When a priest heard his confession at the movie theater, his friend couldn't resist sharing this photo with the world.
A priest was queuing at a movie theater in Rio de Janeiro when he received a request to confess, and a friend of the priest shared a photo of this unusual case on social media to testify that “priesthood is not a profession” and a priest is a priest “every day, 100% of the time”.
The priest in question in this case is Father Matheus Aquino, from the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro: I went to the cinema with my friend Pedro Delfino and while they were waiting, a man looked saw Father wearing the religious habit and decided to go to Father Diep to confess right there.
Here is a translation of what Pedro wrote on Instagram when commenting on Father Matheus' testimonies:
Priesthood is not a profession. A priest is not a priest from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, but daily, 100% of the time, without days off, weekends or retirement.
As Saint Paul says in 1 Cor 7:35, those who dedicate themselves to the religious life choose to “consecrate themselves completely to the Lord.” The priest consecrates his life to God, without sharing his life with anything else.
This being so, if the cassock is the priest's "work uniform", the ancient custom of the priest having to wear the cloister all the time also makes a lot of sense.
Above all, the priest never stops exercising his ministry.
Yesterday, my friend @pematheusaquino was surprised at the cinema door at the request of a stranger to come to him for confession right there. What a beautiful sight it is.
He doesn't even know that I took this picture and he will surely see it for the first time, along with you guys. But I couldn't resist capturing that moment, because the sight immediately reminded me of the words of Bishop Justino, who said: “The cloister is liturgy in the street. He who sees it is forced to think of God.”
How many people passed by in that brief moment were struck by this extraordinary sight?
This moment has inspired so many inner reflections, so many silent admiration and secret joy from the fact that the sacrament itself was celebrated there?
This wouldn't have happened if he was wearing jeans and a polo shirt.
In fact, every time a priest appears in public in his cloister, wherever he goes, souls may be prompted to turn to the God that the priest himself didn't even know it!
Literally, this is due to the power of the "line shirt".
I think I can speak for the laity when I say that we long for the Tradition of the Church. And a big reason people lose faith today is that many religious leaders have decided to be more “ordinary” and “modern” than the laity themselves.
We need a moral reserve in society that will always lead us back to the beauty of Tradition. And if not the missionary, who will take on that role?
Priests and seminarians on my Instagram, reflect on this and do not belittle the wonderful gift you have been called to.
Thank you, @pematheusaquino, for your example of total dedication to God.
Author: Francisco Veneto - Source: Aleteia (July 11, 2022)
Transliteration: Phil. M. Nguyen Hoang Nguyen