“It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
25 years ago an Irish priest taught my parents this lesson.
They were staunch Catholics but often fell into complaining about all the things that were going wrong in the Church. This priest showed them not to ignore the problems, but to direct their criticism constructively by sharing it with those who could actually make a difference. And, more importantly, by rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on the solutions.
This made their faith more attractive to others and more enjoyable for them to live.
About Fr Simon Devereux LC
FR SIMON was born on February 4, 1979, in Dunedin, New Zealand, the seventh son of Marie and Michael Devereux. He entered the novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Cheshire, Connecticut, on September 15, 1997. After his novitiate and year of humanities in Cheshire, he studied a bachelor’s in Philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome from 2000 to 2002 and from 2005 to 2007, a licentiate in Philosophy. In between, he worked as a youth minister in Quebec, Canada, and he made his perpetual profession in Rome on October 4, 2005. In 2010 he completed a three-year bachelor’s degree in Theology and was ordained on Christmas Eve of the same year with 60 of his brother Legionaries by Card. Velasio di Paolis. Two of his brothers are also Legionary priests. Fr Simon is now based at the Legion of Christ seminary in Cheshire, Connecticut.
Fr Simon in Christ,
Your post today really brought back memories for me. I am a convert, and after joining the faith and gradually learning more about it, I got increasingly frustrated with the wimpy version in the parishes and schools we attended. My wife and I became part of the “grumpy conservative” part of the parish, which meant we got together with like-minded folks and complained a lot.
Then we met some RC folks and, as you might expect, an Irish priest (might be someone you know) and the next thing we knew we were starting a school and actually doing something. Amazing what you can accomplish when you replace complaining with doing.
That was about 15 years ago, so we’re about a decade behind your parents – but heading in the same direction.
God Bless…Jim