In the next few days we Catholics will receive a great gift, and a teaching moment. That is, the proximity of the opening of the Year for Priests (June 19) to Father’s Day (June 21).
Of course, Pope Benedict XVI did not have this convergence in mind when he declared the Year for Priests. He was tying the celebration to the feast of the Sacred Heart, which this year is June 19. Yet so often what the Church does has unforeseen effects, like when the Scripture reading cycles for Mass bring together two passages that just speak to the heart on one particular day.
So this weekend, as we inaugurate the Year for Priests, we are offered the chance to ponder why we call priests “Father.” They do not generate offspring like the fathers we will celebrate on Father’s Day – yet they have every right to the title “Father” because they generate (or regenerate) souls for heaven.
Through the sacrament of confession only priests can administer, they loose the bonds of sin and prepare us for heaven. Through the celebration of Mass and confection of the Holy Eucharist – which only priests can do – they bring heaven to earth and give eternal life into the hands (and mouths) of the faithful.
St. Paul writes that all fatherhood gets its name and identity from God the Father. Our Father in heaven created us “to love and obey him in this life and to live eternally with him in the next life,” as the Baltimore Catechism begins. The priest is most like God the Father in his ability, through the sacraments, to bring the people of God the gifts of God that will prepare them for life with the Father in heaven.
For this reason, we should hold priests in high esteem and offer them our love as children of God. Let’s remember our priests in this providential Year for Priests.
I read the Holy Father's letter on priests and it is beautiful. He has a great mix of the ideal and the human factor -- it really tells us how we should approach the whole issue of priesthood in our Church, which is controversial today because of all the media play.
Posted by: Bella E | June 20, 2009 at 08:00 AM
Yes, we call priests father, and they are our spiritual fathers. But we must also remember that they are human and need our prayers, and they don't need to be put up as saints.
Posted by: Jeff J | June 20, 2009 at 07:54 AM
Join us in 40 days of prayers and fast for the sanctification of our priests: http://www.cureprayergroup.org/yearofpriest.pdf
Posted by: val | June 18, 2009 at 08:34 AM