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Hi, Antonia —
Thanks for the question.
Opinions will vary from person to
person, even among my colleagues.
Personally, I look for the following things:
- Is the priest faithful to the
Holy Father?
- Does he speak of him in a positive
limelight?
- Does the priest have a devotion
to Our Lady, the Rosary, and Brown
Scapular?
- Does the priest have a devotion
to the (Blessed Sacrament|Eucharist)?
- Does he encourage Eucharistic
Adoration in the parish; meaning does he participate in one hour
a week by writing his name in for a specific hour of the
week, or is he a hypocrite?
I use this criteria as a measuring
rod, due to:
- a dream I heard St. John Bosco
had, and
- my First Saturday, (and First
Friday), devotions to Our
Blessed Mother that I have
kept for the past thirty-plus years.
You can read more about St. John
Bosco and his dream here:
The
Eucharist and St. John Bosco
This criteria seems to make sense
to me. I'm not saying everything I listed are
required, but if the priest has three
out of five, he is probably a good,
faithful priest.
Some may criticize my answer saying
I shouldn't be judging priests but
I would say we all have to make judgments.
Jesus himself says:
6 Do not give what is holy to dogs,
and do not throw your pearls before
swine, or they will trample them
under their feet, and turn and
tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:6
In order not to do that, we have
to (judge|discern) what the Lord
considers holy and like pearls and what He considered dogs and swine.
What we cannot do, is impute a specific
motive behind why a person or priest
does something.
We cannot read another person's heart and intent;
only the Lord can.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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