The Year for Priests
Jesus In a year dedicated for priests, for their sanctification and renewal, it is good to ponder the foundation of all priestly vocations: Jesus’ eternal priesthood. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us of the words of St. John Vianney, whom the pope recently made patron of all priests: “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” Jesus fills our need for a great high priest, who is worthy to meditate before God for us and reconcile us to Him.  The Old Testament priests foreshadowed the High Priest who was to come, but their sacrifices were imperfect and could not take away our sin.  Jesus, like all priests, was called to His priesthood by God.  Unlike Levitical priests, Christ could approach God sinlessly as our mediator, and in his sinlessness, be our sacrifice. At every Mass, our priests continue to raise before God Jesus’ eternal sacrifice. We, as a Church, need Christ, His priesthood and His priests, who continue God’s work of redemption on earth.
St. John Vianney St. John Vianney, patron saint of all priests, said he owed a debt of gratitude to his pious mother, who encouraged his vocation to the priesthood.  A mother’s example is powerful, he said, “Virtues go easily from mothers into the hearts of their children, who willingly do what they see being done.” His heavenly mother Mary also could be given credit for the future French saint’s vocation.  The saint developed a love for her during his earliest years. Several priests gave him their heroic example by secretly administering his first sacraments during the French Revolution, when the government persecuted Catholics. One parish priest in particular encouraged St. John Vianney, who struggled with his seminary studies.  The priest saw the young man’s holiness, tutored him and refused to give up on him. Is God reaching out to young people through you?
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI was formed within a devout Catholic family and parish.  This upbringing fostered a deep appreciation of the beauty of Church liturgy.  He grew to love knowledge – knowing God, Sacred Scripture and theology. The light he found in his faith was a beacon in the dark world of Nazi Germany.  Pope Benedict said the Nazi regime “loudly stated: In the new Germany there will be no more priests, there will be no more consecrated life, we do not need these people; look for another career. However, it was precisely in hearing these loud voices, in facing the brutality of that system with an inhuman face, that I realized that there was instead a great need for priests. “This contrast, the sight of that anti-human culture, confirmed my conviction that the Lord, the Gospel and the faith were pointing out the right path…” The pope urges youth today “to be attentive to the Lord’s gestures on our journey,” through events, people and encounters.  He also said we need to develop a real, personal friendship with Jesus, “where we can begin to understand what he is asking of us.”
Archbishop George Lucas We would not have Archbishop George Lucas without the priest who brought his parents together.  And he owes his priestly vocation to the many priests his parents introduced him to. According to Archbishop Lucas: “My parents were introduced by a priest.  Growing up there were always priests around. From the time I was old enough to know what a priest was, I wanted to be one. There were times when I wondered whether or not I would be able to become a priest, but I always wanted to be one.”
Fr. Paul Wangaih The weekend of August 8-9, Fr. Paul Wangaih from the Archdiocese of Mombasa is here to tell us about their work in Kenya. The Mau Mau were a militant African nationalist movement active in Kenya during the 1950s whose main aim was to remove British rule and colonists from the country. The colonial government responded militarily and tens of thousands of Kenyans were killed. During this period, Fr. Wangaih saw the suffering of his people and felt God was calling him to the priesthood to serve his people. In 1955 his diocese was run by missionary priests who would not take him as a seminarian. At that point he gave up and thought he would do something else.  But the call continued to follow him everywhere he went. Finally, ten years after he had finished school, the doors opened that allowed him to begin his studies and become a priest. That call to help those suffering has been fulfilled as a Hospital Chaplain ministering to those suffering from HIV and AIDS.
Pope John Paul II Jesus’ followers need an open heart, willing to follow wherever He leads. Pope John Paul II had this heart of an apostle then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in his homily at the pope’s funeral. “Follow Me – as a young student, Karol Wojtyla was thrilled by literature, the theater and poetry. Working in a chemical plant, surrounded and threatened by Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the Lord: Follow Me! In this extraordinary setting he began to read books of philosophy and theology and then entered the clandestine seminary…” Pope John Paul continued to heed the Lord’s call the rest of his life – in leaving the academic world he loved to become a bishop and again to become the shepherd of the Universal Church. Finally, Pope John Paul followed Jesus into the paschal mystery. He increasingly entered into communion with Christ’s suffering and death to fulfill the Father’s will and enter into the joy of the resurrection. Jesus is calling each of us. Are you willing to follow?   Vocations grow in an atmosphere of deep prayer. Pope John Paul II described this influence in his own life: “After (my mother’s) death, and later, the death of my older brother, I was left alone with my father, a deeply religious man. Day after day, I was able to observe the austere way in which he lived. By profession he was a soldier, and after my mother’s death, his life became one of constant prayer. … His example was in a way my very first seminary, a kind of domestic seminary.”

Friday, August 21, 2009 08:27 PM