No, I am not going to comment on the election. I am sure if you are a following of mine then you probably know my thoughts and feelings.
Instead, I am going to write a follow-up to my previous post on how important it is for us to pray for our priests. I am writing this due to a some what personal experience that happened this past week. I received a call from my grandfather who informed me that I priest I loved and admired when I was a child is actually being indicted for embezzling close to $400,000 from his parish.
Father Caesar Belchez was my priest when I was in middle-school. He watched me as I converted to Catholicism and I loved him dearly. He was a very funny, relaxed kinda guy and he was great with kids. Like always, priests do get moved around a lot and for 5 years he was the priest at a church in Bonnauville, PA. While he was there he embezzled close to $400,000 from the parish community.
I was heart broken when I heard this. Here, a man who influenced my decision to convert has now been defrocked and can spend up to 21 years in prison. He is a prime example why we need to keep men like this in our prayers. I pray that his actions will not cause the members of his old parish to leave the church. We must remember that our faith revolves around the Eucharist, and not the priests.
Please keep Fr. Caesar and the members of the Bonnauville parish in your prayers.
Amelia,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a perfect example of how much priests and the Catholic church need our prayers. But like you mentioned, it is very important to know that we are following Jesus and not man. We as humans are weak, and priest are tempted even more because of their status.
I will be praying for Fr. Ceasar.
Be blessed,
Clare