October 21, 2009

Sanctifying our priests through prayer

By Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley

In his July 16 letter proclaiming a “Year for Priests” to honor the Cure of Ars, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the effort was “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.” The priest must be above all a man of prayer. This Year for Priests gives all priests an opportunity to recommit themselves to their vocation.

In the Archdiocese of Denver we offer a program of daily prayer for our priests through our Year For Priests Daily Prayer Calendar.  We’ve also distributed thousands of holy cards with the image of St. John Mary Vianney and a prayer for priests, which is prayed at Mass and in homes.  Many Catholic schools have presented “spiritual bouquets” and promises of prayers to our priests.  These are wonderful gifts.

This Sunday, Oct. 25, is “National Priesthood Sunday,” a day set aside to affirm the vital role of the Catholic priesthood in the United States, and to thank our priests for their sacramental service. Priesthood Sunday is promoted by the USA Council of Serra International, a group of men and women whose mission is to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life. St. John Mary Vianney once wrote: “Who put the Lord in the tabernacle?—the priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey?—the priest. Who will prepare your soul to appear before God bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ?—the priest, always the priest.”  This Sunday would be an excellent occasion to offer a prayer of gratitude for the ministry of all our priests as they lead and serve our people.

Along with public lectures and conferences to celebrate the “Year for Priests” (the first public lecture will take place this evening, Oct. 21) several upcoming spiritual initiatives are worth noting. The first is a series of seven special Holy Hours around the archdiocese. These Holy Hours will all follow the same format. Priests will gather for a fraternal meal with the archbishop and myself at 5:30 p.m., followed by a public Holy Hour at 7 p.m. We encourage all of the faithful in the local area to come and pray with and for their priests. The first Holy Hour will be in the Boulder/Fort Collins region.  It will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 14 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fort Collins.

The second initiative is a series of pro-life prayer vigils on the first Saturdays of every month, beginning on Nov. 7, at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Denver. Organized by the Respect Life Office, the prayer vigils are scheduled according to deanery.  I urge you to join your priests and the lay faithful to witness on behalf of unborn children. 

Benedict XVI has called this Year for Priests not simply to celebrate the gift of the priesthood or to honor the many great priests we all know in our lives. He has called this special year of grace to pray for priests. We all want our priests to be holy. What better way to ensure that we have holy priests than to spend an hour in prayer, with them and for them, before our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

A priest is not his own. He depends on Jesus Christ.  He draws strength for his mission from the love of his people.  He is ordained for service to the faithful. In the words of St. John Mary Vianney: “The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you.”  We can best honor the gift of every priest’s life by remembering our priests in prayer.