A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb,
the Bridegroom of the Soul

    Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.

     

Messenger:          Pray for the Pope and the Cardinals and
                              and the hierarchy in the Church.

                       Pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus,
                                united to Jesus in the Mass, in the
                                Holy Spirit with all the angels and
                                saints and the souls in purgatory.

                            Let's pray united in our hearts as never before.

                            Every morning say at least this

  April 19, 2002 message continues

              1) Vatican II on the Priesthood

                        from Newsletter July/August 1994

    Vatican II reminds us of the purpose of our being priests, of being shepherds of Christ, Who is Chief Shepherd of the flock:

    “The purpose, therefore, which priests pursue by their ministry and life is the glory of God the Father as it is to be achieved in Christ. That glory consists in this: that men knowingly, freely, and gratefully accept what God has achieved perfectly through Christ, and manifest it in their whole lives. Hence, whether engaged in prayer and adoration, preaching the Word, offering the Eucharistic sacrifice, ministering the other sacraments, or performing any of the other works of the ministry for men, priests are contributing to the extension of God’s glory as well as to the development of divine life in men.”⁵ 

5. The Documents of Vatican II, Decree on the Ministry 
        and Life of Priests, No. 2, America Press edition.

              2) Cardinal Bernardin on Priests as Shepherds

                        from Newsletter September/October 1994

    “One of the most beautiful images of Christ is that of shepherd. In chapter 10 of John’s gospel Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd and explains what this means. The good shepherd, He says, finds pasture for his sheep; he brings back to the fold those who have strayed; if necessary, he lays down his life for them…

    “The image of shepherd supports and enriches the concept of priest as servant. The Bishop’s Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry strongly emphasized this concept in As One Who Serves. The priest, the committee stated, ‘is to be a servant of the People of God, holding them accountable for what they have been and can be. He serves them by calling forth leadership and coordinating ministries. His is a service which calls the people to remember and to celebrate the presence and power of the Risen Lord. In the fullest sense, he is a servant of the human family.’

    “Our hearts must be moved with pity when we see people who are suffering, whose lives are empty, who are searching vainly for meaning. Through our ministry and our presence, we must do all we can to bring them the riches of the gospel, so that they will come to know the Lord and experience His love and peace in their lives. This is the shepherd’s work. This is our work as priests who follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd and carry on His mission.

    “A priest, because of the Person he represents and the message he brings, is one whose ministry is expected to bring people joy, consolation, and hope. Admittedly, a priest cannot remove all the pain and frustration which are part of the human condition. But this ministry can help people cope better with trials and sufferings by seeing them in the light of the Transcendent. While we are obliged to do all we can to promote a better life in this world by building a society rooted in justice and love, in the final analysis our earthly accomplishments and their immediate joys and sorrows are transitory. The ultimate fulfillment of all we attempt, the lasting remedy for all we suffer, lies in life eternal.

    “My personal experience convinces me that what people actually want and need is usually much less complex and spectacular than we sometimes imagine. People are not looking for religious leaders who can solve all their problems or answer all their questions. Often they know the answers already; or they know their problem has no immediate solution. More than anything else, people look to us who minister to them for our presence as loving, caring, and forgiving people. They want our help in their efforts to handle pain and frustration. They look to us for understanding; they seek a sensitive and consoling response to their hurt feelings; they need the spiritual comfort we can bring through our ministry of word and sacrament. They want someone who will pray with them, whose presence will remind them that, no matter what their difficulties might be, God really loves them and cares for them. They want assurance that God will never abandon them. This is the preferred style of spiritual leadership in our day.”²

                                2. Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, Called To Serve, 
                                    Called To Lead, St. Anthony Messenger Press, pp. 17-20.

              3) A Priestly Consecration

                        from Newsletter September/October 1994

    The previously quoted words of St. John Eudes remind us of the extremely close union we are called to have with Jesus. As we realize Jesus’ tremendous and most special unique love for each of us, we are asked to give ourselves in a return of love to Jesus. We are called to strive to live the union described by St. John Eudes. In other words, we are called to continue to say “yes” to the objective consecration we received in the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Orders. There follows a suggested act of consecration:

    Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate my priestly life to your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a priest, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your priest-companion. Help me always to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor. Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

    Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as this unique priest-son. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are his first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock.

