Love For Priests

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4).

St. Paul says this to the Ephesians, and in the Letter to the Hebrews, we're told, “He is a man chosen from among men, and appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Heb. 5:1).

All baptized persons can apply to themselves the words of St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus: “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

Through Baptism and Confirmation, all the Christian faithful belong to “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people” (1 Pet. 2:9).

Lumen gentium of the Second Vatican Council says, “The baptized, by regeneration and anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that through all the works of Christian men they may offer spiritual sacrifices.”

By their sharing in the priesthood of Christ, the faithful take an active part in the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Altar.

They sanctify the world through their secular tasks, sharing in the one mission of the Church by means of the different vocations they have received from God.

Housewives, for example, sanctify the various aspects of motherhood and related duties. Sick people are called to offer up their suffering lovingly to God. Each one makes a pleasing offering to God of his daily tasks and circumstances.

From the ranks of the faithful, all of whom have this common priesthood, some are called by God, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, to exercise the ministerial priesthood. This second priesthood builds upon the first one, but they are essentially different.

By means of the consecration received in Holy Orders, the priest becomes an instrument of Jesus Christ, to whom he offers his entire being, in order to bring the grace of Redemption to all mankind.

We're told in the Letter to the Hebrews, “He's a man chosen from among men and appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

St. Josemaría asks, “What is the priest's identity? That of Christ,” he says.

“Each one of us Christians can and should be not just any other Christs, but Christ himself: ipse Christus! But in the priest this happens in a direct way, by virtue of the sacrament” (Josemaría Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 38).

Our Lord, who is present among us in many ways, is also particularly in the person of the priest. Every priest is a great gift of God to the world. He is Jesus, who goes about “doing good” (Acts 10:38); he cures illnesses, he brings peace and joy to men's minds.

The document of the Second Vatican Council on the priesthood says he is “the living instrument of Christ” in the world (cf. Vatican II, Presybyterorum ordinis, Point 12, December 7, 1965).

St. Josemaría adds that he offers Our Lord “his voice, his hands, his whole being” (J. Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 39).

At Mass, the priest renews in the person of Christ the redemptive Sacrifice of Calvary itself. He makes Christ's Redemption present and effective within history.

Pope St. John Paul, in talking to the clergy of Brazil, reminded them that Our Lord “identifies himself with us in such a way in carrying out the powers he conferred upon us, that it is as if our personality disappears before his, since it is he himself who acts through us. … ‘It is Christ who…changes the substance of bread and wine into his Body and Blood at Mass’ (J. Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 39). And it is Jesus himself who, in the sacrament of Penance, utters the authoritative and fatherly words: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ (Matt. 9:2).

“It is he who speaks when the priest, carrying out his ministry in the name and in the spirit of the Church, announces the Word of God.

“It is Christ himself who cares for the sick, for children and sinners, when he enfolds them with the love and pastoral care of the sacred ministries” (John Paul II, Homily, July 2, 1980).

A priest is of more value to mankind than the entire material universe. It's incumbent upon us to pray constantly for the holiness of priests, helping them and sustaining them with our prayer and our affection. We have to see Christ Himself in them.

The priest is the steward or dispenser of the mysteries of God. Christ selected the apostles, not only as messengers, prophets, and witnesses, but also as His own representatives.

This new identity, to act in the person of Christ, must be expressed in a life which is simple and austere, a holiness which inspires a wholehearted dedication to the welfare of others.

Our Lord in the Gospel sent His disciples and “gave them authority over the unclean spirits.” He told them to take a staff for their journey, but nothing else: “no bread, no haversack, no money in their wallets” (cf. Mark 6:7-8).

God takes possession of the man that He calls to the priesthood and consecrates him to the service of his fellow men, and bestows upon him a new personality.

Once he has been chosen and consecrated to the service of God and others, he's not just a priest at certain moments only, while he's carrying out certain sacred functions.

One spiritual writer says, “He is a priest always and at every moment, whether he is performing the highest and most sublime office or the most vulgar and humble action of his ordinary life.

“Just as a Christian cannot leave aside the fact that he is a new man, that Baptism has given him a particular character, and act ‘as if’ he were just a man purely and simply, neither can the priest leave aside his priestly character and behave ‘as if’ he were not a priest.

“Whatever he does, whatever attitude he adopts, whether he likes it or not, it will always be the action or the attitude of a priest, because he is a priest always and at all times down to the very depths of his being, whatever he may do or whatever he may think” (Federico Suarez, About Being a Priest).

The priest is a messenger from God to the world, sent to announce to mankind its salvation, and is constituted, as St. Paul says, “a steward” or dispenser “of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).

