A priest's wishlist...

Usually I get request from my friend-priests like:

...a full traditional Mass set...
...a new organ for the Church...
...a set of liturgical or spiritual books...
...money for church renovation or for scholars...

Pretty normal thing, right?

But wait till you see what this Pinoy priest, Fr. Santos Castillo of the Diocese of Joliet, wrote in his Multiply Account:

... just in case you are running out of ideas for gifts, this might help you get a better view.

Microsoft Office Publisher 2003 with Digital Imaging - Windows A01-00017. (I am hoping to get one of these to orgainze my poems and journals. Available in Best Buy. Price = $199.00) [Tech savvy, not bad.]

Instant Immersion German Deluxe Edition - Windows CS-199 (I want this to improve my German before I go for the World Youth day next year. Available in Best Buy. Price = $19.95) [Rosetta Stone is better.  Watch out for the rest...]

Inside a Thug's Heart Angela Ardis, With Tupac Shakur (This is a book of personal journals and poetry by Tupac Shakur, and an exchange with Angela Ardis, yeah you see it. I don't know why I want it; maybe because of its honesty. Available in Barnes and Noble. Price = $16.80)

Elk Lake Track Jacket, white color, medium size. (Good for the winter, since I think I need more casual jackets. Exclusive at Abercrombie and Fitch. Price = 79.50)

Adirondack Trail Jacket, khaki color, medium size. (I actually love this one for the winter. If I do not get it as a gift, I will definitely buy it, regardless. Exclusive at Abercrombie & Fitch. Price = $129.90)

A&F Reversible Striped Hat, red color. (I keep losing these things, so I buy a few every year. Price = $24.50)

HugOO Comfort Pillow #SR359BLK. (These are so much fun to have around in bed... especially if you're celibate like yours truly. Heheheee. Available in Sharper Image. Price = $24.95)

Sliding 8x18 Pocket Binocular with Flashlight & Leather Case AK308 (Great for any situation. No, they are not x-ray vision binoculars. I mean, like going to concerts and plays, and stuff like that. Available in Sharper Image. Price = $59.95)

Serendipity Red Bed-In-A-Bag by Wamsutta (This one I really need. I am sleeping on worn and torn bedsheets. I need the king size. It does not even have to be this brand, as long as it's nice. I think I like something dark red, you know.. maroon. Available in Bed, Bath and Beyond. Price = $299.00)

Is there any place where I can buy TIME? I need that badly too... so if anyone can hook me up, please hurry up.

***

Is this a priest or what?

Can I wish for a priest less inclined to things of this world?

And I thought the Year of the Priest and the example of St. John Mary Vianney inspired them to greater simplicity, dedication to one's vocation, and holiness...

*Sigh*

Beautiful words from the Holy Father about the priesthood

This was posted at EWTN's news site on June 11. But I had to repost it here since these are beautiful words from the Holy Father. I chose between the whole speech and this news article and I chose the latter one since it contains the highlights of the speech.

***

At the closing Mass of the Year for Priests on Thursday, Pope Benedict reviewed the purpose of the year, saying that he wanted the universal Church to appreciate and reflect on the priesthood, which shows the “audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings.” [Beautiful!] Because the Church focused on the good of the priesthood, the Devil reacted by inspiring the timing of the recent revelations of clerical sex abuse within the Church, the Pope said. [True right he is!]

“It was to be expected that this new radiance of the priesthood would not be pleasing to the 'enemy,'” the Pontiff explained, “he would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world.”

“And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light – particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God’s concern for our good, turns into its very opposite.” [It does not mean the Holy Father wants these sins swept under the rug.]

During his homily the Pope noted how the Year for Priests was celebrated to ensure “a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry.” [I hope all of our priests recognize this fact.  I know some who do not.  They are envious of their former seminary classmates who are now career executives.  So these priests run the school or the parish as if it were their own companies.  Some even try a hand at entertainment, maybe envious of the career that comedians and worship leaders like Don Moen has.]

“The priest is not a mere office-holder,” he noted. “Rather, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ's name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life.” [Beautiful!  The Holy Father tells us what the priesthood is all about!  I remember a saying that says:  a priest can do what a professor, scientist, lawyer even a king can do.  But none of those men can do what a priest can do.  Like what I have said before!  You do not need ordination to address issues of poverty, human rights, global warming, etc.!  Get back to the basics!]

“Over the offerings of bread and wine he speaks Christ's words of thanksgiving ... which open the world to God and unite it to Him. The priesthood, then, is not simply 'office' but Sacrament.” [Alter Christus!]

The fact that God confers Holy Orders on men demonstrates His “audacity” in entrusting Himself to human beings,” the Pope observed. Moreover, “this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'. ...This is what we wanted to reflect upon and appreciate anew over the course of the past year.”

Speaking on the desire for increased vocations, the Holy Father noted that we “wanted to reawaken our joy at how close God is to us ... we also wanted to demonstrate once again to young people that this vocation, this fellowship of service for God and with God, does exist.”

Reflecting on clerical sex abuse scandals and the failures of some within the priesthood to live according to the tenets of their ministry, Pope Benedict said that we “too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; and that in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make every effort to accompany priests along their journey.” [And I am pretty sure that SNAP, NYT and all the other anti-Catholic bashers would want more than just this.  Give them an arm and they ask for the leg.]

“Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events,” the Pontiff added. “But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God's gift, a gift concealed in 'earthen vessels' which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes His love concretely present in this world.” [A better appreciation of the divine nature of the Sacrament of Holy Orders and the human nature of the priests.]

“So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, His gift becomes a commitment to respond to God's courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility,” the Holy Father urged.

The Pope continued his homily by commenting on Psalm 23, which was one of the readings during the closing Mass.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” the Holy Father quoted from the Psalm. “God personally looks after me, after us, after all mankind. I am not abandoned, adrift in the universe and in a society which leaves me ever more lost and bewildered.” [The NYT and MSM know that they are fighting God's Church.]

“God wants us, as priests, in one tiny moment of history, to share His concern about people. As priests, we want to be persons who share His concern for men and women, who take care of them and provide them with a concrete experience of God's concern,” he underscored.

Commenting on the end of the Psalm, which references the “table set,” and “dwelling in the house of the Lord,” the Pope said, “we see a kind of prophetic foreshadowing of the mystery of the Eucharist, in which God Himself makes us His guests and offers Himself to us as food - as that bread and fine wine which alone can definitively sate man's hunger and thirst.”

“How can we not rejoice that one day we will be guests at the very table of God? ... How can we not rejoice that He has enabled us to set God's table for men and women, to give them His Body and His Blood, to offer them the precious gift of His very presence?” Benedict XVI asked the thousands of priests present.

