Mary, Queen of Vocations... Pray for us!
Pope Benedict XVI on the Priesthood
 "The
priest must be a believer, one who converses with God.
If this is not the case, then all his activities are
futile. The most lofty and important thing a priest can
do for people is first of all being what he is: a
believer. Through faith he lets God, the other, come
into the world. And if the other is not at work, our
work will never be enough; When people sense that one is
there who believes, who lives with God and from God,
hope becomes a reality for them as well. Through the
faith of the priest, doors open up all around for
people: it is really possible to believe, even today.
All human believing is a believing-with, and for this
reason the one who believes before us is so important.
In many ways this person is more exposed in his faith
than the others, since their faith depends on his and
since, at any given time, he has to withstand the
hard-ships of faith for them….
There is a mutual given-and-take in faith in which
priests and lay people become mediators of the nearness
of God for one another. The priest must also nurture the
humility of such receiving in himself ….
The first “task” a priest has to do is to be a believer
and to become one ever anew and ever more. Faith is
never simply there automatically; it must be lived. It
leads us into conversation with God which involves
speaking and listening to the same degree. Faith and
prayer belong together; they cannot be separated. The
time spent by a priest on prayer and listening to
Scripture is never time lost to pastoral care or time
withheld from others. People sense whether the work and
words of their pastor spring from prayer fabricated at
his desk."
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, from A New Song for the Lord,
tr. by Martha M Matesich, NY: Crossroad Publishing Co.,
1996, and quoted in Magnificat for Holy Thursday, March
24, 2005.
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