DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:
FEAST OF ST. JOHN MARY VIANNEY PATRON OF PRIESTS
ESPECIALLY PARISH PRIESTS
My Beloved, every priest is another Christ. He must constantly call people to repentance. He must not be afraid to call sin by its correct name. A sin is an offense against God and man. He must not dilute the truth in order to make it more palatable or to seek popularity among his people. Sometimes the truth can be hard, harsh and bitter but it must be faced; for without the knowledge of truth about oneself there can be no conversion.
God grant that all our priests be a true reflection of Your Son, the eternal High Priest. May they lead Your people faithfully to the home that You have prepared for all Your children in Your Kingdom.
My Beloved, it is Your priests who minister to us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and who absolve us in persona Christi. It is in this light that we read verses 15-16 of this psalm. They help to lift us out of the mire of sin before it sucks us up into the vortex of its blazing inferno and devour our souls eternally.
Thank You my Beloved Jesus for the gift of Your holy priests beginning with our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and including every priest consecrated in and to You. May they minister to Your people tenderly and with compassion, especially those in most need of Your mercy.
In imitation of St. John the Baptist may our priests never compromise the holy office to which they are consecrated. May they never flatter those with money, power and fame or be flattered by them. May they have the courage to stand and proclaim the truth - the plain, unvarnished, uncompromising truth even if it should cost them their lives like St. John the Baptist.
May we the faithful love our priests, pray for them and support them not only materially as this is necessary, but more importantly may we support them with our love, our prayers and our service. Help us to look upon them as our spiritual fathers and love them as such. May the rulers of this world tremble before they dare to harm our priests because they know that the laity will never allow it. Herod wanted to kill John the Baptist but he did not dare to because
he feared the people.
May we be unafraid when it comes to standing up and defending our priests. May we not be so ready to nit pick their weaknesses for they are just as human as we, rather let us celebrate their strengths, their sacrifice, their virtues, their gifts and let us stand solidly with them always.
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