The following is Bishop
Greg O'Kelly SJ's pastoral letter to the Diocese of Port Pirie to mark the
beginning of the Year of the Priest.
Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has announced the Year of the Priest.
It commenced on the Feast of the Sacred Heart this year, 21 June, and runs
through until the same feast next year.
The Sacred Heart is a symbol for the Church of the compassion and love of
Christ, and from the Sacred Heart flowed blood and water, the fountain for the sacramental
life of the Church. It is one of the most appropriate feasts for the Church and
her priests.
Celebrating this Year of the Priest provides an opportunity of grace for us.
Each of us is called to ministry by virtue of our baptism. By baptism we are
all made members of the Body of Christ, and our vocation is to be His presence
in the world. We are His voice, His touch, His outreach to all our brothers and
sisters. Ministry is the vocation of all Christians, lay and cleric. At our
baptism we were told that we had been anointed as priest, prophet and royal
person - all of us.
Among the baptised, there are those called to the special ministry of Holy
Orders. Their vocation is to live a life of ministry of Word and Sacrament, to
help the faithful remain true to who they are, a priestly people. From the
earliest days of the Church priests have been ordained to celebrate the
sacraments, to break open the Word of God to enliven God's people, to nurture people
spiritually, to care for the people in all their needs and at the limit
situations of their lives in illness and at death, and the times of great joy,
at births and marriage.
The Year of the Priest gives the whole Church the opportunity to pray for
our priests in thanks, and to pray that the Lord will send more labourers for
the harvest. The Diocese of Port Pirie has twenty-five priests, but only five
are under fifty years of age. We have no seminarians. For us the Year of the
Priest is a special opportunity to pray for vocations.
The priest has been described as a Bearer of Mystery, a Prophet of the Church,
and a Wounded Healer. We know the wounds; we pray for strength and the
integrity for all in ministry. We know how the dedication and prayerfulness of
our priests can heal those in distress.
Our priests give their lives for the service of all and the building up
of the Christian community in faith, hope and love. Our priests are Bearers of
Mystery as they enact the sacraments and point by their lives to the presence
in all things of the Father, the Maker of the Universe, the One who sustains
all things in existence. Our priests through their lives and dedication point
to the truths beyond the surface.
Our priests stand at the altar to enable the Church to do what Christ commanded,
'Do this in memory of Me'. In the Gospel, Jesus says, ‘I am the Bread of Life'.
Our priests are, on behalf of the Church, the givers of the Bread of Life.
During this Year of the Priest, Pope Benedict will declare St John Vianney,
the Curé of Ars, patron for all priests, diocesan and those in religious
orders. St John Vianney lived in a time of great desolation in the Church,
following the devastation arising from the French Revolution and the Wars of
Napoleon. He lived in an era when the standing and morale of the Church was low
and many of the churches empty, and vocations to religious life were few. By
his utter dedication to his priesthood, his very deep prayer life and total
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and his service in the confessional, the
country priest of the Village
of Ars attracted
thousands of people on pilgrimage to hear him.
May all people support our priests, and may all of us, priests and
people, be drawn by our prayer life and special devotion to the Blessed
Eucharist, to enable Christ to live in our hearts evermore deeply.
By Bishop Greg O'Kelly
SJ, Diocese of Port Pirie.
Finding the Sacred in the Secular:
Jesuit Spirituality and Vocation
The
Jesuit Vocations Ministry is hosting an evening for young men interested in
finding out more about Jesuit spirituality at Jesuit Theological College on 26
August.
The
evening, ‘Finding the Sacred in the Secular: Jesuit Spirituality and Vocation',
will be a chance to meet and hear from Jesuits about their ministry and
calling, and to think more deeply about God's calling.
The
evening is open to young men aged 18 to 35, and will begin at 5.30pm at Jesuit
Theological College, 175 Royal Parade, Parkville on 26 August 2009.
To
register your interest, contact Danielle Mann on (03) 9341 5800 or dmann@jtc.edu.au.
For
more information about Jesuit vocations, visit www.jesuitvocation.org.au.