That's a great responsibility. Those mysteries include the Body and Blood of Christ, which he offers the faithful at Mass and at Holy Communion. It includes the grace of God in the sacraments, and the divine word which he utters in preaching, in catechesis, and in Confession.

To the priest has been confided the most divine of divine works, the salvation of souls. He has been made an ambassador and a mediator between God and men.

St. Josemaría says, “It warms my heart to think of the quiet human and supernatural dignity of those brothers of mine, scattered throughout the world. It is only right that they should now feel themselves surrounded by the friendship, help, and affection of many Christians.

“And when the moment comes for them to enter God's presence, Jesus will go out to meet them. He will glorify forever those who have acted on earth in his Person and in his name. He will shower them with that grace of which they have been ministers” (J. Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 50).

We could meditate in the presence of God on how well we pray for priests, how we treat them, how grateful we ought to be to them for having responded positively to Our Lord's call, and how we help them to persevere and to be saints.

In your parish it may be good to know the birthdays of your parish priests and assistant priests, or to invite them for dinner some time, or to know the anniversary of their ordinations, or have some little details of affection with them of kindliness, openness, which can be very encouraging.

St. Josemaría says, “Let us ask God Our Lord to give all of us priests the grace to perform holy things in a holy way, and to reflect in every aspect of our lives the wonders of the greatness of God” (Ibid., Point 39).

We're told in Scripture, “So they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them” (Mark 6:12-13).

Priests are, as it were, an extension of Our Lord's Sacred Humanity, because they continue to perform in souls the same miracles which He Himself did while He was on earth: the blind see, people who can scarcely walk recover their strength, and those who have died through mortal sin recover the life of grace through the sacrament of Confession.

The priest does not seek worldly compensations or the enhancement of his reputation. Nor does he measure his task according to this world's scale of values.

His task is not that of an arbitrator of differences—Our Lord said, “Who made me a judge among you?” (Luke 12:14)—nor of caring for people's material welfare: that's a job for every Christian and for any man of goodwill, whereas the priest's role is to bring people eternal life. That's what he has to offer.

It’s also what the world needs most. That's why we have to pray to God that the Church will always have enough priests, priests who are really trying to be holy. Each one of us has to ask for and encourage priestly vocations, if possible, among members of our own families: children, brothers, cousins.

One of the greatest graces that God can give to any family is the vocation of one of their children. It can be a great joy for a family if God blesses them with the gift of a vocation.

The laity therefore have the very pleasant duty to help priests, especially with their prayer, so that they celebrate Mass with dignity and spend many hours hearing Confessions, eager to administer the sacraments to the sick and the elderly, and particularly keen to teach catechism and spread doctrine.

We pray that priests will always be very concerned for the upkeep of God’s House, and cheerful, patient, generous, friendly, and indefatigable workers in spreading the kingdom of Christ.

We have to be generous in contributing financially and helping their work in whatever way we can. And we should never speak badly of them. In the Furrow, St. Josemaría says, “One should speak about Christ's priests only in order to praise them” (J. Escrivá, Furrow, Point 904).

In The Way, he says that if sometimes we see faults and defects in our priests, we have to make excuses for them and behave “like the good sons of Noah, covering over their failings with the cloak of charity” (cf. J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 75).

I remember as a kid going to Mass in our local church and my mother remarking that the priest was so punctual for the 8:00 Mass on a Sunday morning that ‘you could set your watch by him.’

It's a rather interesting little comment that I still remember sixty years later. The example of virtue in the priest—order, punctuality—touches many people, and here we are talking about it.

All this can be another reason for us to help them with our good example and our prayer, and even, when it's opportune, perhaps with a correction which will be fraternal and filial at the same time.

To help us grow in love and veneration for priests, we can meditate on these words which St. Catherine of Siena places on Our Lord's lips.

She said, “I do not want the respect which should be given to priests to be in any way diminished, for the reverence which is shown them is not referred to them, but to me, by virtue of the blood which I have given them to administer.

“Were it not for this, you should render them the same reverence as lay people and no more. … You must not offend them; by offending them, you offend me and not them. Therefore, I forbid it and I've laid it down that you will not touch my Christs” (Catherine of Siena, Dialogue, as quoted in J. Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 38).

The Curé of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney, used to say, “What a great thing it is to be a priest. If I were to understand this fully, I think I would die” (Bernard Nodet, Jean-Marie Vianney, Curé d’Ars: His Thoughts, His Heart). St. John Paul II repeated those words, more or less verbatim.

