Sunday June 28th. 2009

Year for Priests

Finally, at the beginning of the universal Church’s observation of the year of the priest, we need,  continuously and prayerfully, to ponder the

Eucharistic mystery that feeds and sustains all of us on a daily basis. Without priests, we would not have the Eucharist, and without Eucharist our

lives would be void of the living Bread that came down from heaven. Our temporal and eternal existence centres on the active role a priest

May we as priests commend our lives to the prayers of our people that we may serve them with even greater devotion, and that we may all increase

in our love of the mass and the Blessed Sacrament, which are the very source of all holiness, grace and unity.

t. John Mary Vianney walked a considerable distance to take charge of his

first parish of Ars. As darkness closed in, he thought he should have seen by

now the lights of the village, but he did not realise that between him and the

I had the privilege of visiting

Ars when I was a student in

France, and prayed at the

incorrupt body of the saintly

curé where it lies in a glass case

in his church. I also visited the

statue on the spot where he met

the little shepherd boy, and the

words he spoke to him have

been a life-long incentive to

consecrate one's life to serving

the people entrusted to us as

priests,  although it may be well

nigh impossible to reach the

heights of holiness achieved by

St. John Vianney, for St. Paul

reminds us that we are vessels

of clay in  which God has

deposited the precious grace of

the priesthood.  However, with

the prayers and support of our

parishioners, we can try to give

them of our best in a service of

love and devotion.

Wording on the base of the statue: A little shepherd

boy, Antoine Givre, is able to show Monsieur

Vianney the way to Ars