Priests: ‘Pencils in the hand of God’
By Bp. James V. Johnston, Jr.
“He then went up the mountain and summoned the men he himself had decided on, who came and joined him.”--Mk 3:13
The Year for Priests
This past March, Pope Benedict announced that this coming year would be celebrated as a Jubilee Year for Priests. The Year for Priests coincides with the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests.
The orientation of the year will be toward the “spiritual perfection” of the Church’s priests; that all priests might be renewed in a thirst for holiness which leads to a more fruitful effectiveness in their ministry and mission. The Jubilee Year for Priests will begin June 19, 2009, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the day for the sanctification of priests, and will conclude on June 19, 2010.
Most priests will tell you that their call from Christ is still shrouded in mystery, the mystery of God’s love. My sense is that the original priests, the 12 Apostles, would tell you the same. How is it that Jesus Christ, with a brother’s love, chooses some men to be with him and join him in carrying out this most important mission, the salvation of souls? A priest spends his life marveling at this mystery of God’s love and plan in his own particular life’s story.
Most priests will also readily admit that their effectiveness and any good they do, is due to the Lord Jesus, and his grace at work within them. To borrow the words of Blessed Mother Teresa, we are simply “pencils in the hand of God.” However, priests and laity alike know that a priest’s effectiveness is multiplied by his own sanctity and desire for holiness. Holiness is nothing other than the presence of God in a man’s life. If it is present, the priest radiates a witness that is compelling because it is truly authentic and real. This is what the Holy Father is calling the entire Church to attend to and to pray for in this Jubilee Year for Priests.
In his address announcing the Jubilee Year, Pope Benedict said priestly ministry consists of a total adherence to the Church’s tradition of participating “in a spiritually intense new life and a new lifestyle which was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and which the apostles made their own.” The Holy Father underlined the necessary and “indispensable struggle for moral perfection which must dwell in every authentically priestly heart.” Certainly, the priest himself must take this part of his vocation with utmost seriousness. But, it is also imperative that all of the faithful aid their priests with prayer and encouragement. With that in mind, I have directed that our priests and our parishes participate in this jubilee year in several concrete ways.
Holy Hours for vocations to the priesthood and for priests
In the Gospel, when Jesus spoke of the need for vocations (it seems there was a need from the beginning), he said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Mt 9:37-38). The obvious implication is that we must pray to God for an awakening in the hearts of our youth to the Lord’s call to labor for the harvest. If we want vocations to the priesthood, we must continue to pray to the One who calls us, pure and simple.
Beginning the week of June 19, 2009, and each week thereafter for a year, each parish in our diocese will be responsible for one week of the year, during which there will be at least one holy hour, including solemn exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, for the purpose of begging the Lord of the harvest to send us new laborers for the harvest. The holy hour will also be for the continued sanctification of all of our priests during the jubilee year. These holy hours can take place at any time during the parish’s appointed week. I have asked, if at all possible, that once the parish schedules its holy hour that this be forwarded to The Mirror so that it can be published in advance, so that those faithful outside the host parish may come and participate in the holy hour. The scheduled week for each parish has already been set. (Prayers for the holy hours and other events can be found by going to the US of Catholic Bishops’ Web site, usccb.org, and clicking on the Year for Priests icon.)
Priests’ column in The Mirror
To highlight the gift of the priesthood, we will also feature a regular guest column by a priest of our diocese, reflecting on the gift of the priesthood from the perspective and the lived experience of our own priests. These articles will be opportunities for all the faithful of our diocese to learn about the remarkable lives that our priests lead, and the amazing way that God has touched them and others through the priesthood.
It is my hope that these holy hours will impress upon us all how the work of encouraging and praying for vocations is everyone’s responsibility, and that through these priests’ columns we might grow in our appreciation for the priesthood and for our priests.
May the Lord bless our priests with a renewed holiness, and grant our prayers that he stir the hearts of a new generation of young men to respond to Jesus’ summons to come and join him in the great work of salvation.
I offer the following prayer, and invite all of the faithful of the diocese to pray this for our priests throughout the Jubilee Year for Priests:
Dear Lord, we pray that the Blessed Mother wrap her mantle around your priests and through her intercession strengthen them for their ministry. We pray that Mary will guide your priests to follow her own words, “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary’s most chaste spouse. May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the cross. May your priests be holy, filled with the fire of your love seeking nothing but your greater glory and the salvation of souls.
Amen.
St. John Vianney, pray for us.
Copyright © 2009 The Mirror
BISHOP AND SEMINARIAN--Bp. James V. Johnston and Joseph Kelly, seminarian for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, posed for a photo at the Episcopal Installation of St. Louis' Abp. Robert J. Carlson on June 10, 2009. Kelly is a student in Kenrick-Glennon Seminary (College). (Photo by Jay Nies)
