Year for Priests

This picture is of me on my ordination day. It was a wonderful and grace filled day. As I walked into the church I was aware of the love and prayer that surrounded me, and crucially, I knew that I would depend on that love and prayer. It has sustained me for six years, and helped me through some difficult times. Today begins the 'Year for Priests'. A time for priests to be renewed in their vocation to be servants of God's people. It is a time for the church to renew its call to our young people to consider a life of service in priesthood, diaconate, and religious life. It is a time for us to remember those priests who have served us well, whose words have inspired and whose presence in the lives of our families have enlivened God's presence among us and brought to us hope, faith and compassion. Please pray for your priests and pray for me.

A Prayer for Priest's ~ St Therese

O Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them and
shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labours with abundant fruit and
may the souls to whom they minister
be their joy and consolation
here and in heaven their beautiful and
everlasting crown.

Amen.