Are you in the habit of praying for your priest? They need your payers, for God has entrusted them with a great responsibility as well as a great honour. St Laurence Justinian says that "the sacerdotal dignity is great, but so is the burden." He says that because "priests have been raised to so high a degree of honour, that they must be sustained by great virtue, for without this virtue, instead of receiving great merit, they will receive great punishment."
Priests are called to greater sanctity than seculars, for God has called them to the sublime ecclesiastical state which demands greater perfection from them. According to St Augustine, when a priest is ordained, he places upon himself the obligation of being holy. St. John Chrysostom tells us that "priests should be so holy that all may look to them as models of sanctity; because God has placed them on earth that they may live like angels, and be luminaries and teachers of virtue to all others."
When we consider how God kept the Blessed Virgin Mary free from the slightest stain of sin, because she was to carry the Incarnate Word of God in her womb, it makes sense that God would also want his priests, whose hands daily touch the flesh of the Son of God, to be spotless as well. St. Alphonsus de Liquori call priests mirrors in which seculars should view themselves.
What an incredible responsibility it must be to be a priest! The least we can do is to show them the respect due to their divine office and to pray for them, that God will sustain them in His grace, that they may carry out their holy ministry with heavenly perfection.
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Well said!
According to my priest, the sacrament of Baptism is just as important as Holy Orders...so the priesthood does not bestow higher dignity on any person. Hmmm....
So, can I go celebrate the Mass? I'm sure Paramedicgirl wouldn't mind being my deaconess and everyone else can be Extraordinary Ministers!
*Sigh*
Trevor, your priest may think he is being humble by equating the dignity of the priesthood with that of baptism, but there is a huge difference. Priests are chosen by God among many and called to the divine office that is higher than that of angels.
I have read before that angels bow before a priest, because of his sacred ability to call down the Son of Man upon the altar. Think about it - even a priest in mortal sin has the power to call Jesus from heaven during the consecration at Mass.
And not angels, nor even the Blessed Virgin has the power to absolve man from their sins. Priests are an instrument of salvation. Without them, where would we be? It is for these reasons that they are called the light of this world.
I need to pray for my pastor more. He has a huge flock to oversee (2,000 families and growing).
But I could be wooed away by the Off-Handed Church of St. Trevor. :-D
i do pray for priests. they need it!
Aquinasavio,
What your priest believes is the Lutheran view of the priesthood of all believers. According to Luther, the power of the keys belongs to the laity and clergy equally. This means you and I can hear confessions and forgive even mortal sins!
Of course Luther had to create this because when he left the Church, being only a priest, the Lutherans had no Apostolic Succession, so they had no authority or power to consecrate the Eucharist, nor did they have the power of the keys. So he created this "new" doctrine.
So your priest is following Luther, the arch-heretic of the Church.
Yes, we must pray for our priests.
"Lord give us priests, O Lord give us many priests, O Lord give many holy priests!"
prayed before Mass on Sunday at the end of the Rosary in every SSPX chapel around the world.
Dave
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