The Curé d'Ars Prayer Group

The Priesthood

Jesus Christ Himself gave to the Church the precious gift of the Priesthood. He is the High Priest who goes to the Father on our behalf. In the Mass, the Priest continues this offering of Christ to the Father so that all of us may live and so that His work of redemption may continue.

To celebrate just one Holy Mass is the greatest honor. I think that if we could really see what was taking place in the mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we would be filled with joy and fright at the same time. Joy at what God has done through Christ and fright by how completely unworthy we are in His sight. Why anyone would want to do anything else is beyond me. It is in the Mass that we find our deepest identity.

We are different after the Resurrection and so desire to thank God constantly for His generous love. Some people search for the greatest thrill in life like climbing Mt. Everest or sailing around the world but to God, these are merely His creations. If we could only see that there is something greater out there to climb. It's the altar. Every time we climb the altar we encounter Christ and His promise. When one climbs the stairs to the altar and lets himself go in His service, he discovers the Creator in all His wonder. He constantly thinks of us. If He failed to do so, we would cease to exist. How wonderful to be loved like that! All creation hungers to know God, to love Him and to serve Him.

— Father Philip Tighe  (Saint Catherine Of Siena)

Priestly Hands and a Mother

She was one among many mothers who had come to witness the ordination of their sons. The sanctuary of the Woodstock Chapel is filled with Ordinandi; but for this mother there is only one object of interest: her son. So many long years has she waited; doubting from time to time, as she noted her whitening hair and the deepening furrows on her brow, whether God would spare her for this day.

Now the Archbishop is anointing his hands -the hands of her boy- and his consecrated fingers are being tied with a linen cloth to signify their eternal dedication to the service of God. Those are the hands of her boy! Ah, what memories are awakened within her! Those same hands had fondled her cheek with baby caresses, had tugged at her breast; and when the tiny fingers had been wounded, how often had she checked their pain by a mother's gentle kiss! Often had she taken one of those hands in hers, now the hands of a younster, and had trudged along the busy street; under such a guidance he had entered the Temple of God to hear for the first time the Holy Mass.

One time, during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, he stood beside her; and she remembers now as though it were yesterday how he pressed his hand on hers as it lay resting upon the pew. She had always regarded that little incident as significant. It had somehow seemed to tell her that he wanted her to understand that some day - but then she had not dared to hope for the happiness that is hers today.

The ordination ceremony is over. Hundreds flock to the altar the receive the blessing of the new priests. He is there waiting for her, waiting to give his mother the very first blessing of his priestly life. What emotion wells up within her breast as she presses her face between the newly anointed hands! The odor of the chrism is still fresh upon them. She anoints them anew with the moisture of a mother's tears of joy. Those are his hands, her own baby's hands!

Ah, God bless them and make them a source of comfort and benediction to thousands of grief-laden souls! Yes, God bless them, and bless the mother, too, who caused them to be!

— Unknown Author