"Let us look to Mary, the highly beloved daughter of the Father, endowed with every gift of grace, as the unsurpassed model for all those who follow Christ in love of God and service to their neighbor."
--Pope Francis, November 21, 2014
Father Gabriel, the pastor of St Francis Catholic Church, stopped by the hospital to give my father the anointing of the sick and a special blessing. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to him for a little while. He was telling me that he feels very blessed that he has a few retired priests that help him on Sundays with the six scheduled masses. He is the only priest assigned to St. Francis so that extra help frees his time so he can serve the parish in other ways: visit the sick, plan the parish festival that is coming up, prepare the church budget for the coming year and numerous other responsibilities that we don't realize our priests have.
Pope Francis proclaimed 2015 the Year of Consecrated Life. What an opportunity to thank our priests for everything they do for us. Unfortunately, the media only emphasizes the negative. But we have so many amazing priests in our parishes, humble men that gave their YES to God and live their vocations quietly and obediently. Most of the time, we only see our priests when we go to mass or confession. Many times we grade them by their speaking abilities. If they are great preachers, we try to find out at what time they are giving mass so we can go listen to their homilies. I'm the first one to admit that when I notice that the priest that is about to give the mass is the one that loves to talk and talk to the point that he puts me to sleep, I utter a silent complaint: "Oh no, this is going to be a long, boring mass." And then, I feel guilty because I know there is so much more to the mass than just the homily and there is so much more that our priests do and we don't see.
--Pope Francis, November 21, 2014
Father Gabriel, the pastor of St Francis Catholic Church, stopped by the hospital to give my father the anointing of the sick and a special blessing. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to him for a little while. He was telling me that he feels very blessed that he has a few retired priests that help him on Sundays with the six scheduled masses. He is the only priest assigned to St. Francis so that extra help frees his time so he can serve the parish in other ways: visit the sick, plan the parish festival that is coming up, prepare the church budget for the coming year and numerous other responsibilities that we don't realize our priests have.
Pope Francis proclaimed 2015 the Year of Consecrated Life. What an opportunity to thank our priests for everything they do for us. Unfortunately, the media only emphasizes the negative. But we have so many amazing priests in our parishes, humble men that gave their YES to God and live their vocations quietly and obediently. Most of the time, we only see our priests when we go to mass or confession. Many times we grade them by their speaking abilities. If they are great preachers, we try to find out at what time they are giving mass so we can go listen to their homilies. I'm the first one to admit that when I notice that the priest that is about to give the mass is the one that loves to talk and talk to the point that he puts me to sleep, I utter a silent complaint: "Oh no, this is going to be a long, boring mass." And then, I feel guilty because I know there is so much more to the mass than just the homily and there is so much more that our priests do and we don't see.
Even though we have not consecrated our lives to God the way religious persons have, each one of us is called to serve God. Every time we are dismissed from mass we are instructed to "go and serve the Lord." "Each member of the faithful shall be led in the Holy Spirit to the full development of his own vocation in accordance with Gospel preaching, to sincere and active charity and to exercise that liberty with which Christ has set us free. (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 6)." And our priests can help us immensely in this task, if we allow them to guide us in discerning what God wants from us. "The Pastor fulfils his role precisely when he guides and protects his flock and sometimes prevents it from scattering. Sustained by a sincere desire for the salvation of each believer, he is particularly precious and necessary, also in our time. If the aim is to spread the message of Christ and to lead men and women towards a saving encounter with him, so that they may have life, then the task of guiding appears as a service lived in pure giving, for the edification of the flock in truth and holiness, often going against the tide, and remembering that he who is greater must act as the lesser, and he who governs as he who serves (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 27). Jesus' way of governing was not through dominion, but in the humble and loving service of the Washing of the feet, and the kingship of Christ over the Universe is not an earthly triumph, but reaches its highest point on the wood of the Cross, which becomes a judgement for the world and a point of reference for the exercising of that authority which is the true expression of pastoral charity."
--Pope Benedict XVI, "The Essential Task of a Priest: Authority and Hierarchy in the Church--Service Lived in Pure Giving," General Audience, May 26, 2010
Let's make it a point to seek our priests for their valuable spiritual guidance and let's not forget to thank them for the service they provide to us.
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