Padre Alberto: Why Defend Him?

I am not sure I should stray from the focus of my brother's life and story here, but being that Mike was so involved with the Spanish-speaking Catholic community, I just wanted to add the two-cents that I think he would have added were he alive to do so.

There seems to be a huge number of "Catholics" who are defending the actions of this Father Alberto Cutie and his sexual antics on a beach with his purported lover. The fact is, this kind of thing happens from time to time with priests and, though it is rare, it is a fact that some men have not been called to the priesthood but rather, called the priesthood to themselves. This is what I believe to be the case with Padre Alberto.

He was quoted as saying: "Since I was young, I always dreamed of being married, [of] having 10 children."

Why then, would he become a priest? Why would he pretend to devote his life to a parish or to the church as a whole? It's just not possible.

One of the things that made Michael Sepp such a great priest was his complete and utter commitment to his parishioners and to the Catholic Church and all it stood for. He never would have been able to perform his priestly duties to the extent which he did if he were involved with a family. He was awesome when it came to trying to make time for his siblings, parents and nieces and nephews; but he nearly always arrived late and left early to any family gathering. A wife would never be able to put up with that. Children would be hurt by that. These are precisely the reasons behind the Catholic church's stance on priestly marriage.

It is clear that this Padre Alberto was never interested in being a priest. He spent nearly all of his time (it would seem from how much time he spent in the spotlight) as a journalist, reporter, novelist...he is an "entertainer" and not someone who has devoted his life to God and His church. Why defend him?

I don't say you should condemn him either. He is simply a man. He has to follow his heart. He has to live his life. I just think he has no business proselytizing to anyone and if anything this whole scandal should be a wake-up call to anyone who bends too quickly to the words of someone on TV or the radio or in a newspaper. You don't know these people. You can't act like they're your friends and you shouldn't take advice from them because you really don't know where they're coming from either intellectually or spiritually. Those images on TV are ghosts. Those words on the radio are just words.

A good priest is recognized by what he does and how he lives his life. Simplicity, adherence to doctrine, compassion, hard work: these are the qualities that made Michael such a good priest and such a fantastic person.

Everything Happens For A Reason

Living past the death of a loved one, especially when the loved one is someone like Fr. Michael Sepp, is sometimes hard to deal with. On the one hand, we all know we were lucky to have him for as long as we did; but on the other hand, we feel cheated. Many of us feel like he was the last person who should have died. After all, he did so much good and was so dedicated to helping others. I'm certainly not nearly as giving as my brother was, yet here I am.

What is the reason why God took Micheal? It's certainly hard to fathom. But I think time will tell. Many believe that Michael can do even more good work in the spiritual realm. He certainly wasn't afraid of death and in some ways even embraced it. Maybe he was preparing himself for more good work. In any case, I'd like to believe that all this has happened for a good reason.

It's something that I have come to believe in the year or so since Mike was diagnosed with cancer. The thought of him dying or suffering often brought me to tears and frustrated me so much because I just couldn't get my mind around it.

One of the things that had happened as a result of Michael's vehement dedication to his priesthood (and consequently, his parishioners) was that Michael became slightly more distant from the family. This was not because he was alienating us intentionally, but simply because the level at which he was determined to serve his community required a great deal of attention. This was especially true at Sacred Heart, which is a tremendous parish with a large school. He simply didn't have the time for us that he once had.
However, the treatments that followed his diagnosis with terminal cancer, were frequent and long. He often needed company when receiving transfusions or chemotherapy. I say "needed" but it was mostly "wanted" I think and when I look back at this, despite the horrific impetus behind it all, I cherish these treatments. They were often long and in the middle of the day. He had to get there during rush hour and stay for hours on end, but these hours were precious time that I had and many of my siblings had - and even my mother had on one or two occasions - to spend with our beloved Michael.

Now, I've been unemployed for a very long time. In fact, I started my bout with poverty and unemployment just after Michael was diagnosed. It occurred to me that though this seemed very much like a curse (I was newly married and struggling to start a life with my wife and despite a fairly good education found myself bored and jobless) it was actually a blessing. Maybe God knew that this was going to be the way that Michael and I could reconnect. That I would have an opportunity to learn things from this man who had so much to say yet had so few opportunities to share things with me. One of my sisters lives in Connecticut and she, for reasons of geography as well as her own familiar obligations, was also underemployed during this time. This just so happened to open up many opportunities for her to attend Mike in these last precious moments before he finished his earthly "assignment".

Sometimes what seems like a curse or a misfortune might just be a tiny part of God's big plan.