What a comforting thing to know that Jesus chose someone to help us walk as His disciples. He is the Good Shepherd, and He cares about His sheep. And just as Jesus gave His life to serve the human family, so too, He calls certain men to stand in His place today and continue to give their lives in service to us. A priest is a priest twenty-four hours a day. During the day, he must celebrate Mass, visit the sick, and counsel people who need his help. He must stay close to his young people and the parish school; he must watch over and guide the many groups that are part of his parish family. He must prepare his homilies so that they help his people understand and live out the word of God. He must pray daily for God’s help – for himself and for his people. He must stay in touch with families to encourage them as followers of Jesus. At night, he must be ready to get out of bed and be there when someone is sick or dying or in an accident and in need of the sacraments
A priest’s heart is an open door that many people knock on at all hours. The priesthood is not a job. It is a calling from Jesus, to bring Jesus to His people, and to bring the people to Jesus. We are so glad Fr. Dave said “Yes” when Jesus called him. When we get to heaven, we will understand more fully what a great gift our priests are. We will understand that it was our priests who gave us new life with the Risen Jesus through Baptism. It was our priests who fed us with the word of God and the Holy Eucharist each Sunday to give us the strength to live as followers of Jesus. It was our priests who forgave us our sins; it was our priests who made it possible for our parents to come together in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony to raise us as followers of Jesus. Many of our relatives were made ready to go to heaven by our priests, who anointed them and forgave their sins in their dying moments. So today, we give God our praise and thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. ONLY the hands of the priest can bring us the Body and Blood of Jesus; ONLY the priest is given God’s power to forgive sins. And so, we say Thank You to God for our Pastor, Fr. Dave who said “Yes” to Jesus, who for years has brought Jesus to His people, and His people to Jesus. May God bless Fr. Dave with abundant blessings in return for his “Yes” every day, 24 hours a day, for years. May he be blessed with many more years, and be carried by the joy of Jesus, who sees the happy souls Fr. Dave has brought close to Him
A priest’s heart is an open door that many people knock on at all hours. The priesthood is not a job. It is a calling from Jesus, to bring Jesus to His people, and to bring the people to Jesus. We are so glad Fr. Dave said “Yes” when Jesus called him. When we get to heaven, we will understand more fully what a great gift our priests are. We will understand that it was our priests who gave us new life with the Risen Jesus through Baptism. It was our priests who fed us with the word of God and the Holy Eucharist each Sunday to give us the strength to live as followers of Jesus. It was our priests who forgave us our sins; it was our priests who made it possible for our parents to come together in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony to raise us as followers of Jesus. Many of our relatives were made ready to go to heaven by our priests, who anointed them and forgave their sins in their dying moments. So today, we give God our praise and thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. ONLY the hands of the priest can bring us the Body and Blood of Jesus; ONLY the priest is given God’s power to forgive sins. And so, we say Thank You to God for our Pastor, Fr. Dave who said “Yes” to Jesus, who for years has brought Jesus to His people, and His people to Jesus. May God bless Fr. Dave with abundant blessings in return for his “Yes” every day, 24 hours a day, for years. May he be blessed with many more years, and be carried by the joy of Jesus, who sees the happy souls Fr. Dave has brought close to Him
