Stereotypes are funny.

As a missionary priest, I almost never wear a traditional collar. The reason is fairly basic. In countless conversations with people I have found that it comes with too much baggage. Too many people have too many stereotypes in their minds regarding priests, and the collar seems to trigger all of the negative ones. Child molestor, terrorist, hypocrite, religious fanatic  -- I have heard them all.

So you can imagine the scene last week when I stepped onto the only elevator in the small hotel I was staying in. As the door opened and I began to step in, I heard a voice that jarred me from my daydreaming. There in the corner of the elevator, immediately in front of the control panel, stood an elderly Catholic priest dressed exactly as you would expect him to be.

"Going up, young man?"

Without thinking at all, I looked up to see the person whose deep, commanding voice startled me. Before I could look into his eyes, though, my eyes automatically stopped at his collar. And before I could direct my thoughts in a rational way, my mind raced along the predetermined path of stereotypical thought:

"Going up? Up where? Does he mean up to the fourth floor where my room is? Or does he mean up to heaven? Of course I am going up. Is he going up? He ought to be more concerned about where he is going..."

Then I just started laughing. "Yes, sir," I said. "I am. How about you? Which way are you going?"

"I am, too," he replied. After a short pause, he then added, "I just wish everyone was."

"Yeah, me too," I sighed.

Just then, the elevator door opened and we each went our own way. Two priests, one with a collar and one without, both wanting everyone they meet to realize that the stairway to heaven doesn't go all the way up and that the only way to get there is by faith in Jesus Christ.