***

The Year of the Priest is truly a blessing to the Church.  It makes us stop and think of what is the priesthood, who are priests...

Thank you very much Holy Father for this wonderful gift of the Year of the Priest.  May we be all renewed in spirit of this grace filled moment in the Church Militant's continuing journey.

Pope praises priests, anti Catholic media goes wild!

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI hailed priests on Sunday as gifts to the world for their generous and courageous work, in a speech that didn't mention the clergy sex abuse scandal.

"Dear friends, the priest is a gift from the heart of Christ, a gift for the church and the world," Benedict told faithful in St. Peter's Square."

"If we look at history, we can observe how many pages of authentic spiritual and social renewal have been written with the decisive contribution of Catholic priests, inspired only by passion for the Gospel and for man, for his true religious and civil freedom," he said. [AMEN!]

The pope's comments didn't mention the international scandal involving pedophile Catholic priests or the mishandling of that abuse by bishops and even Vatican officials. [ho-hum...]

Two days earlier, in a ceremony in the square capping three days of pro-priest rallies and prayers, Benedict acknowledged the scandal by begging forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse by priests and made a symbolic pledge to do everything possible to protect children.

In his remarks Sunday from his studio window overlooking the square, Benedict cited Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko, who was beatified in Warsaw on June 6 as a martyr during the Communist crackdown on the Solidarity freedom movement in Poland the 1980s.

Popieluszko, who was tortured and killed in 1984 by Polish secret police for championing Solidarity, "carried out his generous and courageous ministry next to all those committed to freedom, to the defense of life and its dignity," Benedict said.

Much of the momentum to rid the church of pedophile priests and bring them and those covering up for them to justice has come from faithful in the U.S. and Irish churches.

On Sunday, Benedict asked the faithful to "remember all priests in our prayers" and pray that God "keep them in his grace as faithful friends and ministers."

He also urged Catholics to support their pastors with "wise advice." [Wow!  Huge words!  Priests and bishops should remember that they are not the only ones giving out advice nor the only ones who should do the talking.  Most of the time, priests must learn to stop, look and listen.  Too much of the outside world, leaves the inner world too devoid of meaning and purpose.]

***

You know how the secular media headlined this news?

Pope praises priests, despite scandal.

So?  The pope cannot praise priests because of the scandal?  So is the majority of priests are sexual abusers?

If you go over to the Yahoo news page and read the comments on this particular news, you'll notice that thye anti-Catholic bashers are having a party.

If the Western media and anti-Catholics are really soooo into the protection of women, children and victims iof sexual abuse, tell me, where in the world are the news reports about sexual abusers in families, homes and even in other religious denominations?

Now there's journalistic objectivity for you folks!

Watch the Closing Mass of the Year of the Priest

Courtesy of Catholic TV.com

Martyred Polish priest Father Popieluszko beatified

Click here for the BBC News regarding the Beatification Mass of the newest Polish Blessed

Here's the CNA report of the event.

Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, a Polish priest and martyr who died in 1984, was beatified in Warsaw on June 6 in a ceremony attended by over 100,000 people.


The open air Mass and beatification ceremony was celebrated by 120 bishops and 1,600 priests in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square. Among them were Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow and Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit.

The Polish martyr’s 90-year old mother, Marianna Popieluszko, was also present for his beatification. [WOW!!! Just like in the case of St. Maria Goretti!]

In December of 2009, Pope Benedict declared the late Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko a martyr. An advocate for freedom, the priest was known for his “Masses for the Homeland” during the early 1980s, when Poland was severely oppressed by the communist regime and under martial law. Fr. Jerzy was also the chaplain of Lech Walesa’s Solidarity Movement, the first trade union to be acknowledged by the Soviets.

The 37-year-old priest was abducted by the Polish Secret Police in 1984, along with his driver. He was bound, gagged, beaten and stuffed in the trunk of a car. Though he tried to escape, he was beaten again before being shoved into a sack and thrown, alive, into the river. Fr. Jerzy's driver escaped to tell of his murder, yet his body was not found for almost two weeks.

His funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people who sought to demonstrate their defiance of the communist regime. [There is a grissly photo of the priest's body in the casket, dressed in red chasuble, available online.  I don't want to post them here though.]

Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, read Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Letter on the beatification of Fr. Jerzy in Latin to the thousands gathered for the ceremony, followed Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw who then read the letter in Polish.

Cardinal Amato also gave the homily during the celebratory Mass, in which he spoke of Fr. Jerzy’s courage and his dedication to the truth. Noting the way the priest was treated at the hands of the police, it would seem that he was a dangerous criminal, the prelate said.

However, Fr. Jerzy was simply a faithful priest who defended the Gospel which declared that mankind’s inherent dignity and freedom were not in line with Marxist principles. That is why the forces of darkness unleashed great lies, violence, oppression and evil against him, the cardinal added.

Emphasizing that Fr. Jerzy’s faith had a great impact on those around him, Cardinal Amato called the blessed martyr a heroic witness and an exemplary figure for priests at the end of this Year for Priests.

On Sunday, Pope Benedict also paused a moment during his Apostolic Visit to Cyprus. Before the Angelus, the Holy Father spoke in Polish, commemorating the Polish priest whose sacrificial ministry and martyrdom “are a special sign of the victory of good over evil.

BREAKING: Sad news of murder of Nuncio to Turkey!

Ankara, Turkey, Jun 3, 2010 / 10:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, was reportedly stabbed to death in Iskendurun, Turkey on Thursday by his driver, who also served as his aide.

According to Italy's ANSA news agency, Turkish police have detained the alleged killer and have not yet established a motive.

Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey, Archbishop Antonio Lucibello told the news agency that "from what I've learned, Bishop Padovese's driver, Murat, [a Christian according to a CNS news report] admitted his responsibility. It's strange because I've always seen this man as a very devoted person to Padovese and always obliging."

Fr. Federico Lombardi said through Vatican Radio that the "terrible" news of the loss of the president of Turkish bishops "leaves us deeply shocked" and "desperately sorry."

He remembered the bishop for his "great merits" in providing a witness to the Church's life in spite of difficulty in Turkey.

Bishop Padovese, a member of the Capuchin order, had been the Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia since 2004 after working in Rome for over a decade.

He "was a courageous person dedicated to the Gospel," said Fr. Lombardi, and his death, "which spontaneously brings to mind that of Santoro, shows us how the Church's witness in certain situations, may even be paid in blood ."

Fr. Santoro [at right] was killed four years ago in a church in Trabzon, Turkey while praying. [Remember that? Murdered while kneeling in prayer inside his church by a lunatic of the religion of peace?  The process for his beatification will be started soon as his death his viewed as a martyrdom, hatred for the Faith by those raving lunatics of the 'Religion of Peace'.]

