Priests Need Prayers

I want to share Fr. Thomas Euteneuer's reflections on the Year of the Priest and the need for prayers for priests. God bless him for sharing his thoughts!

I think that many parish priests are hesitant to say much about needing and wanting prayers, because they are usually focused on serving and ministering to others and not on drawing attention to themselves.

In some areas of the country, most Catholics don't even know about the Year of the Priest yet. Those of us who love and appreciate our priests need to speak up on their behalf and spread the word! Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." You can be the one in your parish. There are many things one person can do.

The first thing to do is ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and the Blessed Mother to help you to do what God might be asking of you. Some ideas are:

You could make a morning offering for priests some days or every day.

You could ask your pastor to have a Rosary for priests after every Mass.

You could ask for a weekly or monthly day of Eucharistic adoration for priests. If your parish already has Eucharistic adoration, you could encourage more participation for the intention of prayer for priests.

You could make a poster on the computer to let people know about this special year and put it on church bulletin boards.

You could write and submit bulletin announcements about prayer for priests.

You could ask for a First Saturday Mass for priests.

You could suggest daily prayer for priests by Catholic school children when school is in session.

You could suggest a contest for Catholic school children concerning Eucharistic adoration for priests (e.g. poster contest or essays)--a wonderful opportunity for them to become informed about Eucharistic adoration, and hopefully participate in it.

You could purchase prayer cards, Rosary for priests leaflets (Ecclesia Dei 1-847-724-7151); you could order a book of prayers for priests (from Crusade for Priests, in the links) and get permission to put them in parish display racks.

You could ask your priest for a homily on the eternal priesthood of Jesus and why a priest is called an alter Christus.

If you feel inspired to do something, pray for the grace to act on the inspiration with love and gratitude for our priests and joy in being used by God for His priest sons.

Jesus told Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida, "If the faithful love Me, if they want to glorify Me as is their duty of love, nothing can be greater for them to do for Me than what they do for My priests, which is as they would have done for Me Myself..."

"Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests, and our Mother, help us to respond generously to the request of the Holy Spirit, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.