A Special Request from Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
Pray for the souls of priests.
First, remember that you can gain indulgences on All Souls and the days following.
Second, 5 November is a first Thursday. You can gain a plenary indulgence during this year for Priests.
Third, would it not be a good idea in this Year for Priests, during the week after All Souls, for this 1st Thursday, to pray in a special way for the souls of deceased priests?
May I recommend that you bring this up with your parish priests, who might make pulpit announcements this Sunday?
If you are a blogger, would you post something on this?
Would you recommend this to your prayer groups, friends and family?
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Fr. Gordon MacRae on the Year for Priests
Fr. Gordon MacRae on the Year for Priests
Several hours ago or this evening, depending upon where in the world you are, the Holy Father will commence the Year of the Priest following First Vespers of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.
We priests are all encouraged to join ourselves spiritually to our Holy Father and to the Sacred Heart of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose image we are ordained and in whose Heart we serve. The faithful are also encouraged to join our Holy Father as we begin this new year in the life of the Church, a year dedicated to the wounded and suffering Priesthood of Christ.
As we begin this year I want to thank the readers of Priests in Crisis, and those who read numerous other sites and have posted messages directed to me, a priest in prison. After 15 years in prison your messages may be saving my faith. Two weeks ago I was aware that the Year of the Priest was beginning on this date.
I read the news of our Holy Father’s announcement as though I was seeing it through a very dense cloud. It is inevitable that prisoners feel separated from the world. In the life of our Church I very often feel a deeply felt separation. In just a few short weeks since Pentecost, your messages and prayers have built for me a bridge to Rome upon which I can partake of the life of the Church again in a spirit of unity with all of you who are, in fact, the Church.
Your faithfulness to the teachings of the Church, to the Corporal Works of Mercy, and to the alienated among us have been an inspiration for me and I feel deeply touched by your prayers. On this Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus I will also pray for you.
With love and blessings,
Fr. Gordon MacRae
See Fr. John Zuhlsdorf’s commentary on:
Leave Year for Priests greetings for Father Gordon MacRae in the comments section below!
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Adopt a Priest: Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
Fr. Owen Gorman preached a retreat during Holy Week. Father’s from the Diocese of Clogher in Ireland. On that particular Tuesday, he discussed Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests, a booklet released by the Holy See’s Congregation for the Clergy on December 8, 2007. This Vatican initiative encourages the vocation of spiritual motherhood for priests. It’s a vocation for all women, and men as well, not just for those in the consecrated life.
Here’s the beautiful pdf of
Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
and here’s Fr. Owen Gorman’s talk detailing stories of how prayers for individual priests profoundly changed the course of their lives. To adopt your individual priest, revisit this post for adoption details.
Fr. Joseph Mary at Our Lady of the Angel’s Monastery spoke of this Vatican initiative during his homily on February 14, 2007. If you want to get right to the homily, it’s about a quarter of the way in.
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Opus Sanctorum Angelorum Crusade for Priests: Here’s How You Can Spiritually Adopt Your Priest Today
“The vocation to be a spiritual mother for priests is hardly known, barely understood and consequently, rarely lived, although fundamental and vitally important.” ~ Congregation for the Clergy, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
This weekend, I received a packet from Opus Sanctorum Angelorum’s (Work of the Holy Angels) Crusade for Priests. I asked to adopt a priest spiritually, and they sent me his name on a holy card. I put it in a small picture frame and entrusted my adopted priest, Father Damien, to Our Lady.
I don’t know a thing about Father Damien, but that doesn’t matter. Opus Sanctorum Angelorum sent me the prayers and suggested sacrifices. Each year on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, they’ll send me the name of another priest to adopt for the year.
Adopt your priest here at Crusade for Priests
In the meantime, why don’t you pray for Fr. Damien?
If you haven’t heard of Opus Sanctorum Angelorum or the Canons Regular, you will enjoy listening to a 2/21/2001 episode of Mother Angelica Live. The Canons were founded to reform the priesthood back in the day.
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Fr. Benedict Groeschel on How to Deal with Injustice on a Personal Level
“Thou hast caused my companions to shun me; thou hast made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow.” Ps 88: 8 (cont. at end of post)
If you are a priest who has been railroaded by diocesan officials, take solace in today’s post. Chances are that your former confreres won’t touch you with a 10 foot pole in case trouble is catchy. I’ll address this phenomenon in depth in a future post. For today though, I’ll bring to you a recent episode of Sunday Night Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel:
Why does life seem unfair?
The title may seem trite considering that you may have been shown the door with a few hour’s notice and stripped of most, if not all, of your priestly faculties with absolutely no due process. I assure you, this is not a light weight talk. Father answers the question:
So what do you do to deal with this injustice?
He answers the question in a broader context that still speaks to priests suffering from their own situations. If you have just been removed from ministry, please contact Joe Maher with Opus Bono Sacerdotii, so that you can get the canonical, legal, moral, and spiritual support that you need. There is no cost to the priest. In the meantime, this is a time when faithful priests and laity can also help you.
Father Groeschel also touches on suicide at the end of the broadcast. He mentions a few resource I’ll leave at the end for your convenience. Before I close for today, I leave you with this post:
A Vocation in Response to Evil
Fr. Groeschel recommends:
Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To by Anthony DeStefano
Arise from Darkness by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
Psalm 88
1 O LORD, my God, I call for help by day; I cry out in the night before thee. 2 Let my prayer come before thee, incline thy ear to my cry! 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit; I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom thou dost remember no more, for they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me, and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves.
8 Thou hast caused my companions to shun me; thou hast made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon thee, O LORD; I spread out my hands to thee. 10 Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise thee? 11 Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are thy wonders known in the darkness, or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, cry to thee; in the morning my prayer comes before thee. 14 O LORD, why dost thou cast me off? Why dost thou hide thy face from me? 15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless. 16 Thy wrath has swept over me; thy dread assaults destroy me. 17 They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in upon me together. 18 Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me; my companions are in darkness.
Job 38-40
Related posts
Fr. Benedict Groeschel & Catherine Doherty on How to Sanctify Your New Found (or Foisted Upon) Solitude
In the last post, I mentioned the Servant of God Catherine Doherty and her Madonna House Apostolate.
Fr. Benedict Groeschel when founding the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, along with Fr. Stan Fortuna, was deeply influenced by Catherine Doherty’s Poustinia. She’s not the only Catherine he mentions frequently. Catherine of Genoa and Catherine of Siena are other lay reformers who get plenty of air time on Fr. Groeschel’s broadcasts.
I plan to write future posts on the other Catherines as inspiration for the Laity to reform the renewal in the Church.
What does this have to do with priests thrown into administrative leave without due process? Catherine Doherty’s Poustinia helps priests sanctify their new found (or foisted upon) solitude.
Find out all about her and her Poustinia from Fr. Groeschel and her postulator on the
May 11, 2008 Sunday Night Live
After listening, read Fr. Joseph’s blog post to see how he has sanctified his solitude while on administrative leave without due process. He shares glimpses throughout his post archives.
Monday, October 24, 2005: Knock, Knock!
