Why be a priest?

Introduction

Brothers and sisters, on this day each year we hear the Lord Jesus describe himself as the Good Shepherd. The Church refers to this day as Good Shepherd Sunday and devotes herself to praying today in a special way for priestly vocations. In the Gospel, the Good Shepherd feeds, heals and guards his sheep. He leads them to good pasture. He develops a personal relationship with each sheep. He devotes himself to protecting and nurturing the life of the sheep and is prepared to give his life for this cause. The word pastor, a particularly American way of referring to priests, is, in fact, the Latin word for shepherd. The Good Shepherd means the Good Pastor means the Good Priest.

Jesus the Priest

Although we have many ministerial priests, there is only really one priest in the Catholic Church: Jesus Christ. As Priest, Jesus feeds, heals and guards the divine life within each human soul. He leads us to the pastures of heaven. He desires to have a personal relationship with each of us. Jesus’ priestly work reaches its high point on the Cross where He definitively reunites humanity with God. By reuniting humanity with God, Jesus enables humanity to once again relate to God not just in one moment, but for eternity. As Priest and Good Shepherd, Jesus gives his whole life to bring souls into union with God.

The Ministerial Priests

Our one High Priest, Jesus Christ, grants certain men a participation in his own priesthood through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Holy Orders makes a man the visible, sacramental presence of Christ the priest. Through his priests, Jesus Himself feeds, heals and guards the divine life in the souls of the faithful. Without ordained priests, our spiritual fathers and shepherds, we have no access to the Mass and sacraments. Through ordained priests, Jesus the Good Shepherd gives us access to God’s life and love.

For two thousand years, the Lord Jesus has not failed to provide shepherds after his own heart for his Church. On so many occasions I have been asked: why would a young man like you want to be a priest? I always respond: why would I not want to be a priest? There is no greater privilege than being used by the living God as an instrument for the salvation of souls. In imitation of Jesus the Good Shepherd, priests devote their whole lives to leading the faithful to heaven. Much of this work is hidden.

The principal means by which priests serve the faithful is prayer. The Church obliges each priest, under pain of mortal sin, to pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day for the faithful. The Liturgy of the Hours consists of five to seven different times of ritual prayer that, all together, takes between an hour and an hour and a half to complete. The Church expects priests to celebrate Holy Mass each day. Priests ought also to make time each day for personal prayer and devotions such as the rosary. Good priests will spend anywhere up to three hours every day in prayer for the souls under their care.

Priests also serve the faithful through numerous apostolic activities. In this parish, your priests are available for confession each day, we baptise infants twice a month, we officiate at weddings, console the sick, and bury the dead. We provide counsel to troubled souls, prepare souls through catechesis to receive the sacraments of confession, Holy Communion, confirmation and marriage. We visit our school children and staff as often as possible, usually each week. We run numerous meetings and events to coordinate and plan the life of the parish. Priests are usually engaged in this apostolic activity six days a week, with Monday reserved for rest and recreation. It is quite usual for me to be engaged in prayer or apostolic endeavours for more than 12 hours a day - from before 9am to after 9pm. All to build up the divine life in souls.

Celibacy is a powerful aid in the priestly task. Through celibacy, the priest becomes a living road sign to eternity. Celibacy points us to heaven where we are married not to one man or woman but to God himself. The priest exists for one reason and one reason only: to lead souls to heaven. This means that the priesthood will only ever appear to be a life worth living to a person of faith. For someone who lacks faith, the priesthood will seem like a waste of a life precisely because it is a life entirely devoted to the mysteries of faith: God and life with Him in heaven. To someone with faith, there is no greater purpose to which one can dedicate one’s life.

Encouraging Priestly Vocations

As people of faith, we must not merely value the priesthood as something good and necessary in itself. We must encourage and support the young men in our lives – our brothers and friends, sons and grandsons – to prayerfully consider the priestly vocation. Moreover, we ourselves will pray for priestly vocation – not as some general, vague prayer: Lord, raise up priests for your Church out there! – we will pray for priests from our families and from our parish. If we want priests in our parishes, then we must be prepared for God to call our sons to the altar. If we knock, the Lord promises to give.

Conclusion

Let us pray together to our Blessed Mother, the Mother of Christ and the Mother of Priests, to raise up from our parish a new generation of priestly vocations. Let us kneel. Hail Mary.