To some minds it would prove such a comfort and such, a relief to have their vague longings and beliefs confirmed and made tangible, and, as you know, at the present day so-called Religion, which is often a mere mixture of dogma and superstition, is scarcely sufficient to do this.

...

I might say a great deal more and weary your patience, which has already been tried, I fear.

But may I venture to hope that you have some words of comfort and assurance out of your own experience to give me?
With your expressed belief in the good influence which each may exert over the other, not to speak of a higher and holier incentive in the example of One (in whom you also believe) who bids us for His sake to 'Bear one another's burdens,' you cannot, I think, turn away in impatience from the seeking of a very earnest soul.
"Yours sincerely, "B.

D." [I have received about fifty letters written in precisely the same tone as the above--all more or less complaining of the insufficiency of "so-called Religion, which is often a mere mixture of dogma and superstition"-- and I ask--What are the preachers of Christ's clear message about that there should be such plaintively eager anxious souls as these, who are evidently ready and willing to live noble lives if helped and encouraged ever so little?
Shame on those men who presume to take up the high vocation of the priesthood for the sake of self-love, self-interest, worldly advancement, money or position! These things are not among Christ's teachings.