One word sums up the priesthood: Love

Greed doesn’t sum up the priesthood. The average priest makes under $35,000 per year. Sexism doesn’t sum up the priesthood. Jesus ordained men, but women never had to be priests to be important in the Church. In fact, some of the most important people in Church history have been women.

 Abuse doesn’t sum up the priesthood. There were 9 credible allegations of child abuse in 2013, out of about 40,000 US priests. That percentage is lower than virtually every other profession that serves children. Of course one case of abuse is too many. Inexcusable. But nine don't sum up the character of tens of thousands of good men.

One word sums up the priesthood: Love. Not the flawed love of human beings. Priests are humans like the rest of us. I’m talking about the Love that created space and time, hung on a cross, rose from the dead, promised that he’d never leave us, and who reaches out to the world today, through the hands of his priests.