Years and years ago, I read a fairy story about a girl whose evil stepmother sends her out in a paper dress in winter to gather strawberries. She takes refuge in a house belonging to three dwarfs. When they demand that she share her food with them, she gladly gives them half of her only crust of bread. When they order her to sweep their back step, she does so at once. Part of her reward for her humility, generosity and obedience is that every time she speaks, a gold coin falls from her mouth.
Meet Fr. José de Jesús Camacho, priest of the Diocese of Boise. In addition to his regular parish duties, he has a prison ministry and a blog. He has also taken over the city's only 7:00 a.m. daily Mass since the death of Msgr. Donoghue, about whom you have read in this space. I don't agree with everything Fr. Camacho says; but he is a good and devoted priest. I don't know if getting up early enough for 7:00 a.m. Mass is as much a mortification for him as it is for me; either way, he gets beaucoup points for it as far as I'm concerned.
And when a priest is humble, generous, and obedient, and gets out of God's way...gold coins fall out of his mouth. Here are a few of the gold coins that have fallen from the lips of Fr. Camacho during his homilies (and these quotes are not exact, but as close as I can remember them):
On the nature of freedom: "Freedom" does not mean freedom to do whatever you want; it means the freedom to do what is right.
On true priestly vocations: Those who want to build a career within the Church rather than serve do not have an authentic vocation: that is the difference between God's call and one's own agenda.
On the liturgy and particularly the Eucharist: The more entertainment you need, the less faith you have.
'Nuff said! What more can be added? Except: Yay, Father! Keep those gold coins coming!
And thank you for crawling out of a warm bed on cold mornings for us.
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