28th September 2008 - Priesthood Sunday
Today is a day set aside to celebrate the gift that the Ministerial Priesthood is in the life of the church. It takes place within the wider celebration of the year of vocation. The priesthood of the New Testament has it's origins in the calling by Jesus of the twelve. Over the last 2000 or so years many people have heard those three beautiful words 'come follow me' and have acted out on them. That call to follow is addressed to every Christian, however to some it is lived out in a particular way of service. It is a call that fewer people are answering today, but I have no doubt that call is still being addressed. We need as a Christian community to provide an atmosphere in which that call can be heard and then to support those who are prepared to answer it.
During the week I went into our three classes preparing for First Holy Communion and I talked to them about what it is like being a priest. I also asked them how many of them would like to be a priest and just one boy put up his hand. Further on in our conversation it came up that priests cannot get married, so even that one boy became less certain when he heard about that particular discipline. That may appear humorous and yet it says a lot about the perception people have about priesthood in general. Many people are of the opinion that priests should be allowed to marry, you see many opinion polls testifying to that. However the churches which allow married priests are not exactly straining at the seams. Some people see the admission of women to the priesthood as a solution and yet the church teaches that she has no authority to call women to Holy Orders. This teaching was defined by Pope John Paul II a number of years ago. It does not mean that women are inferior to men; it simply means that the church wants to be faithful to the will of Christ, guided as she is by Scripture, by Tradition, and by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The vocation crisis today is multilayered. The exercise of the Ministerial Priesthood will have to change in the years ahead as the numbers fast diminish. That might not be a bad thing, as it will return the ministry to what was envisaged at the very beginning of the church. There is no reason for a priest to be involved on a school board of management, or to be so involved in parish and diocesan administration. A priest is called above all to be a man of prayer and in a real sense his existence is more about being that doing. The celebration of the Sacraments is his central role as is the preaching of the Word of God.
During the week I asked the boys and girls in school to pray to God for all those who are being called by God. Perhaps a few of you in the church are thinking about it. If you are, I ask you to be courageous enough to answer. and indeed to swim against the tide. May Mary the Mother of God sustain all priests in the service of God. May she intercede for all who are being called by God in these critical times. Amen.
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Homilies Archive
2009 HOMILIES
25th December 2008
Christmas
21st December 2008
14th December 2008
8th December 2008
Immaculate Conception
7th December 2008
2nd Sunday of Advent
30th November 2008
1st Sunday of Advent
23rd November 2008
Christ the King
16th November 2008
2nd November 2008
All Souls
1st November 2008
All Saints
26th October 2008
12th October 2008
5th October 2008
28th September 2008
21st September 2008
14th September 2008
7th September 2008
31st August 2008
24th August 2008
17th August 2008
15th August 2008
Assumption
10th August 2008
3rd August 2008
20th July 2008
13th July 2008
29th June 2008
22nd June 2008
1st June 2008
23rd March 2008
Easter Sunday
22nd March 2008
Easter Vigil
2nd March 2008
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17th February 2008
10th February 2008
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