OUR VISITING SEMINARIAN, BARNABAS, WRITES - 26th April
“And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice”.
This Good Shepherd Sunday, on which we pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood, we are reminded of one of its most beautiful aspects. As the Good Shepherd, Christ brings His sheep unto Himself; sheep who are lost, thirsty, or in danger, yet still able to hear the unique authority with which Christ speaks. Christ calls some men to share in His eternal ministerial priesthood to call the lost sheep back to Him, and preach to those outside the fold. This only can happen when these men give themselves over to Christ in total surrender to Him, so that He may increase, and they may decrease. As Christ’s minister, the priest does not preach a message that is his own, nor does he speak with his own voice. This is also true for the whole being of the priest. His hands, anointed with sacred chrism, are not his own, but have been set apart for Christ’s use. His feet, taking him where he has been sent, belong to Christ, who sends him to a place not of his own choosing, but wherever the Church needs him to be. His heart, consecrated to Christ’s Sacred Heart, beats with His wounded love for souls. The priest, though weak and sinful himself, makes Christ present at the altar by the changing of gifts of bread and wine, and, with Christ’s authority, forgives our sins. As St John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests tells us, if the priest truly understood his office, he would die, not out of fear, but out of love. How can we not pray, then, that the Lord may call more men to this most sacred calling? How wonderful it is that Christ takes fallen men and invites them to share in His life in this particular way!
From Good Shepherd Sunday to Pentecost, we will be praying as a diocese for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. This Monday, from 5PM to 8PM, we will have a three hour prayer vigil with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for vocations to the priesthood in our diocese. I encourage you, if you’re able, to come, even for five minutes, to pray for this intention. Let us also keep in our prayers those who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood, as well as our seminarians, particularly in this parish.
