Do You Know a #GoodPriest?

Photo by Richard Hsu (2013) via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0[/caption] I’m feeling kind of broken right now with all the sadness and anger roused from the scandals in our Church. I know I'm not the only one. I recently shared publicly my own story of abuse, which has been a difficult journey. And I know that all that is happening in our church right now has strongly affected many others out there as well. It was amidst the first wave of these scandals that Sr Brittany Harrison, FMA, a Salesian Sister of St John Bosco, started the hashtag #goodpriest to help us remember all the good priests whom we still have, who are fighting to stay above the horrors. These are primarily stories of priests who ARE doing good work, who are lifting people out of the misery of life, who are serving those they meet (both parishioners and strangers!) and putting on the smell of the sheep. One of our family's good friends, Fr. Darryl Millette, recently stopped by and gave me a 'care package' that consisted of one of my favorite bottles of alcohol. He brought his dog, too, who is very licky and loving. And it's possible we all ate too many chips while he was here. I really felt listened to, and his response showed his care for how I was faring in the midst of sharing something that has been so damaging. He has been a #goodpriest to me. If you are in need of being reminded of the hope we still have in faithful priests, keep reading and be inspired from the personal stories of peoples' encounters with their priest! Be sure to share your own #goodpriest story here or on Twitter! We need more witnesses of the joy of the Gospel by these men who are remaining faithful and faith-filled!

#GoodPriest Stories

@sisterb24 started off the conversation saying,

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption] As of this writing, 187 people have directly responded to her call!

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption]

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption] Also, priests inspiring a return to the faith or conversion!

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption]

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption] They also help people deepen their faith:

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption]

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption] And other times, just helping someone feel human again:

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker[/caption] Priests are much like the rest of us, so we can appreciate the brother of this priest's take on #goodpriest

Twitter screen shot by Jane Korvemaker.[/caption] @sisterb24 reminds us that while Twitter is one way of sharing great stories, we need to remember the ones we can reach out to in real life.