The Vatican spokesman said that while the circumstances and motives surrounding the killing must be investigated to better understand what happened, regardless, his remains "a life donated for the Gospel."

"This fact, on the eve of a papal trip towards the Middle East, to encourage the Christian communities living in this region, lends an extraordinary intensity, helping us to profoundly understand the urgent need for the solidarity of the universal Church to support these Christian communities.”

Bishop Padovese was planning on going to Cyprus tomorrow to meet with the Holy Father and receive the working document for the coming Special Assembly of Middle Eastern Bishops in October.

***

Sad indeed.

Please say a prayer for the repose of the soul of the Apostolic Vicar...

Pray for our priests especially now that it is the First Friday of the month.

Prayer for Priests

by St. Therese of Lisieux

O Jesus, eternal Priest,

keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,

where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,

which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,

daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,

sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them and

shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit and

may the souls to whom they minister be their joy 

and consolation here and in heaven their beautiful 

and everlasting crown. Amen.

Year of the Priest in the Diocese of Kalookan

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez Jr. gives the holy communion to her mother Emilia as he leads a Mass at a hotel in Manila, May 28, 2010. The liturgical activity also highlighted the prelate’s silver jubilee in the episcopacy and his mother’s 93rd birthday.

***

I was invited to this event but had no chance since I had a long weekend in the province. But I heard that it was a very nice event. The mother of Bishop Deo although weakened by age still has the energy that a proud mother shows.

Parents of priests of the diocese were recognized during the event. Each were given a beautiful statuette of St. John Marie Vianney, the patron of priests.  A friend priest who is a pastor of the diocese showed me his.  Very nice once.  Sad thing I forgot to take a picture of it.

There are no big hotels in the city of Caloocan that is why was held in a new hotel in D. Jose in Manila.  Here is the news story about this.

***

MANILA, May 28, 2010— With less than a month before the closing of the Year of the Clergy at the Vatican, the Diocese of Kalookan paid tribute to the priests’ parents for being part in the formation of pastors working in the Lord’s vineyard. [It all begins at home!]

Coinciding with Bishop Deogracias Soriano Iniguez Jr.’s silver jubilee in the episcopacy and his mother Emilia’s 93rd birthday, the diocese presented plaques of appreciation to the parents of about 35 priests working within the Diocese of Kalookan, guest priests and priests from the diocese currently working in other dioceses and religious congregations.

In his homily, Fr. Teofilo Rustia, a classmate of Bishop Iniguez at the San Carlos Seminary, said the affair is a fitting tribute to the priests’ parents as the Year of the Clergy draws to a close in less than three weeks.

He said the Year of the Clergy was made more meaningful with the Second National Congress of the Clergy with Fr. Raniero Cantalamesa, the papal household retreat master.

“Fr. Cantalamesa told American priests gathered before the Second National Congress of the Clergy in Manila that the Holy Father has already allowed priests to marry,” Fr. Rustia said. [wait for it!]

He added the news was for priests aged 85 years old and above and should have parental consent. [HA!]

“In short, the simple message was ‘forget it’ because married life is not for priests because your faithfulness is anchored on the faithfulness of Christ,” he explained.

He underscored the value of parents in the formation of their children, some of whom have become priests.
“Where would we be without our parents?” he asked the congregation. [That is why the vocation of a married man and woman is just as vital as the vocation of the ordained because ALL vocations start within a family.  So bloom where you are planted!]

Fr. Rustia said he has been orphaned early in life and had the pleasure to have a mother in the person of Bishop Iniguez’s mother Emilia who turned 93 years old today.

“She regularly visited us in the seminary and brought us foodstuff,” he recalled. The priests and their parents had special photo sessions and were treated to an early lunch at Manila Grand Opera Hotel along Rizal Avenue and Doroteo Jose at Sta. Cruz district, this city. (Melo M. Acuna)

Pray the Rosary for priests

Sex scandals hurt image of priesthood, prelate says

Courtesy of CBCP News

***

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, May 4, 2010—The recent media play-up of sex scandals involving some priests and bishops across the globe has somewhat tainted and damaged the image of priesthood, according to a prelate.[This is the first time a Filipino bishop addressed this issue! As far as I could recall.]

Delivering his homily before a jam-packed Cathedral of St. Augustine in Cagayan de Oro on April 30 during the ordination of Bishop Jose Cabantan, Surigao Bishop Antonieto Cabajog said the media coverage of the issue have led some people to lose their faith and respect for the clergy. [Making mountains out of molehills.  But concrete steps must be undertaken to prevent this from happening.  But I digress.]

Cabajog lamented that people seemed to forget “that majority of the ordained ministers are serving seriously, wholeheartedly and joyfully the people of God.” [Bingo!  The magic word!] The anti-Catholic media who have an agenda to undermine the moral authority of the Church in society will attack the Church on this front.  Stay informed and know the facts.  There are those who will inflate a condom of lies, if I may use the term.]

“What adds great damage to the scandal is the irresponsible handling of the issue by people in the media and by some groups who are unsympathetic to the Catholic Church,” the prelate said.

Cabajog said the celebration of the “Year for Priests,” is an opportune time for the Church to acknowledge “in a special way the services of faithful and holy priests.”

He then cited the significant contribution of Bishop Jose Araneta Cabantan in the archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro serving in various capacities as a member of the clergy.

Fr. Joe, as called by his friends, served as parochial vicar, parish administrator, seminary formator and later on as vicar general of the ecclesial province and recently Director for the ad extra ministry of Cagayan de Oro.

“For more or less 20 years, Fr. Joe fulfilled his assigned tasks silently, diligently and lovingly and in spite of his high educational attainment and noble status in the archdiocese, Fr. Joe remains a simple, humble and faithful servant of God,” the prelate from Surigao said.

Cabajog said the people also recognized the sacrifices of priests in large and small parishes, in mission areas, in schools, in hospitals, in monasteries, retreat houses, the military and in other various ministries.

“For all shepherds of souls who, without counting the costs and with no personal interests, are serving God’s flock untiringly, thank you very much,” he added.

He said there is no better way to express the people’s gratitude to these dedicated priests than “to support them in their struggle towards spiritual perfection through our daily prayer for their sanctification.”

The prelate from Surigao said the “Year for Priests" provides the clergy the opportunity to make a personal, deep interior conversion in order to make themselves credible ministers of God’s people.

Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, the prelate said “the effectiveness of a priest’s ministry particularly depends on his spiritual strength.”

Cabajog said human weaknesses including laziness, mediocrity, selfishness, lust and pride [which are some of the seven deadly sins, which unfortunately are not being taught in Catechism classes nowadays.] could easily impede a priest’s desire to serve as the Church encourages all ordained ministers to “rekindle their ideals of the priesthood” and to “once again give their best efforts to observe the promises and vows they had made during their ordination day.”

