Substance and symbols

This is a republication of an article by Father Frederick Heuser in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

Earlier today Dad29 posted that Fr. Heuser has died.

Update: In a letter to the editor Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, published September 25, 1999, Fr. Heuser said that in a story on indulgences the Reporter should have used better sources.

Update 2: A republication of another article by Fr. Heuser from Homiletic and Pastoral Review, imagining what it might be like for A Resigned Priest on his Deathbed.

Update 3: From "Dear Tom and Ray," letters to Car Talk,

Tom: Today we have some more winners from our Nouns of Assembly contest. We asked our readers to come up with collective nouns for all things automotive. We've mentioned a few already, like "a Harrison of Fords," and "a ring of Saturns." Here are some more we like. ...

Ray: Father Frederick Heuser of St. James Catholic Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin was apparently working on our collective noun endeavor between masses. He came up with "a stuff of Legends," and "a rattling of LeSabres." That's good, Father!

Update 4: from Tradition, "A Newsletter to Celebrate St. Joseph High School's Legacy of Faith," [pdf, p. 9]

Father Heuser celebrates his fiftieth anniversary in the priesthood. He has served as pastor of St. James parish for the past 30 years. Before that he was associate director of the Catholic Family Life program, taught at St. Catherine High School in Racine for three years, and served at St. Mary's parish, also in Racine, for five years. Fr. Heuser currently teaches theology at St. Joseph Interparish Junior High School. Last year he taught seventh graders about the life of Jesus and the meaning of the sacraments. His support of St. Joe's is truly a blessing.

Update 5: Not online, so from my files, a letter to the editor from Fr. Heuser, published in the September 24, 1998 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

On Sept. 17, two letters appeared in the Journal Sentinel suggesting solutions to the priest shortage. One advocated ordaining women and the other allowing priests to marry.

The problem with this thesis is that it falsely assumes that the priest shortage is nationwide. It isn't, of course. The dioceses of Peoria and Rockford, Ill., Arlington, Va., Fargo, N.D., and Lincoln, Neb., are examples of places with not only a sufficient number of priests but many seminarians, as well.

This August, I was in Lincoln for the dedication of a new seminary, St. Gregory the Great Seminary. The bishop of Lincoln is the former pastor of St. Bernard's Parish in Wauwatosa, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz.

I was amazed at the number of young priests there. The new college seminary has 23 students. In addition, there are 40-some seminarians studying theology in Maryland. Thus, in a diocese of 70,000 Catholics, approximately one-tenth the size of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, there are 63 men who, God willing, will be ordained priests.

The question is not whether women should be ordained priests or whether priests should be allowed to marry. The question is: Why do other dioceses have so many vocations and the Milwaukee Archdiocese so few?

I'm on record as saying that's a good question.