Year of the Priest coming to an end.

Do-over?
Do different, do better. (A)men.

A bold move during Year of the Priest cheers me up!

The headline grabbed my attention the moment I clicked open this morning's weekly digest from Tikkun Daily.

In case you don't already know, tikkun is the Hebrew word for the commitment of every Jew* to "mend, repair, and transform the world." Tikkun, the magazine, and now the daily multimedia blog has longstanding cred among spiritually progressive Jews. Heck, they're so spiritually progressive and open to interfaith rants they even cite my work. My naches, for sure.

The headline? Say Hello to the World First Female Orthodox Rabbi!

Pretty darn exciting, even after reading the fine print revealing that Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder of the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School ("where open orthodoxy begins") may, in fact, have bestowed the title "Maharat" rather than "Rabbah" on 32-year old Sara Hurwitz.

That's okay with her because even though she cannot be part of a minyan (prayer quorum) or serve as a rabbinic witness, she can do just about everything else. She says she "functions in the same capacity as a rabbi."

In other words, she's like what the Roman Catholic church calls a deacon. And you know where I'm going with this, right? Does the Catechism of the Catholic Church's reference to Jews as "elder brethren" (CCC 63) ring a bell?

I'm sure Rabbi Weiss is getting some major flack for his bold move, which has cheered me up during this Year of the Priest. Oh that there might ever be a pope courageous enough to risk the same by welcoming women into the Roman Catholic diaconate.

*Note: A commitment I never ditched after getting baptized.

Advent during Year of the Priest and I finally muster some prayers.

By the grace of God and ministry resource software, yesterday's Mass, for which I was scheduled as Lector, was being celebrated by one of my favorite Roman Catholic priests. I like and, more importantly, respect this wise and gentle octogenarian because of his good-humored compassion. Got a big greeting when I walked into the sacristy.

We haven't seen each other for a while and how am I? Disturbed. About what? The Catholic church. A shrug and swift smile. Oh that. Yes, that. What now?

I recite the short list which includes the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin report, the new abysmal translation of the Roman Missal, the politicization of the Eucharist by some bishops in the United States.

Yes, it's just awful. Embarrassing, really. The hand resting warmly on my shoulder as he speaks reminds me why this is one priest I do respectfully call, "father."

There have been others, like the Catholic priest who told me, "the Church does not ask her people to stay in abusive marriages." And the one who explained, "we learn nothing in seminary about how to run churches." The priest who, from the ambo proclaimed, "Catholics aren't the only Christians." And the visiting missionary who stunned an already uneasy gaggle of parishioners by saying, "Martin Luther got a lot of things right about what's wrong with the Roman church." I will be forever grateful for the priest who confessed during my confession, "no pope...no bishop is going to run me out of my church. You, stay put."

And so, during this Vatican-declared Year of the Priest, I'm finally realizing that I need to pray for these fine Catholic priests and others who:

• entered the priesthood never expecting to encounter such deeply embedded institutional dysfunction.
• were forced out of the priesthood because of their call to marriage or other committed relationship.
• have remained in the priesthood and serve with integrity despite the bad behavior of their confreres.
• speak out against false divisions within the church and welcome all to the table of the Lord.

Three months into Year of the Priest and I'm thinking "late vocations."

Earlier suggestions about how we might productively pray during the Vatican-proclaimed Year of the Priest generated an unprecedented number of comments on this blog.

As ever, I don't know whether to be thrilled or frightened by some of the ire I managed to generate, some of which oozed over onto Deacon Greg Kandra when he had the generous guts to reference my post on The Deacon's Bench. C'est la church vie, I guess.

And although I really am not looking for more trouble, recent news about "A Mother, a Sick Son and His Father, the Priest" has stimulated some new and improved thoughts about how we might pray for the Roman Catholic priesthood this year.

Hey! Let's focus on praying for what are known as "late" or "delayed" vocations! These are commonly defined as candidates who pursue the priesthood between ages 40 and 45. In rare instances, religious orders will consider older candidates.*

In case it's not obvious, my suggestion is anchored in wanting priests to be grounded in realities shared by the people they serve. Call me crazy -- and you wouldn't be the first -- but I believe this would help ensure a more respectable and respected priesthood. I'd like candidates for the priesthood to be adults who have experienced some or all of the following:

• Falling in love and sustaining a relationship beyond limerance.
• Having at least 5 and preferably 10 years of psychotherapy that's both analytic as well as cognitive-behavioral; individual and group.
• Changing jobs and having more than one complete career.
• Being treated as a valued member of a work (not sports) team.
• Reporting to an arbitrary and abusive boss.
• Getting deservedly fired.
• Having transcendently wonderful sex more than once and with another human being.
• Serving as a caregiver for someone who is either physically challenged or terminally ill.
• Applying to receive government financial assistance for self or others.
• Seeing a baby being born in real life (preferably vaginally).
• Financing and making payments on a home.
• Losing everything and starting over.

* Note: "consider" does not mean "accept." Separation of church and state means churches cannot be sued for age discrimination under federal law.