Many have an inadequate or wrong understanding of priesthood as there are people who consider the priesthood as “a way of improving one’s status in life,” Cabajog said. [Ouch!  I know a lot some of them media hungry ones.  "Can you say good morning to the one seated beside you?"  I often suspect these types of priests who use the Mass as their own variety shows to have questionable lifestyles.  Okay before you even bring out your pitchforks and demand that I be burned at the stakes and call your own Torquemada, I know all of these priests.  Some of them struggling to stay faithful to their ministry and some are just plain too lukewarm.  They couldn't care less for what they do even if they live their flamboyantly scandalous lives right under their own parishioners noses.  Some are too scandalous, I would not dare post it here.  Thank God we do not have our own New York Times here, though the Philippine Daily Inquirer is trying to be one, attacking the Church at whim.  But these men should just go quietly and leave the ministry if they cannot be faithful to their vocation.  They do more harm than good to the Body of Christ.  Once again, before you demand for my head on the stake, I KNOW THESE MEN PERSONALLY.  Pray for them that they make the right decision in life.  The Church does not need another Maciel!]

They look at the priest as somebody who is economically rich, politically influential and socially high above the others, he added.

“There are also others who would like to reduce the priestly ministry to the dispensation of sacraments, while others would merely equate it with community leadership,” he emphasized. [Dispensation of the Sacraments is the primary reason for ordination.  No matter how Protestant pastors and clergy of questionable orders wave their hands or sprinkle buckets of water on you, all of these are not sacramental.  I am not against community leadership but as I always say, Basics First!  Some priests spend more time in the streets and in their offices and boardrooms rather than in the confessional or at the altar, then that is a red flag for the superior and/or bishop.  But I digress.]

He said during the “Year for Priests”, the people should increase their knowledge of the priesthood “in the light of the priesthood of Christ, who came not to be served but to serve because the priesthood of Christ is rooted in the love of God and is practiced by way of teaching, sanctifying and shepherding.”

Bishop Cabajog with the pope

 He further said Pope Benedict XVI used the words of St. John Vianney who once said “Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” [There is also a reason why St. John Vianney was made Patron of all Priests, because I believe the Pope wants all priests to be like St. John Vianney,  TO STICK TO THE BASICS!]

Cabajog said it is a fitting reminder for priests that in doing their ministry, they are to embody and carry the love of Jesus for his people and in this way, a priest is really to be called alter Christus or another Christ in the midst of God’s flock.

The prelate from Surigao said many would look at Bishop Jose Cabantan as someone going up the ladder of the hierarchy with his elevation to the episcopacy.

“[But] Bishop Joe, in the Christian community, you are actually going a step lower in order to serve more people,” Cabajog said.

***

Beautiful sermon!  Hope we can get the full text.

Huzzah to Bishop Antonieto Cabajog

Scenes from the 2nd National Congress of the Clergy

 

Priests praying the rosary on their knees. Models of piety!

 

"Mass" consecration

Relics of St. John Mary Vianney in Manila!

 In celebration of the Year of the Priest and the Second National Congress of the Clergy, the relics of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of priests, and on whose 150th Dies Natalis the Catholic world celebrates the Year for Priests, will be venerated.

 According to the Archdiocese of Manila website "A part of the body together with his stole and breviary relics of St. John Mary Vianney will arrive from France accompanied by two French priests."  I was hoping that his incorrupt heart was the one that arrived.  Well, just thank the Lord for the grace of having the relics of this great priest here in Manila.

The papal preacher, Fr. Raniero Cantalamesa, OFM, will speak during the National Congress.



The schedule of the relics’ exposition is as follows:

(January 23) Arrival at NAIA at 9:30 a.m., National Shrine of the Sacred Heart at 11 am;
(January 24); EDSA Shrine at 12 noon;
(January 25-29) 2nd National Congress of the Clergy at the World Trade Center;
(January 29) Sto. Niño de Tondo Parish at 12 noon;
(January 30) Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church/St. John The Baptist Parish at 12 noon; (January 31) St. John Mary Vianney Parish at 12 noon; and
(February 1) Departure at NAIA at 11:30 a.m.

***

Just a question.

St. John Mary Vianney spent his entire priestly life administering the sacraments.  If he were alive today, would he be appreciative of the fact that there are no priest for one week to offer the Holy Sacrifice, absolve sins and even be at the side of the dying?


You don't leave your home without making the proper provisions right?  Honestly, with the advancement in technology, few priests must remain in their dioceses and follow the proceedings online. Can this this be dome on a diocesan or regional level?  Imagine the cost for transportation and lodging of all the priests coming and Manila is no place to find anything affordable nowadays.  What if there is someone dying and he needs absolution?  Will I trust my soul to an EMHC?  DUH!

Buenasmarias shared this "Yes, I do understand their need for recollection, fraternal bonding, resting time with the Lord....but, can there not be at least one left in every parish?...I shudder to think of a situation where a priest is needed by a dying person...and there is no one to minister to him...isn't it more faithful to priestly vows.... being always available for the sacraments?"  Makes sense.

Just imagine...

What would the Cure of Ars say?

Beautiful Prayer for Priests

I found this beautiful prayer for the Year of the Priests in the website of the Archdiocese of Manila.

I would like to share this with all of you, dear TPC readers.

***

Act of Love of St. John Vianney [This is one of my favorite prayers]

I love You, O my God, and my sole desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O infinitely lovable God, and I prefer to die loving You than to live one instant without loving You.

I love You, O my God, and I do not desire anything but heaven so as to have the joy of loving You perfectly.

I love You, O my God, and I fear hell, because there will not be the sweet consolation of loving You.

O my God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to say it in every beat. Allow me the grace to suffer loving You, to love you suffering, and one day to die loving You and feeling that I love You. And as I approach my end, I beg you to increase and perfect my love of You.


Prayer to St John Marie Vianney

St. John Marie Vianney, your life was a complete offering to God for the service of all; we pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit we may all respond today, with courage to the challenges of our personal vocation.

You were an assiduous adorer of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Help us to approach the Holy Eucharist with faith and reverence, so that we may enjoy his abiding presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

You were a friend of sinners. You always reminded them: “Your sins are just like grains of sand in front of the great mountain of the mercy of God.” Loosen the bonds of fear that prevents us to approach the mercy of God: help us to be truly sorrow for our sins. Help us to discover the true face of God who always waits for the return of the prodigal son.

You were always a help to the poor: “My secret is simple; it is to give all and to keep nothing for myself.” Teach us to share with those who are in need, help us to be free from our attachments to money and to all false riches.

