council: “He lets people boss him around.”

If he doesn’t: “He’s an autocrat and a clericalist.”

If he quotes Vatican II, he’s too modern;

If he quotes the Catechism, he “smells of Trent.”

If he’s young, he has no experience.

If he’s old: “He should really retire.”

But when he dies…

Who will take his place?