The Jubilee of Priests is an opportunity to celebrate the joy of the priesthood.
PRAYER
Almighty and ever-living God,
look with mercy on your priests,
and unite them with your Son, the Lord Jesus,
who is the eternal High Priest.
Your Son has made them priests and victims with Himself:
day by day, may they offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice
with their own offering of heart, mind and body.
By the Holy Spirit, make them shepherds after the heart of Jesus;
keep them devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and united in obedience to the Pope and their Bishop;
and through them inspire young men to serve you in the priestly vocation.
To you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
(Adapted from the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy)
TEACHING
From Pope Francis’ Address to the International Theological Symposium on the Priesthood (17 February, 2022):
“A priest needs to have a heart sufficiently “enlarged” to expand and embrace the pain of the people entrusted to his care while, at the same time, like a sentinel, being able to proclaim the dawning of God’s grace revealed in that very pain. Embracing, accepting and showing his own impoverishment in closeness to the Lord is the best means to learn gradually how to embrace the neediness and pain that he encounters daily in his ministry, and thus to be conformed ever more closely to the heart of Christ. That, in turn, will prepare the priest for another kind of closeness: closeness to the people of God. In closeness to God, the priest grows in closeness to his people; and conversely, in closeness to his people, he experiences closeness to his Lord. And this closeness to God – this gets my attention – is the first task of Bishops, for when the Apostles “invented” deacons, Peter explained their role and said: “But we” – the Bishops – “will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (cf. Acts 6:4). In other words, the first task of a Bishop is to pray; and a priest must take this up as well: to pray.”
From the Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis (Pope Paul VI, 1965):
“2. The same Lord, however, has established ministers among his faithful to unite them together in one body in which, “not all the members have the same function” (Rom 12:4). These ministers in the society of the faithful are able by the sacred power of orders to offer sacrifice and to forgive sins, and they perform their priestly office publicly for men in the name of Christ. Therefore, having sent the apostles just as he himself been sent by the Father, Christ, through the apostles themselves, made their successors, the bishops, sharers in his consecration and mission. The office of their ministry has been handed down, in a lesser degree indeed, to the priests. Established in the order of the priesthood they can be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission entrusted to priests by Christ.
“In the measure in which they participate in the office of the apostles, God gives priests a special grace to be ministers of Christ among the people. They perform the sacred duty of preaching the Gospel, so that the offering of the people can be made acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Through the apostolic proclamation of the Gospel, the People of God are called together and assembled. All belonging to this people, since they have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, can offer themselves as “a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing to God” (Rom 12:1). Through the ministry of the priests, the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is made perfect in union with the sacrifice of Christ. He is the only mediator who in the name of the whole Church is offered sacramentally in the Eucharist and in an unbloody manner until the Lord himself comes. The ministry of priests is directed to this goal and is perfected in it. Their ministry, which begins with the evangelical proclamation, derives its power and force from the sacrifice of Christ.”
TESTIMONY
“Some of the greatest joys of being a priest is journeying with people in the most precious moments of their lives, be that at baptism, weddings or funerals, as well as the quotidian events that transpire in people’s lives.
“As a priest I feel privileged celebrating the sacraments, in particularly the Mass and reconciliation, and being edified by the deep faith of parishioners.
“Over the years I‘ve learnt the importance of patience, empathy and openness to those whom I serve; the generosity of the people of God; the importance of being present in people’s lives not just at church on a Sunday for an hour; and the importance that priests have in people’s lives.”
– Fr Olek Stirrat, Archdiocese of Adelaide (Text from The Southern Cross; image from Mt Gambier Parish)
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
For priests of Australia, that they may minister to all the people of God to the best of their ability, and trust in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in their lives to complete the good work God has begun in them.
We pray to the Lord.
For priests everywhere, that they might know the closeness of Jesus in their own lives, and be bearers of his loving presence to the people they serve and encounter in their ministry.
We pray to the Lord.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Pope Paul VI’s Decree on Priestly Training, Optatam Totius (1965).
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