Imagine- The Year of the Priest

THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST.

THE MASS: THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST ICON.

Welcome to my fourth post on 'The Year of the Priest' Series. Each week until end of June 2010, this series will provide food for thought on the Year of the Priest’, examine how we, as laity, can appreciate the gift of Priesthood in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and encourage our priests in this special year. If you missed my last three posts on this series, why not take a look.

I wish to focus our attention on how we might actively help our priests. I will use the acrostic form P-R-I-E-S-T

 PRAY...REFLECT...IMAGINE...ESTEEM...SUPPORT ...THANK  

Last week I wrote about REFLECT 

 Let us continue with IMAGINE.  

IMAGINE

Imagine having to plan a Sunday liturgy that would not use a priest. What would you do? Would you: 

• attend and yearn for the Mass
• stay at home and have a sleep in.
• say some extra prayers or none at all
•  read the bible readings of the day or read a good novel that you have been wanting to read
• watch a religious programme or have a festive meal. 

 Even if you attended for one Sunday, would you attend a Sunday liturgy without a priest, week in and week out? 

To develop a higher appreciation of our clergy, try to imagine how well we would manage without them?  

We might even imagine that we would be better off without our priest's homilies. How many times have you or other parishioners joked or made some comment about the homily you heard?

As St Augustine said: 'a good listener never heard a bad sermon'.  All homilies can provide some particles of soul food for those who are really listening.

The parish is not just a place for people to be baptized, married and buried. The highlight of any parish has to be the daily and Sunday Mass celebrated by a priest. 

Eucharistic ministers can distribute communion ONLY as long there are consecrated hosts in the tabernacle.

Without a priest our spirituality would be hampered- there would be no Bread of Life on which to be nourished. There would be no need for a tabernacle in the church and without Jesus, why would there be the need to have his servants in our midst.

Let us PRAY, REFLECT, IMAGINE, ESTEEM, SUPPORT, THANK our priests. 

Our priests need us and we need our priests -

let us be partners in the spiritual journey.