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Reflections on the priesthood and vocation
"You are granted to know that you have a dignity that distinguishes you from all who aren't priests. You are allowed to have the consciousness that you are doing something great, that you are allowed to do something great." Msgr. Gaenswein
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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. Its the altar.
Every time we climb the altar we encounter Christ and His promise. When one climbs
the stairs to the altar and lets themselves go in his service, they discover 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 Sienna
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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
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