The Pity and the Pretense
“Fidelity, fidelity, fidelity!” –Father Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)
Father Frank Fourberie (fictitious) is fifty-eight years old. He has been a priest for thirty years, and he is now pastor of a large urban church in a major American city. Father Fourberie is a generally kind, thoughtful, and generous man. His parishioners like him (cf. Luke 6:26), in part because he makes few demands upon them, other than regular requests for financial support. His…