You were a loving child of the Blessed Mother, “your most lasting affection.” Teach us to turn to her with simplicity and confidence of a child.
You are now the example of pastors of the world. Let your pastoral charity lead the pastors of our times to discover the bond that unites all without discrimination of persons; give them the love for the Church, the passion for the apostolate, and the strength in the face of many difficulties.

Inspire our young people to understand the grandeur of the priestly ministry and the joy to embrace the call of the Good Shepherd.

Holy Cure of Ars, intercede for us. Obtain for us what we ask for in faith, especially the fruitfulness of the this Year for the Priests (mention your personal petitions), you are the humble and faithful pastor, ever faithful in the service of God and all. Amen


Lay person’s prayer for the Sanctification of Priests

Lord Jesus, through the intercession of St. John Mary Vianney, we your people pray to you for our priests. You have given them to us for our needs. We pray for them in their needs.

We know that you have made them priests in the likeness of your own priesthood. You have consecrated them, set them aside, anointed them, filled them with the Holy Spirit, appointed them to teach, to preach, to minister, to console, to forgive, and to feed us with Your Body and Blood.

Yet we know, too, that they are one with us and share our human weaknesses. We know too that they are tempted to sin and discouragement as we are, needing to be ministered to, as do we, to be consoled and forgiven, as do we. Indeed, we thank You for choosing them among us so that they understand as we understand them, suffer with us and rejoice with us, worry with us and trust with us, share our beings, our lives, our faith.

We ask that you give them this day the gift you gave your chosen ones on the way to Emmaus: Your presence in their hearts, your holiness in their souls, your joy in their spirits. And let them see you face to face in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread.

We pray to you, our Lord, through Mary the Mother of all priests, for your priests and for ours.

Holy Mary, intercede for your priests.
St. Joseph, protect them.
St. Michael, defend them.
St. John Mary Vianney, pray for them.

Amen.

***

Please include me and my family, and my brother who is a priest, in your prayers as I include you in mine especially during my Eucharistic Adoration.

Meditations for the Year of the Priest

Capuchin Friar Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Apostolic Preacher at the Vatican since 1980, will be starting the traditional Friday meditations for Advent in the Papal chapel, Redemptoris Mater, today. The subject of the meditations will be "Ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mystery of God."

Fr. Cantalamessa said that the series will "follow in line with the scope of Holy Father Benedict XVI's designation of the Year of the Priest..."

He said that the the meditations will "shed light on the original identity of 'the spirit of each priesthood,' returning to the foundation among all of the historic tasks and details taken on over the course of the centuries."

He added that the meditations will center around two biblical passages:

"Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. " (1 Corinthians 4:1) 

and

"Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. " (Hebrews 5:1)

***

Hmm...

Nothing about politics and about environmental protection...

"to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."  Hmmm... another nail on the coffin of Liberation Theology and Participative Liturgy?

Hmm...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED GIFT FOR PRIESTS

If you are looking for a gift for your parish priest or even seminarians, then this book is a definite must for the Year of the Priest!

I cannot find a bigger online image of the book. But the funny thing is I have an autographed copy of this book from none other than Fr. Franz Josef Eilers, SVD. Great and holy priest.

He selected from the writings of the popes and from his experiences as a spiritual director to compile this beautiful book on the Priest.

You can order it here. The book is at the bottom of the page.

I once gave a copy to a priest friend. A week after giving him the copy, I asked him of his impressions of the book. He said "Too traditional."

Well, can't blame him. He is a young priest during the maddening years of V2 and its hoopla on "fresh air" and aggiornamento.

But those priests who I know who have a great devotion to priestly ministry like sacraments and parish life are appreciative of the book.

I can clearly see the glaring difference.

YEAR OF THE PRIEST: Pray for our dearly departed priests

His Eminence, Father John Zuhlsdorf of "What Does the Prayer Really Say?"  has posted a suggestion to pray for our dearly departed priests on this Year of the Priests especially on the First Thursday, November 5.  We can gain a plenary indulgence this Year of the Priest.  Thursday, probably because, it was on a Thursday that Christ gave us the Sacrament of Holy Orders and the Blessed Sacrament.

WONDERFUL IDEA!  So I'll join the call.

Please say a prayer for our dearly departed priests.  They prayed for us their whole ministry.  It time to return the favor.

I have included here traditional prayers for the dead including a Prayer for Deceased Priests.  For those who wanted the Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory written by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, please email me so I can send it to you.  The file is too long to be posted here.

***

DE PROFUNDIS

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt observe iniquities; Lord, who shall endure it?
For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness:
and by reason of Thy law, I have waited for Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on His word; my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from all her iniquities.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.


Responsory Prayer for the Dead

V. Do not remember my sins O Lord,
R. When you come to judge the world by fire
V. Direct my ways in your sight, O Lord, my God
R. When you come to judge the world by fire
V. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
R. When you come to judge the world by fire
V. Lord, have mercy
R. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy
V. Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven.
R. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil.
V. From the gates of Hell.
R. Deliver his soul, O Lord.
V. May he rest in peace
R. Amen
V. Lord hear my prayer
R. And let my cry come to you.


Let us pray.

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful,
grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER FOR A DECEASED PRIEST

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, N., to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchisedech, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Cardinal Arinze Closes 9th FABC Plenary Assembly

courtesy of fabc.org

***

Papal envoy, Francis Cardinal Arinze, formally closed the 9th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) with a Eucharistic celebration August 16 at Pius XII Center, Manila. More than 100 participants of the plenary assembly were present.

In his homily themed “Living the Eucharistic Mystery,” the prelate explained five elements of the Eucharist (Holy sacrifice of the Mass), namely: Eucharistic faith and reverence; Ars celebrandi (art of proper celebration); Word of God and Eucharist; Eucharistic celebration and inculturation; and Role of the Diocesan Bishop.

Cardinal Arinze stressed the Eucharist as the center of sacred worship, quoting from documents like Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Sacramentum Caritatis, and others. [How about Redemptionis Sacramentum?  Was Summorum Pontificum even mentioned...even in passing?  I guess not.] 

At the closing of the Plenary Assembly, the participants issued a Message for the churches in Asia. In the document, the Eucharist is seen as a call to community, to hear the Word of God, a call to faith and hope, and a call to mission.

The participants also agreed to a revised outline for the final document which will be published at a later date.

Return to homily, Eucharist, priests urged

From Inquirer.net

***

MANILA, Philippines—The 9th plenary assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC) drew to a close yesterday with a call to the clergy to return to the traditional homily and the Eucharist to address the dwindling number of priests, inter-religious marriages, and the reported persecution of Christian minorities, among other problems in the region.

In a message capping the six-day Catholic bishops plenary held at Pius XII Center in Manila, the 117 participants led by Special Papal Envoy [Papal Legate is more appropriate] Francis Cardinal Arinze urged priests to improve their homily skills and make reflections during Mass more “relevant and nourishing.”