God calls some men to this great dignity in order for them to serve their brothers. Nevertheless, “the salvific mission of the Church in the world is realized” or carried out, says John Paul II in Christifideles laici, “not only by ministers in virtue of the Sacrament of Orders, but also by all the lay faithful.”

Each one in his own profession and place in the world shines as a light in the world, says St. Paul (cf. Phil. 2:15).

“By virtue of their Baptism and their specific vocation,” says St. John Paul, “in the measure proper to each person, the lay faithful participate in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions of Christ” (John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles laici, Point 23, December 30, 1988).

Their participation is in no way limited to helping clerics, although sometimes they may do this. The real place of the laity is not the sacristy, but the family, business, fashion, sport…, fields of endeavor in which in their own right they have to try and bring to God.

The mission of the laity must lead them to imbue family, work, and the social order with the Christian principles that raise these areas of human living to the supernatural order and thus make them more human; the laity's business is the dignity and primacy of the human person, social solidarity, the sanctity of marriage, responsible freedom, love for the truth, respect for justice on all levels, the spirit of service, and the practice of mutual understanding and of charity.

The Curé of Ars says, “Precisely in order to exercise fully this prophetic, priestly, and royal function of Christ, the baptized need the help of the ministerial priesthood that confers the gift of divine life received from Christ, Head of the Body, in a privileged and tangible way. The more Christian and conscious people are of their dignity and of their vital role in the Church, the more urgently they feel the need for priests who are truly priests” (Bermard Nodet, Retreat at Ars).

In our prayer today we can ask Our Lord for holy, lovable, and learned priests who treat souls like precious jewels of Jesus Christ and who know how to give up their own personal plans for the love of others.

We can pray that they might have a great love for the Mass, the principal goal of their ordination and the center of their day.

We can pray that they might orient their best pastoral efforts, like the Curé of Ars, “towards the explicit proclamation of the faith, towards the forgiveness of sins and the Eucharist,” said St. John Mary Vianney (Ibid.).

God has placed the priest close to the lives of the men and women, so that he may be a dispenser of divine mercy.

“Hardly is a man born when the priest regenerates him in Baptism, confers a more noble, precious, and supernatural life on him, and makes him a son of God and of the Church of Jesus Christ” (cf. Pius XI, Encyclical, Ad Catholici sacerdotii, Point 18, December 20, 1935).

“The priest strengthens and prepares souls to undergo spiritual combat by means of Confirmation.

“When a child is just able to discern and appreciate the Bread of Angels, a gift from heaven, the priest feeds and fortifies him with this living and life-giving food.

“If a person has suffered the misfortune of falling from grace, the priest raises and reconciles him in the name of God through the sacrament of Penance.

“God may call him to found a family, to collaborate in the transmission of human life, and thereby increase the number of faithful on earth and ultimately, the ranks of the elect in heaven. The priest is present to bless his noble love and marriage.

“When the person is finally at the portals of eternity, he feels the need of fortitude and divine aid before appearing before the divine Judge. The priest anoints the failing members of the sick or dying Christian with the holy oils, and comforts him.

“The priest therefore accompanies the Christian throughout the pilgrimage of this life to the gates of heaven. He accompanies the body to its resting place in the grave with rites and prayers of immortal hope. Even beyond the threshold of eternity, he aids the soul with Christian suffrages [prayers and offerings] if there be need of further purification and alleviation.

“And so, from the cradle to the grave, the priest is always a guide, a solace, a minister of salvation, and a dispenser of grace and blessing at the side of the faithful” (cf. Ibid., Points 18-19).

It's a matter of justice for the faithful to pray each day for priests, especially for those who have the charge of providing for our own spiritual needs.

A good moment each week to pray for your priest is after you've received the sacrament of Confession. Perhaps one prayer could be to repeat the penance that you receive, for the holiness of that priest.

From the priest we receive the Bread of Angels and the pardon of our sins. St. Josemaría says the priest teaches us how to have recourse to Christ. He teaches us “to meet Christ in the loving tribunal of Penance, and in the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary, the Mass” (J. Escrivá, In Love with the Church, Point 43).

We unite ourselves to the prayers of priests and intentions which will habitually encompass the most pressing needs of the Church and of souls. We can venerate them with affection.

St. Ambrose says, “Since no one is as truly our neighbor as the person who has healed our wounds, may we love the priests seeing Our Lord in each one of them. Let us love the priests as we love our neighbor” (St. Ambrose, Treatise on St. Luke’s Gospel).

We can ask Our Lady, who had her great priestly soul manifested at the cross where she allowed her soul to be pierced by a spiritual sword, allowed her heart to be broken, that she might teach us all to grow in the priestly virtues and help all priests to do likewise.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

GD