World Priest Day

Today as we celebrate World Priest Day we honor the men who have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Let me then, today take a few moments and reflect on the priesthood.

Sacramentally there are three key things that only priests can do. Hear confessions and give absolution. Anoint the sick. And most importantly, consecrate the Eucharist.

When you consider those three sacraments, they offer a powerful testament to the meaning of the priesthood. Because those sacraments - confession, anointing, the Eucharist - are ones that bring us most profoundly into the presence of God.

They touch our lives with grace. At moments when we are broken, we are made whole. At times when we are separated from God, we are reconciled with Him. At the high point of the mass, the greatest sacrifice is offered again and again and again, and Christ is made present, and he becomes, once again, a part of us.

At these moments in our lives, we encounter the perfect God through the imperfect hands of a man. The created brings to us our Creator. And it happens only through the hands of the priest.

The priest is the only one who is there at all the critical moments of life...from the very beginning, to the very end, and so many of the mileposts in between. He isn't there just to bless rosaries or pose for pictures. He is there to make God present, and make that presence real. He is there to walk with us on the journey.

To all those priests who have walked with us on the journey...to those who have prayed with us, celebrated with us, wept with us, forgiven us, uplifted us, hoped with us...to those who have told us again and again, "God loves you," we can only whisper those words back, along with two more: "Thank you."