In his own homily at the close of the assembly, Arinze told Asian bishops to base their homilies on Holy Scripture, lamenting the use of the pulpit often in “political discussion” and “collection of money.” [Maybe the cardinal is regularly "updated" of the situation here in the Philippines.]

The bishops urged priests to promote “unity in diversity” and make the Eucharist, the sacrament of communion, a “transforming event.” [Uhh. Think this may become another dubious term that liberals would want to interpret according to their own terms.  Remember the term "active participation"?]

“We cannot celebrate the Eucharist and at the same time maintain, practice or tolerate discrimination based on religion or race, culture or language, caste or class. If we are grafted into the Eucharistic Lord, we will reach out and become bridge-builders in a world that is becoming increasingly divisive,” the bishops’ message said.

At the same time, they called on the faithful to cherish the Word of God and the Eucharist as “life-giving solutions to uncertainties and sufferings hounding the world.”

“With both these gifts we shall discover, like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, the deeper meaning and the divine call to hope in the midst of all that we go through in life: sudden economic chaos, increasing global warming, natural disasters, persecutions, untold sufferings of people everywhere, especially of women and children, refugees and of those deprived of freedom in different countries of Asia,” the bishops said.

Stressing the call to return to the basics, Arinze said that if these directives were followed, the local Church would “be spared questionable or downright mistaken innovations and idiosyncrasies of some enthusiastic cleric whose fertile imagination invents something on Saturday night and whose uninformed zeal forces this innovation on the innocent congregation on Sunday morning.” [Now that clear things up.  For a minute I thought  we will be reading something the liberals would be trumpeting for their "creative liturgies".  But the question remains the same, "How will the bishops police the priests down to the parish and even seminary level when it comes to ars celebrandi and ars credendi?  The seminary, most especially theological schools, are breeding grounds of liturgical abuse!]

During the plenary session, several Asian bishops called attention to the decreasing number of priests in their respective countries. [What could be the cause?  Hmm... I wonder.  Why is it that 

At a press conference held on Saturday, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias attributed the dwindling number to the secularization of societies and the low number of children among Christian families.

Pakistani Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, for his part, cited the economic crisis as the cause, saying, “It is difficult to make ends meet. It is difficult to have a vocation. It is a big sacrifice (for families) to give up their young son. There are more girls entering the convents than boys entering the seminaries.”

Cotabato City Archbishop Quevedo Orlando said the problem lay with “mortality,” saying, “There is a long time of study. Sometimes they (seminarians) fall in love.”

He added that many Asian priests were also lost to overseas recruitment. [Which is very true for the Philippines!  Our number one export is people!  We export teachers, nurses, engineers, priests, sisters...Name it, the country will export it!  In fact it is the remittances of overseas Filipino workers that keeps the country running.]

“We have a good number of priests who go abroad because of calls of bishops in Europe and the United States asking for priests from us. A great number of religious sisters go to Africa, South America, Europe and the US. We export vocation,” he said.

He pointed out that the current ratio in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, is one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

On the declining homily skills of priests, the bishops said this could be due to lack of preparation.

“It is a big issue that priests do not prepare their homilies very well,” Quevedo said. [Not just that.  But because most priests, Filipino priests, tend to make the Mass THEIR SHOW.  Trying to make homilies "more entertaining".  Spending thousands of pesos for "liturgical creativities" such as "liturgical dance" "liturgical one act play", yeah, it goes on and on.  It's not because of the homily.  It's because some want to glorify themselves in their homily.   I knew some who'd spend half an hour telling the people what a great parish priest he is and the projects he has done for the parish.  And the need for more fund drives to fund more projects.  Indeed, you shall know them by their fruits.  Some priests have an identity crisis.  They act as if they are CEOs or town mayors.  They find more time governing rather than being priests who are ordained to offer the Sacrifice.  You shall know the priests who have a deep prayer life with the homilies they deliver.  Truly, one can.]

This problem, he said, was also discussed in the synod of bishops in Rome in October last year. “In fact there was one comment that sometimes homilies were like the sword of constant time, long and flat. But this is (a problem) worldwide,” the Cotabato City prelate said.

Younger generation of priests and nuns opting for Tradition

Ten myths about religious life . . .
and the facts from the 2009 NRVC/CARA Study that dispel them

Myth #1: No one is entering religious life anymore.
Fact: More than 70 percent of all religious communities (both men’s and women’s) report having new members in formation. Nearly 20 percent have five or more people in some stage of formation. These numbers do not reflect the large number of entrants in the 1950s and ’60s, although many people have used this period as a point for comparison. The 2009 NRVC/CARA Study on Recent Vocations sets the benchmark for the current century.

Myth #2: No one is entering religious life anymore.
Fact: Our study indicates that the average age of men who entered religious life since 1993 was 30. For women the age was 32. The data also shows that 71 percent of those in initial formation are under 40. Although there always has been, and always will be a place for older or second career candidates in religious life, our study results have confirmed what we have tracked in our Vocation Match Annual Trends Survey, which is that an increasing number of younger people are looking at religious life as a possible life option.

Myth #3: Conservative/traditional communities are the only communities attracting new members.
Fact: Religious institutes that have a focused mission, who live in community, who have regular prayer and sacramental life, and who wear a habit show a higher proportion of newer members. The study indicates that men and women are also drawn to other types of religious life.

Myth #4: Women entering religious life want to wear habits.
Fact: Both men and women seem to be drawn to habited communities. About two thirds of the newer members say they belong to a religious institute that wears a habit. Among those that responded affirmatively, a little more than half indicate that the habit is required in all or most circumstances.  Interestingly, almost half of the men who belong to an institute that does not wear a habit say they would wear it if it were an option, compared to nearly a quarter of the women respondents. [We knew it all along.]

Myth #5: Entering religious life is a last resort.
Fact: New members to religious life report having rich options available to them—in terms of career, education, and personal life choices. [?!  This reminds me of a myth in the Philippines that if a young man decides to become a priest or a brother, that he is either unlucky in love, cannot find a job, wants to escape the responsibility of caring for his/hre aging parents or is of a different sexual preference.  Baloney.] Seventy percent of respondents had at least a bachelor’s degree before entering, with one third of these respondents also having degrees in higher education. Nine out of ten respondents said that they were employed prior to entering their institutes.

Myth #6: Younger religious are not interested in traditional devotional practices.
Fact: Newer members have ranked highly daily Mass as very important to them.Their prayer style also expresses a strong preference for Liturgy of the Hours, faith-sharing, nonliturgical common prayer, Eucharistic adoration, and common rosary and meditation. [Hah! Hear that?]

