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Thursday, January 5, 2012

One Big New Year's Resolution: Pray for Priests!

While browsing the Catholic news sites I came across an interesting bit of news. Fr. Corapi has disappeared from the internet. His Black Sheepdog website is gone and he no longer has a presence on Facebook. Patrick Madrid posted a short comment hoping that Father has reconciled with his religious order, S.O.L.T. I echo that hope.

Thinking about Fr. Corapi brought to mind all the priests who have touched my life over the years: the priests who gave me the sacraments, heard my confessions, counseled me during crises, etc. I also thought about the priests who failed: those who preach heresy and dissent, the pastor who left to marry and the associate who left to immerse himself in the Dupont Circle lifestyle, the one who fled to the Episcopal priesthood, and the one who stole another man's wife and family before he went out the door.

Priests are every bit as susceptible to the temptations of the flesh as the rest of us. And, in fact, I once read that Satan has a special corps of shock troops to go after priests because a fallen priest often brings down others with him. As Jesus said, when the shepherd is struck, the sheep scatter.

So, all you concerned Catholics and others of good will, let us make one of our resolutions to pray and make sacrifices for priests. Many of them live lonely lives. They often are castigated by parishioners for their flaws and condemned for preaching the truth. A former pastor of mine carried a thank-you note around in his missal from a parishioner who had the wisdom and courtesy to be grateful. Wouldn't it be wonderful to write one note a month to a priest or minister who has made a difference in your life. That would truly make 2012 a year of favor from the Lord. Gratitude is one of those virtues (along with obedience, humility, and fear of the Lord) that provide the rockbed foundation of the spiritual life.

Excuse me, gotta go write a thank-you note to a priest.

Prayer for Priests
O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Son, and for the love of Him Who is the Eternal High-priest, have mercy on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the Bishop's hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.

O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely and desolate priests; for Thy young priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory.

But above all I commend to Thee 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 and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me or helped me and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly (mention name). O Jesus, keep them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

5 comments:

  1. A very good idea...to send a card to those priests who are suffering the white martyrdom...Fr. Christopher Vaccaro of Queen of Angels in Woodbridge comes to mind. He's a very solid, straight-shooting homilist.

    Those on the other end; I probably have known most of them, e.g. James Verrechia, et al. We've been at the STM Cathedral for 30 years. Many good priests, as Transitional Deacons, Parochial Vicars, etc. have been there...Fr. Whitestone, Fr. Roos, Fr. Fisher, Fr. Hathaway, Fr. Creagan, Fr. Walsh, Fr. Zuberbueler, Fr. Lundberg, Fr. Gripsover, Fr. Boaz...I could go on. They definitely need our prayers.

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  2. Excellent idea, superb idea!
    Thank you!
    I'll add a prayer for priests to my night prayers.

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  3. I just went to look up 6 priests I remember from high school/college and found out that 2 were dead, 2 were still working, and 2 had left the priesthood. WOW.

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  4. A priest friend of mine says there's no one deader than a dead priest (at least in the Roman rite) because he has no immediate family to pray for him and how soon others forget you. The priest who witnessed our marriage was a dear Benedictine. Your post reminds me that I should have Masses said for the repose of his soul. I will add that to my to-do list and also write his name in my adoration book so I remember to pray for him at our weekly adoration hour.

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  5. You reminded me that I should say my chaplet of St. John Vianney for priests today, and I did give a compliment to a priest today over a blog. That is a start.

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