The internet provider for the blog has been down, and consequently my submission this week is only in bullet points: I know that I have been late in posting lately; I will do better:
This week is Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocations Sunday:
1. Don't be afraid to give an account of your own story. This is the one Sunday of the year, I believe, you are allowed to be personal; after all YOU have a vocation.
2. The Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; there is an element of suffering in a true vocation.
3. Everyone has a vocation; the most important one is to be holy! (cf. Vatican II!)
4. Ask people to pray for vocations; no priests no Eucharist, no Eucharist no Church.....
5. If you are happy in your vocation let it be known. If you are not ask the Good Shepherd for strength.
6. If a young man/woman presented themselves with what they believed to be a vocation...what would you tell them?
7. The Vocation we all share is to proclaim the Good Shepherd is risen: Surrexit Pastor Bonus, Alleluia!
Two reflections:
The Beautiful Hands of a Priest.
We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek it while tasting life's woes.
When we come to this world we are sinful,
The greatest as well as the least.
And the hands that make us pure as angels
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness
Their dignity stands alone.
For there in the stillness of morning
Ere the sun has emerged from the east,
There God rests between the pure fingers
Of the beautiful hands of a priest.
When we are tempted and wander
To pathways of shame and sin
'Tis the hand of a priest that absolve us.
Not once but again and again.
And when we are taking life's partner
Other hands may prepare us a feast
But the hands that will bless and unite us,
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress,
What can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him who chose them to bless
When the death dews on our lids are falling,
May our courage and strength be increased
By seeing raised o'er us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.
Thou Art a Priest Forever (Lacordaire)
To live in the midst of the world,
Without wishing its pleasures;
To be a member of each family,
Yet belonging to none;
To share all sufferings;
To penetrate all secrets;
To heal all wounds;
To go from men to God
And offer Him their Prayers;
To return from God to men
To bring pardon and hope;
To have a heart of fire for charity
And a heart of bronze for chastity;
To teach and to pardon,
Console and bless always--
What a glorious life!
And it is yours,
O Priest of Jesus Christ!
This is a nice recording of Orlando Lasso's 'Surrexit Pastor Bonus'
No comments:
Post a Comment