PS

When I mentioned St Pio (aka Padre Pio) in that other post I was thinking of him in the context of one falsely accused who did what he was told. I've read elsewhere that it was easy for him because the Church wasn't in crisis then. I thought the Church was always in crisis and the past may look straightforward to us but it must have been just as bewildreing for the people living through it as the present, as our present is for us. Or just as clear...

Somewhere else a priest complained that we (the laity) expect priests to be saints. Well maybe we expect too much or expect higher standards of other people whilst we get on doing what we like and we should be kind when people fail, but it is clear how we are supposed to behave. It seems that when people live outside their religious communities and start doing their own thing, their own thing seems to lead in the wrong direction.

One of the things that struck me at St Cecilia's (apart from how everything was perfect, the roses, the cleanliness of where we stayed, how chilled juice appeared on a table when we left the parlour, transported by unseen hands, looking for no thanks...) was how the sisters we met were fully engaged in talking to us or instructing us but really they were elsewhere because a bell was going to go and they were immediately off to whatever else they had to do. And you knew that though you saw them for a matter of minutes, they were like that everyday, all the time and when no-one was watching. No need for an audience.