My own Nicodemus,

Tuesday, 4/10/18

St. John presented Nicodemus to us as anexample of those who accept Jesus as saintly, but without accepting him as the Son of God.

Leaving that lesson aside, I would like to say something about a man named Nicodemus whom I hired sixty years ago in Korea. Two dozen of us foreign priests were made pastors of Korean parishes when the Korean clergy had been killed off. We could administer the Sacraments, but our use of the Korean language was so incomplete, that we needed a very competent secretary. Each if us referred to our number-two man as our Poksa. On the recommendation of a priest who had known Nicodemus as a boy, I hired him to be my Poksa.

Nicodemus was efficient in answering parish mail, and at representing our parish in public affairs, but I ran into a stumbling block with Nicodemus. He felt that his high position as Poksa, excused him from pitching in when we had manual labor to take care of. He didn't run errands.

From the short comings of Nicodemus I have learned that to serve as a good priest, I will have to let my hands get dirty,