Thank- The Year of the Priest

 THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST.

The Year of the Priest Icon.

Thank- The Year of the Priest 

Welcome to my seventh 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 four 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 SUPPORT

THANK

 Let us continue with THANK.

It has been said that thankfulness is the key to holiness. The late Pope John Paul 11 named thanksgiving as an essential element to Jesus' prayer life and union with God. He said: "At the very heart of all that Jesus says and does is His awareness that everything is a gift of God, and that the only adequate response to to give thanks."
St Ambrose recommended that thankfulness is good manners, gracious and an important duty.  Thankfulness encourages us to think of the wonders God has done for us personally and to render thanks with love. 

To be thankful of our priest means to:

·                     Gladden your priest and to gladden Christ. The priest's assignment to our parishes was screened through God's providence, wisdom and love. A thankful gesture can sustain him through rugged intervals when he feels unappreciated by those who he serves.

·                     Understand that everything is a gift from God and to encourage a priest by walking the journey with him is a special gift God has given.

Obviously, every priest is unique with different gifts God has endowed. Get to know your priest well, so that you can show and give him the thanks he needs. What we do to show and give him thanks will be unique to each of us and unique to each priest. The important point is that we find our own unique way of rendering thanks to our priests, as it is the only adequate response to God's gift.

During this Year of the Priest, be challenged to thank your priest.