              4) Vatican II on Priestly Holiness

                        from Newsletter November/December 1994

    Living out our life of consecration is living the life of holiness. Vatican II speaks to us about the priestly life of holiness: “By the sacrament of orders priests are configured to Christ the Priest so that as ministers of the Head and co-workers of the episcopal order they can build up and establish His whole Body which is the Church. Already, indeed, in the consecration of baptism, like all Christians, they received the sign and the gift of so lofty a vocation and a grace that even despite human weakness they can and must pursue according to the Lord’s words: ‘You therefore are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Mt 5:48).

    “To the acquisition of this perfection priests are bound by a special claim, since they have been consecrated to God in a new way by the reception of orders. They have become living instruments of Christ the eternal priest, so that through the ages they can accomplish His wonderful work of reuniting the whole society of men with heavenly power. Therefore, since every priest in his own way represents Christ Himself, he is also enriched with special grace…

    “Priestly holiness itself contributes very greatly to a fruitful fulfillment of the priestly ministry. True, the grace of God can complete the work of salvation even through unworthy ministers. Yet ordinarily God desires to manifest His works through those who have been made particularly docile to the impulse and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Because of their intimate union with Christ and their holiness of life, these men can say with the Apostle: ‘It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me’ (Gal 2:20)”¹¹.

11. The Documents of Vatican II, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, 
        America Press Edition, Ch. 3, No. 12.

              5) Priest and Friendship

                        from Newsletter January/February 1995

    One of the ways all of us experience love—both giving and receiving love—is through friendship. The Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests offers some thoughts on the priest and friendship: “The capacity to develop and profoundly live priestly friendship is a source of serenity and joy in the exercise of the ministry, a decisive support in difficulties and a valuable help in the growth of pastoral charity. Priests must exercise this friendship in a particular way precisely towards those brothers most in need of understanding, help and support.”³

    Friendship is one of God’s greatest gifts. It is a type of personal relationship that befits any age and any vocation. One of the beauties of friendship is the special type of love that is involved. Two people become friends and remain friends because they mutually want to do so. In friendship, there are no juridical bonds as there are in marriage and family life. In real friendship, this special freedom that both parties possess regarding the initiation and maintenance of the relationship does not instigate insecure feelings, but rather enhances the relationship with a special kind of splendor.

    One of the beauties of friendship is the obvious fact that a person may have more than one friend. A person should not view multiple friendships as being in competition with one another. A person’s various authentic friendships, all providing their own opportunities for growth, clothe the person with a maturing richness of personality that increasingly contributes to the health of each of the friendships in particular.

    Close friends stand side by side and together walk the path of life. Secure in each other’s acceptance and love, each feels a sense of relief that one does not need to maintain any kind of facade. Each is encouraged to be and to become according to the real, true self. Far from hampering the proper unfolding and developing of each one’s personality, the friendship offers many diverse opportunities for the maturing of each other’s uniqueness. Indeed, each person feels that without the other he or she may not have grown in certain ways at all.

    Close friends share many things. They share life’s ideals and goals, for example, and in this sharing feel encouraged to achieve a greater realization of these ideals and goals. Close friends share each other’s sorrows, and in this sharing the sorrows become more bearable. Close friends share each other’s failures, and in this sharing they gain the strength to rise and try again. Close friends also share each other’s successes, and in this sharing are encouraged to fulfill more and more their mission, their work in life.

    Each of us, then, has many reasons to thank God for the wonderful gift of friendship, for, indeed, friendship in so many diverse ways has helped us to be and to become. In so many diverse ways, the gift of friendship has helped us to live the paschal mystery of death and resurrection. Truly, it has helped us bear the dark, the difficult, the worrisome aspect of life with greater equanimity. Likewise, it has helped us experience the bright, the pleasant, the exuberant side of life with greater joy.

