An alert reader sent this my way: some intriguing thoughts from FOB Meredith Gould:

And what’s up with calling Roman Catholics to pray for “spiritual perfection in priests”? Rather ambitious, don’t you think?

I think we should start with more modest goals. Praying for priests’ willingness to work well with lay leadership comes to my mind. Let’s pray this for six months and then review our progress. Finding evidence of willingness, we could then devote the remaining six months to praying for their ability to work well with lay leadership — or with deacons.

Deacons! Why didn’t I think of them two paragraphs ago? (Make my own point.)

Why don’t we spend what’s left of the year praying that priests treat deacons with more gratitude and respect? This should certainly be easier to accomplish than “spiritual perfection.”

While it’s true deacons may resemble lay leadership, in that some have private sector experience, deacons are ordained. And, they’re men. (We could work on the gratitude and respect thing for religious and lay women later. The Roman Catholic church has been ambling along like this for over 2,000 years, so what’s the rush?)

I imagine a lot of deacons will appreciate those insights and questions.

You can check out more, and the rest of her fine blog, here.