Wednesday in the First Week of Lent
Deacon Robert Banet
The Scarlet Letter
Yo, Charlie! What are you reading?
It’s a book by Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter.
Ah yes. Read it years ago. You know his daughter joined the Church.
Oh? Did he follow her?
No. He said he would join except for one reason.
And what was that?
He said he would join if its ministers were angels. He was really put off by the unworthy lives of its ministers.
Really? You know, I wonder why God didn’t arrange to have the Church run by angels.
Glad you brought that up. God told St. Catherine why He chose men instead of angels.
Why was that?
He said if it were run by angels, men would say to the ministers, Oh, it’s easy for you to preach to us. You don’t know what it is to wrestle with temptations.
Ah, so God was taking away any excuse we would have by giving us men who knew temptation.
Well, that makes sense. Who was it that received that message?
Catherine of Siena.
Ah, she an official doctor of the Church, right?
Right. You should read her Dialog.