    We should always remember that all of our friendships should be rooted in Christ. To put it another way, our very friendship with Jesus is the source for our ability to be true friends with others. And, of course, our friendship with Jesus is centered in love. This friend Jesus shows each of us His Heart as a reminder of how much He loves each one of us with the most unique and special love. And He longs for our love in return. What a privilege! Yes, what a privilege it is to be invited by the Incarnate Son of God to have the deepest friendship with Himself. Jesus has left us these beautiful and awe-inspiring words: “I shall not call you servants any more, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learned from My Father.” (Jn 15:15).

3. Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests, as in special supplement 
        of Inside the Vatican, p. 11.

              6) Mary and the Priest

                        from Newsletter January/February 1995

    Our friendship with Jesus as His priest-companions, our faithfulness to Him because we love Him, very much involves Mary. She, under God, is the Mother of our Christ-life. She cooperates with the Holy Spirit in our ongoing transformation in Christ. Fr. Arthur Calkins, a contemporary Marian scholar, offers us these words on Mary and the priest:

    “If every Christian ought to see himself in the Apostle John, entrusted to Mary as her son or daughter, how much more ought priests to recognize themselves as sons of Mary, as the subjects of a ‘double’ entrustment to her. I say ‘double’, because they are successors of John by a twofold title: as disciples and as priests. This is beautifully drawn out by our Holy Father in his Holy Thursday Letter to Priests of 1988: ‘If John at the foot of the Cross somehow represents every man and woman for whom the motherhood of the Mother of God is spiritually extended, how much more does this concern each of us, who are sacramentally called to the priestly ministry of the Eucharist in the Church!’

    “No doubt there are any number of priests today who would say that such reasoning represents a certain ‘snob appeal’, a ‘clerical culture’ that should have disappeared after the Council. The emphasis now, they would maintain, is on equality: we all share the common priesthood of the faithful and priestly ordination does not make us better than lay people.

    “Surely, it is true that the hierarchical priesthood which is received by the imposition of the bishop’s hands is conferred on the basis of the royal priesthood which all the faithful share. It is also true that of itself priestly ordination does not make one morally better than the laity…

    “But the fact is that the Sacrament of Holy Orders configures the priest more closely to Christ the Eternal Priest to the extent that his soul receives an indelible spiritual character and his very being is transformed in a way that allows him to function in persona Christi, in the very person of Christ, as he celebrates the sacraments and intercedes as a member of and on behalf of the whole Church. Hence this scriptural injunction surely holds true for the priest: ‘When much has been given a man, much will be required of him. More will be asked of a man to whom more has been entrusted’ (Lk 12:48). Saint Thomas Aquinas puts it this way: ‘Those who have been chosen for a superior position through the bestowal of Holy Orders also have been called to a similar height of holiness’ (Summa Theologica, suppl., q. 35, a. 1, ad 3)…

    “Although Jesus had already entrusted every priest to his Mother from the height of the cross and the Pope has done it even hundreds of times, it is still necessary for the priest to do so himself if he would truly experience the power and the protection of the Mother of God in his life as her Divine Son intends it. Priests who have done so know the difference it makes.⁸

8. Fr. Arthur Calkins, Soul Magazine, January-February 1995, p. 30.

              7) The Joy of Being a Priest

                        from Newsletter March/April 1995

    Fr. Philip Hamilton, a former college professor and Air Force Chaplain, and now a pastor, speaks to us about the joy of being a priest:

    “When I was a young priest as an assistant pastor in a rather large parish with a parish high school, I wore many hats.

    “Everyone knows what an assistant pastor did…He had Sunday afternoon rosary and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament while the pastor listened to the Green Bay Packer football games. He was always late to his basketball practice on Tuesday nights because he had to give the Sorrowful Mother Novena. He taught a full load as teacher of Latin and religion in the parish high school…

    “Sleep was not a major part of my life. Many a night I returned home at two in the morning from an athletic trip to be up for the six o’clock Mass the next morning.

    What kept me going? The priesthood. Simply to be a priest was enough for us in those days. It was a cloud nine experience every day. I loved those boys and girls in Assumption High School…I hated getting up in the morning but it was worth it to offer Mass for those holy, appreciative, hardworking hospital sisters…

    “If only our young men could understand the joys of being a priest, they would have to nail the front doors of the seminaries shut from the inside.”⁸

8. Rev. Philip Hamilton, Padre’s Point, Alt Publishing, pp. 44-46.