“The priest in whom the sacred character conceals the human aspect disturbs by his mere presence the dark and secret things that lurk within us. The earth trembles under the foot of Jesus Christ.” — FranÇois Mauriac
The Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, says: “The priest will only understand himself really in heaven. If he understood it on earth he would die, not of fear, but of love.” The priesthood is an extraordinary mystery. Jesus chose men to be his stewards, determined that their frail human hands would bear the things of heaven. Christ is the High Priest, the one who intercedes for us before the throne of heaven. Every other priest serves by Christ’s grace. Msgr. Ronald Knox says the priest is “a living tool of Jesus Christ. He lends his hands, to be Christ’s hands, his voice, to be Christ’s voice, his thoughts, to be Christ’s thoughts.” The words the priest says at Mass are not his own words, they are the words of Christ!
LET US PRAY
Lord Jesus, may I see your work and hear your voice through the labors of your priests. Send your holy angels to guard and protect your priests in the vineyard. Through the ministry of our priests, may many countless souls be saved. Amen.
PRAYER TO THE EUCHARIST
O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
-Collect for the Feast of Corpus Christi, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas