"Offer to My Father, for My priests,
the spirit of prayer of My divine Heart,
My spirit of contemplation,
the perfect union of My Heart with Him.
That is what is lacking in so many of My priests;
a spirit of prayer, an intense interior life."
~ Jesus to Blessed Dina Belanger ~
Clerical Reform is definitely a blog worth following! Anyone who has a heart for helping priests should read the Series on the Priesthood by Fr. S. Any Catholic who doesn't have a heart for helping priests--but should--ought to read his series. Hopefully, many brother priests are reading and benefitting from what he has to say. Father addresses himself to brother priests, but his writings contains valuable insights and counsel of benefit to all readers. I have emailed a link to his series to priest and lay friends. Maybe some of you know someone who would benefit from what Father S has written. Excerpts from today's post follow:
"The hardest part of a priest's life is the interior life. It is the daily working at prayer, offering Holy Mass, mortification, and rooting out of sin; and this is where persecution comes in. The evil one is clever; have no doubt of that. As such, you can expect that you will receive temptation at your weakest spots to the degree that you seek to become like unto Jesus Christ. The more you root out sin, the more you will be besieged. Undoubtedly, the grace of Our Lord is more powerful than any created power, but it is hard to take advantage of. We foolishly think, over and over, that we can let our guard down. "I can have a couple of glasses of wine. I know the last time I did that it led to temptations against purity, but that won't happen tonight." Or, "I can sit and talk with these priests. I know that every other time I do so we get to gossiping and detraction, but this time I'll be fine." The evil one has us reconnoitered. The only means to growing in holiness is drawing close to Christ and away from sin. So long as we want to have both we will fall flat on our faces. This is the persecution we have to expect.
"So, what is our main antidote? Our main antidote is the holy hour, period. If you are not praying for a significant amount of time each day, you are not coming to know the Beloved as you should be. Your preaching will lack fullness and your ministry will lack fullness. Go and pray and stop making excuses. While there are sometimes reasons for cutting the hour short, there are no excuses for not trying to make it each day. Remember that the evil one is playing for keeps and a collar around the neck can be just as easily used to pull us down or raise us up."
"So, what is our main antidote? Our main antidote is the holy hour, period. If you are not praying for a significant amount of time each day, you are not coming to know the Beloved as you should be. Your preaching will lack fullness and your ministry will lack fullness. Go and pray and stop making excuses. While there are sometimes reasons for cutting the hour short, there are no excuses for not trying to make it each day. Remember that the evil one is playing for keeps and a collar around the neck can be just as easily used to pull us down or raise us up."
For Father's Series on the Priesthood, click here. I've also included a link in the sidebar for easy future reference.
Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests, and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.
