Faith and Reason
By Rev. Sean O'Brien
Yes. I am a Catholic priest. I just showed up in the area in July. And I am writing in the newspaper.
There were not many Catholics up in Tulsa, maybe 5 percent of the population. Down here there are fewer. I have met many kind people. Just as the priests in the movies, I walk around wearing a black and a white collar. It draws a comment here and there, which is always welcome.
I believe the people who think Catholics worship Mary or Catholics earn heaven through works have faded away into the past with such errors. Or they kindly permit me to be a supposed idolater privately. The two main reactions that I get are (1) he’s no different than anyone else, or (2) how interesting, a Catholic priest.
Few have asked particularly good questions, but mostly, it’s like the zoo. You don’t stop other people there and say, “Tell me about yourself. What makes you interesting?” And you don’t ask the monkeys, “I’m curious, what’s it like to be a monkey?”
In this example, I would be either the random person or I would be the monkey. Nobody plans on asking the monkey anything, nor is anyone ready to hear the monkey propose such info: “Please, sir, do you mind if I ask you about your day? How are you? And then, I would like to tell you what it’s like to be a monkey.” That’s to say, most of my conversations regard nothing—with delightful exceptions.
Why do we find it hard to dialogue? Why do we either (1) attempt to be blind to actual differences, or (2) put differences into the cage of novelty, like a monkey in the cage of the zoo, so as to remove it from any reasonable dialogue? I think if we had clearer vision, we would see ourselves with beautiful differences. That’s what makes a zoo so interesting, isn’t it? From my perspective, the goofier the animal the better—unless it’s ugly like some of those baboons.
Should I kindly be allowed to write another column (a window into this monkey’s exhibit), I hope to open radical dialogue between believers, scientists, hippies, hipsters, philosophers, atheists, agnostics and all reasonable people. Truth cannot contradict truth, so let’s get to the bottom of it.
A man I greatly respect said, “The thirst for truth is so rooted in the human heart that to be obliged to ignore it would cast our existence into jeopardy.” Therefore, stay thirsty my friends. If you see me around, please say hello—I’m the priest-looking fellow.