For Jesus and the Apostles the new day began with sunset on the evening preceeding; therefore, tonight’s celebration of the Mass will begin the Easter Triduum and the Church’s celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Our Lord. Although we may come and go from the church during this time, in reality this is one celebration. Just as Mass may be broken up into the Liturgy of the Word/Mass of the Catechumens and Liturgy of the Eucharist/Mass of the Faithful but it’s all one Mass, the Easter Triduum may be broken up into Holy Thursday Mass, Good Friday Liturgy of the Word and Veneration of the Cross, etc. so that we know where we are in the celebration so to speak but it’s all part of the Easter Triduum. If it’s at all possible, don’t miss any part of this one celebration.
The Institution of the Priesthood is celebrated at the Chrism Mass which for pastoral reasons (like allowing pastors to be present in their parishes for Mass on Thursday evening) is often celebrated earlier in the week. At this Mass our priests renew their priestly vows. Even though the Chrism Mass may have already taken place in your diocese, it’s a particularly good day to be in prayer for our priests and to pray for vocations.
Prayer for Priests
Divine Savior Jesus Christ, who has entrusted the whole work of redemption, the welfare and salvation of the world, to priests as your representatives, through the hands of your most holy Mother and for the sanctification of your priests and candidates for the priesthood, I offer you this present day wholly and entirely, with all its prayers, workds, joys, sacrifices, and sorrows. Give us truly holy priests who, inflamed with the fire of your divine love, seek nothing but your greater glory and the salvation of our souls.
And you, Mary, good Mother of priests, protect all priests in the dangers of their holy vocation and, with the loving hand of a mother, also lead back to the Good Shepherd those poor priests who have become unfaithful to their exalted vocation and have gone astray. Amen.
Pope Benedict XVI on his vocation….
It became clearer and clearer to me that there is more to the priestly vocation than enjoying theology, indeed, that work in the parish can often lead very far away from that and make completely different demands…The Yes to the priesthood meant that I had to say Yes to the whole task, even in its simplest forms.
Since I was rather diffident and downright unpractical, since I had no talent for sports or administration or organization, I had to ask myself whether I would be able to relate to people — whether, for example, as a chaplain I would be able to lead and inspire Catholic youth, whether I would be capable of giving religious instruction to the little ones, whether I could get along with the old and sick, and so forth. I had to ask myself whether I would be ready to do that my whole life long and whether it was really my vocation.
Bound up with this was naturally the question of whether I would be able to remain celibate, unmarried, my whole life long…I often pondered these questions as I walked in the beautiful park of Fűrstenried and naturally in the chapel, until finally at my diaconal ordination in the fall of 1950 I was able to pronounce a convinced Yes.
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