Myth #7: Religious communities are dying out.
Fact: The rise and diminishment of religious institutes has always been part of the continuum of religious life. Once a need is met, unless a community adapts its founding charism to addressing the changing needs in the Church, it is not uncommon for the community to end. Many congregations today that share a same charism are either consolidating or merging into new religious institutes. One little known fact is that since the end of Vatican II in 1965, approximately 175 newer religious communities have been founded in the United States alone. Some were only short-lived, but others are canonically recognized as religious institutes by the Church today.

Myth #8: Religious communities are homogeneous and lacking in ethnic and cultural diversity.
Fact: This may have been the case previously, but newer members are definitely changing the face of religious life in this country. Fifty eight percent of newer religious are white Anglo, compared to 94 percent of the finally professed men and women religious in the US. Nearly 20 percent of newer entrants were born in a country other than the United States. Hispanic/Latino vocations make up 21 per cent of the newer religious while 14 per cent are Asian/Pacific and 6 per cent are African or African American.

Myth #9: New members would prefer to live alone.
Fact: Newer members are coming to religious life not just for ministry, but also for common prayer and community living as well. [So Lone Rangers of the 1960s are slowly becoming...aLone?  Community life was part of the life of Jesus and his Apostles.] Respondents were much more likely to indicate a preference for living in a large (8 or more) or medium-sized (4 to 7) community than living in a small community and especially living alone. This is especially true of younger members.

Myth #10: New members want to live with younger members.
Fact: Although having a peer group of their age cohort is extremely important to younger members, the evidence shows an extremely high percentage (93) of newer members who prefer to live in community with people of different ages. In addition, newer members also show a preference for living with people of different cultures and who do different ministries.

Myth #11: New members are drawn to the ministries of a community.
Fact: Newer members indicate that they are drawn to religious life because of the example of the members, [EXAMPLE!] the spirituality, prayer life, [PRAYER LIFE which is rarely done by the corporate Father, Brother and Sister.  Too busy in the ministry..."My life and work is my prayer." Baloney.] community life, and mission of the institute. In fact, more than half of the newer members surveyed indicate that they were previously involved in either some liturgical ministry [maybe as a Knight of the Altar for those in the seminary?] or other volunteer work in a parish [Knight of Columbus, Legion of Mary, Apostleship of Prayer, Mother Butler's Guild?] or other setting. Since newer members were already previously involved in some type of ministry, clearly, they are coming to religious life not just for ministry—they are coming for a way of life that is different from what they were living before.

***

This is just a part of the study conducted by the National Religious Vocation Conference.  You can read more of the study by clicking here.

So the aggiornamento envisioned by the hippies of the 1960s upheaval are now lining up in the the ideological care unit (ICU) of the Dynamic Orthodoxy Medical Center.  (Thanks to Carlos of Rorate-Caeli for that one!)  Is it because the younger generation find in religious orders that the practice of nature worship, mother goddess, polka mass, charismatic service, un-habitted priests and nuns, active witnessing are slowly becoming a thing of the past?  

Maybe this ad is working!

Beautiful Comment about the Year of the Priest

Comments from The Black Biretta blog of Fr. John Trigilo of EWTN.  He shares his reflections on what the Year of the Priest is all about.  Photo on the left shows Fr. Trigilio presenting a copy of the book he wrote "John Paul II for Dummies" to his Holiness after the General Audience in St. Peter's Square.  Photo and excerpt courtesy of his blog. Here is the excerpt.

***

The Pope urged priests to be 'men of intense prayer who cultivate a communion of love and life with the Lord.'

This message is CRUCIAL as many American dioceses are gearing up (if not already) for their annual ordination to the priesthood and to the diaconate. Holy Mother Church has over one BILLION members and is a global, worldwide Church. Hence, she NEEDS various types of priests:

PARISH priests - pastors and parochial vicars; serving the daily spiritual needs of the faithful at the local parish level; the majority of priests

TEACHING priests - high school, college and seminary professors who help in the prophetic role of the church to teach the faith.

CHAPLAIN priests - hospital, military, prison, nursing home, etc., who provide a necessary work of mercy

CHANCERY (administration) priests - vocation directors, vicar generals, judicial vicars, chancellors, secretaries to the bishop, etc. who give good advice and 
provide necessary assistance to the local bishop. And of course, the Vatican and Apostolic Nunciatures need DIPLOMAT priests to help that vital work of the Church.

What is NOT NEEDED, however are:

BUREAUCRAT priests - ambitious clerics who have miter & crosier envy (bishop wannabees) and/or those middle management pencil pushers who emulate the old Soviet Union bureaucrat. This type is neither liberal nor conservative; neither progressive nor traditional; in other words, he has NO affiliation with either side. He just sides with the current party in power. Someone who says and does anything and everything to preserve his office job rather than spend his time and effort doing the 'Will of God.' Bureaucrat priests are often autocrats who pretend to have more authority than they actually possess. They make dictatorial pronouncements and presume to speak on behalf of the current diocesan bishop or currently reigning pontiff. These are the 'professional' clergy who are detached and removed from real parish life and are clueless to what goes on in the real world. They pontificate from ivory towers and often have hidden or enigmatic agendas. You can spot a bureaucrat priest a mile away by the plethora of paperwork (memos, mailings, notices, etc.) emanating from his desk, just to show his importance. POLICY means more to these fellows than canon law or defined dogma and doctrine. Moral principles are made subservient to practical concerns. The bureaucrat priest covers his backside to survive. Moving up the ecclesiastical ladder is their prime directive.

BUSINESS MANAGER priests are obsessed with nickels and dimes, balancing the books and making everything look good on paper. Saving souls is not an urgency, rather, the productivity of programs becomes paramount. These guys run parishes or dioceses like corporations, not like spiritual families or sacred institutions. They place efficiency as their highest goal. As long as the check book balances, the diocesan assessments are paid and the collection never goes down, then they consider themselves SUCCESSFUL. These guys worry about how much it will cost more than how much good will it do.

POLITICIAN priests want to be POPULAR. They preach cotton-candy Catholicism so as not to offend anyone. They tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to be taught. These guys bend or break canon law and/or diocesan rules to keep the big roller, high end, generous donors from leaving the parish. They think accommodating and compromise are effective tools whereas the real parish priest relies on doctrinal orthodoxy, liturgical accuracy (and reverence) and paternal pastoral authority (being a real spiritual father instead of a corporate stooge). Politician priests want happy faces and avoid all confrontation. These are the wheeler-dealers who make behind the scene arrangements, engage in skulduggery and can often be IDEOLOGUES who are usually throwbacks to the 1960's and 1970's. They see innovation as a political tool to keep and make new members. These guys are usually the ones who deny parishioners their legitimate options and impose their own personal choices as if law. Being politically correct is one indicator of this sort.

