Pray for Priests (Good Shepherd Sunday)
Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Family of Parishes,
Today is “Good Shepherd Sunday,” celebrated every year on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Today we hear about the ministry of the shepherds of the Church, and we dedicate this day especially to praying for vocations to the priesthood, as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Each one of us has a role to play in raising up new generations of good and holy priests and consecrated religious. We all can approach young men or women and ask if they’ve ever considered a vocation. We can pray for them, and suggest their names to the parish priests or the diocesan vocation director. God calls us by name, and often the community sees something in someone before they themselves do.
We are also in need of men who are willing to step up and serve the church as permanent deacons. And above all, the Church needs holy and faithful marriages which embody Christ’s love for the Church.
While each of us is one of God’s sheep, we must not shirk our obligation in this world to be shepherds of our brothers and sisters. While we must be obedient and docile to God, we all have a responsibility to defend others courageously from the metaphorical wolves and robbers who have a significant influence in the world today. We are not only called to be sheep, but also to be other Christs, who shepherd, defend, and sacrifice, each in our own way.
God calls us on an adventure, and He offers us abundant life. If we look at ourselves and assess our lives, perhaps we have forgotten or neglected the invitation to adventure, to answer a higher calling. Everyday life can become routine, and if we simply go hurriedly from one thing to the next, we miss our eternal significance. Each action we take is a small mark on our character, for good or ill. If we decide to always say the truest thing, to always perform the most faithful action, to deliberately challenge ourselves to be our best, we will discover God’s adventure and can enjoy His abundant life.
Vocations exist to solidify a personal path to that abundant life that frees us from the limitations of the secular world. Consecrated religious men and women remind us of the reality of Heaven beyond this world: priests remind us of God’s presence and grace, deacons remind us of His service and sacrifice, and marriage symbolizes His faithful love. Each is an adventure, each is a calling, and each is a path to Heaven. Each is an aspect of Christ, the one shepherd, Who is the gate of eternal life.
Please pray especially for your priests, particularly for me! Here is a prayer for priests from St. Therese of Lisieux:
O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in Purgatory.
But above all, I recommend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.
O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.
In joy with Mary,
Fr. Henry Hoffmann
