Thursday, May 23, 2013

Father We Need You: For Our Priests. By: C.C.

"No one is more relevant today than a priest who understands his role as the servant of the Word; as one who can give us God under the form of bread and wine." (Catherine Doherty)




   Father, thank you. Thank you to all of you priests who have said yes to The Lord. Those of you who have espoused the Church with reverence, humility, and the deep desire to care for your flock.    Thank you for the hours in hospitals beside our dying relatives. Thank you for the presence at the most joyful times of our lives; from the wedding day celebrations to the Sacraments of our children. You have been so persecuted, it is you because you aid in bringing us the Body and Blood of Christ.

      Do not relent in your walk because we are most in need of you. We are most in need of you to live the faith with conviction and love. We need you to never forget the immensity of your role in the Church. We need you to remember Who it is you serve. As you lead others to The Lord never forget your impact. In times that you may doubt, turn most fervently to our Lord and our Lady in order to obtain all that you need. The reality of your humanity and brokenness only serves to show us the immense power of God. Your human hands serving us the Divine Gift at every Mass presents to us the mystery of God's love.
    You may never know on earth what you are storing in Heaven. You may never see the tears of comfort shed by the faithful after the words spoken from grace in your confessionals. You may never know the immensity of how you show us Christ, or the way in which your homilies, your kindness, and your joy has soothed us.  You may never know the amount of prayers offered for you and your vocation. You do not know this so that you will remain humble. You are often deprived of such affirmation so that you will throw yourselves time and time again to the foot of the Cross, and into the heart of Our Blessed Mother; finding in this more than what speech and words of thanks could ever offer you. It is in this way that you will best serve the Church, by drawing near to the Lord in all things, in all times, despite the difficulties faced.
   It is important that you also support one another. We call you Father, but to one another you are brothers. You are brothers who have responded to the same call, to serve the same God through the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Regardless of religious order, spiritual preferences, and ethnic backgrounds you are one as the Church is one. You should seek always to serve the Universal Church upholding doctrine, discipline, dogma, and one another. 
   You are called to pray for one another, to forgive one another, and help each other. Pray fervently for your fallen brothers that they may be strengthened in moments of disbelief and weakness. And pray for us. Pray for the laity that strive to serve the Church by praying for you and your vocation. Pray for the fallen. It is your witness that encourages our strength to live lives of purity, chastity, of obedience, and of sacrifice. It is you who shows us Christ. It is through your surrendered, humble, and ordained hands that we can feast upon the Body and Blood of Christ. We need you. (C.C.)  
      
    
     

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