ENTERTAINER priests use sacred worship and the Divine Liturgy to entertain and amuse the congregation rather than to render to Almighty God true and proper worship (latria) and adoration. These fellows perform when the celebrate the sacraments. They choreograph gestures and movements, not based on the rubrics of the Missal but based on what they learned in a recent liturical workshop. Entertainer priests want to BE loved and to be showered with affection and approval. They do not preach uncomfortable messages nor do they enforce complicated laws. These guys are current on every fad and tidbit the modern media eschews daily so as to appear to be 'with it.' Reverence takes a back seat, if not in the trunk, to enjoyment. They want people to enjoy the Mass instead of seeking to please God by giving Him proper worship.

***

Right on the kisser!  You nailed it Father!  Layeth the smacketh down!  I don't have to highlight the important points or else everything would be in bold letters.  ROFL!

Thoughts on Year of the Priest

I was looking for articles to comment over the web and read some articles telling how the Church should celebrate the Year of the Priest.  Before the Holy Father's intent for the celebration of the Year of the Priest falls victim to those with "dissenting views opinions", like what happened with the interpretation of Vatican II documents, (we're so used to hear things like, "In the spirit of Vatican II..."  or "As part of the reforms of Vatican II..."), I have gathered a few excerpts from the letter of the Holy Father, announcing the celebration of the Year of the Priest.

***

This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal  for the sake of a stronger and more incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say. [It's what's in the inside that matters for a priest. You will definitely witness a priest who has a very deep prayer life.  The signs?  How they celebrate Mass, how they deliver their homilies, how much time they spent dispensing God's Grace through the sacraments.  If a priest celebrates Mass as if it were his own show, you get a good idea of what motivates him to lead the Mass.  It's not for the praise and worship of the Almighty by making present the same sacrifice on Calvary Christ did.  It's for the clapping, the smiles and the accolades after Mass.]

***

“All good works, taken together, do not equal the sacrifice of the Mass” – he would say – “since they are human works, while the Holy Mass is the work of God”. [Never will it be the priest's own show!] He was convinced that the fervour of a priest’s life depended entirely upon the Mass: “The reason why a priest is lax is that he does not pay attention to the Mass! My God, how we ought to pity a priest who celebrates as if he were engaged in something routine!”.  [I know some priests who complain of getting bored at Mass that is why they are into liturgical creativity.  My!  If you love someone, nothing will ever be boring!  As Thomas Carlyle once said, "The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity.”  If you love what you are doing, there is no room for boredom.]  He was accustomed, when celebrating, also to offer his own life in sacrifice: “What a good thing it is for a priest each morning to offer himself to God in sacrifice!”

***

The Curé of Ars immediately set about this patient and humble task of harmonizing his life as a minister with the holiness of the ministry he had received, by deciding to “live”, physically, in his parish church: As his first biographer tells us: “Upon his arrival, he chose the church as his home. He entered the church before dawn and did not leave it until after the evening Angelus. There he was to be sought whenever needed." [In other words, the Holy Father also expects priests to stay at their posts! And not spend time gallivanting, appearing in TV and other radio programs, or running in the streets, or in picket lines, or in.... ok nuff said.]

***

If someone was troubled by the thought of his own frailty and inconstancy, and fearful of sinning again, the Curé would unveil the mystery of God’s love in these beautiful and touching words: “The good Lord knows everything. Even before you confess, he already knows that you will sin again, yet he still forgives you. How great is the love of our God: he even forces himself to forget the future, so that he can grant us his forgiveness!” 

To a priestly confrere he explained: “I will tell you my recipe: I give sinners a small penance and the rest I do in their place”. Aside from the actual penances which the Curé of Ars practised, the core of his teaching remains valid for each of us: souls have been won at the price of Jesus’ own blood, and a priest cannot devote himself to their salvation if he refuses to share personally in the “precious cost” of redemption.  [Again the Holy Father impresses upon priests the grace of the Sacrament of Penance which so many priests disregard nowadays.  Quack psychology became a fad.  Priests spent more time reading new age materials masked as self-help books.  It so influenced the Church even becoming the yard stick of vocations to those in seminaries and monasteries.  Imagine, if the Cure of Ars and St. Therese lived today and entered the priestly and religious life!  They would have been sent out by their superiors using these psychological tools as a gauge for their "worthiness".]

Nonetheless, with exemplary obedience he never abandoned his post, consumed as he was by apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls. [Again as I blogged before, remember your job description!  Remember why God called you according to your state of life.  So many priest are confused of their roles.  I know of a priest who spends more time managing the school but would not even celebrate one single Mass in the schools chapel.  Not even ONE!  You don't need ordination to run a school!  Ordination is for....THE SALVATION OF SOULS not building a brotherhood of men!]

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The Curé of Ars lived the “evangelical counsels” in a way suited to his priestly state.

His poverty was not the poverty of a religious or a monk, but that proper to a priest: while managing much money (since well-to-do pilgrims naturally took an interest in his charitable works), he realized that everything had been donated to his church, his poor, his orphans, the girls of his “Providence”, his families of modest means. Consequently, he “was rich in giving to others and very poor for himself”. As he would explain: “My secret is simple: give everything away; hold nothing back”. When he lacked money, he would say amiably to the poor who knocked at his door: “Today I’m poor just like you, I’m one of you”. At the end of his life, he could say with absolute tranquillity: “I no longer have anything. The good Lord can call me whenever he wants!”.

His chastity, too, was that demanded of a priest for his ministry. It could be said that it was a chastity suited to one who must daily touch the Eucharist, who contemplates it blissfully and with that same bliss offers it to his flock. It was said of him that “he radiated chastity”; the faithful would see this when he turned and gazed at the tabernacle with loving eyes”.

Finally, Saint John Mary Vianney’s obedience found full embodiment in his conscientious fidelity to the daily demands of his ministry. We know how he was tormented by the thought of his inadequacy for parish ministry and by a desire to flee “in order to bewail his poor life, in solitude”.  Only obedience and a thirst for souls convinced him to remain at his post. As he explained to himself and his flock: “There are no two good ways of serving God. There is only one: serve him as he desires to be served”.  He considered this the golden rule for a life of obedience: “Do only what can be offered to the good Lord”

[Well what can I say?  The Holy Father nailed it.]

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The Year of the Priest is not only for priests but more importantly for the laity.   Priests need our support.  Not financial support but moral and spiritual support.  Prayers are more important for them than money.  They need our prayers more than ever that they stay true to their vocation, THAT THEY BE FAITHFUL TO THEIR JOB DESCRIPTIONS, and that they be an Alter Christus when celebrating the Holy Sacrifice and the Church's rites.