Yesterday we prayed for vocations to the religious
life and priesthood. Monks & nuns lead an enclosed life of prayer for the good
of the Church; Sisters & brothers live and work in the world as educators,
nurses, social workers etc. Each of these is important: without prayer we cannot
draw upon Divine Power; without health, education and social care the Gospel
does not impact the world and the common good. But what the Church needs to
sustain us all is priests. We do not want to be left without someone to anoint us
in sickness; absolve us from sin; to celebrate the Mass and solemnise our marriages.
Small wonder that Our Lord lamented over sheep without a shepherd. Without a
priest a community is a flock without a shepherd; even a body without a head. We
should encourage those who voice an interest in following a vocation to listen
to the Lord, and ask those we think might make a good priest to consider asking
the Lord about it.
And do pray for the priests you already have. Many are
now running two or three parishes, and I can tell you from my own experience of
having run two parishes at one time, that each parish thinks you are there full
time, and expects from your part-time hours all that they had from a resident, full-time
pastor. Add to this the general perception of priests in the mind of the public
today following the abuse scandals, and the pressures upon priests are hefty. A
great deal of that pressure comes from within: the desire to preach well; to
celebrate the sacraments in a worthy and dignified manner; to be a shepherd to
the sick and housebound; a guide to the children in school and a support to
families and others in crisis. It is a varied and challenging life for which
none of us thinks he is fit, but we struggle on doing the best we can and
trying to be the kind of priest, the sort of Father, we are called to be. We are
not meant to simply but be his envoy, but to make Him present; to personify Him
in the world around us. And that is no easy task.
Today in our Diocese we received notice of the death
of one of our own priests: Father Lawrence Jones. Father was 53 years old and a
priest for 29 years this year. He had a great sense of humour, of fairness, and
of dedication to God and the people. He will be sadly missed. If we were having
a vocations talk today I would be sharing the following video of Father
Lawrence. Enjoy, and offer a prayer for Father and his family, please.
Dear Father,
ReplyDeleteThis is very sad news indeed.
We both knew Fr. Lawrence from our days in the North East.
He was a pastor of souls who loved Christ's priesthood and flock. A man blessed with a marvellous sense of humour.
May God rest his soul.
In Christ
Alan and Angeline
I'm pleased you knew Fr Lawrence. You have affirmed what I thought f the man myself.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless -and have a happy and blessed Wedding Anniversary!
What a lovely man and a good priest.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this video
I will remember Fr. Lawrence and his family in my Rosary intentions this evening. May his Soul and all the Souls of the Faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in Peace, Amen.
ReplyDelete