Without Priests we are Doomed!

Some of the following is taken from; “Crusade for Priest” in Opus Angelorum from the internet.

In a catechetical sermon by St. John Mary Vianney titled “On the Priesthood” the holy Cure of Ars said; “When the priest remits sins, he does not say, “God pardons you;” he says “I absolve you.”  At the Consecration, he does not say, “This is the body of our Lord;” he says “This is My Body.”  If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

In another place St. John Mary Vianney said, “Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts.  If the missionary Father and I were to go away you would say, “what can we do in this church?  There is no Mass;  Our Lord is no longer there:  we may as well pray at home.”  When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer sacrifice there is no religion.”

After 43 years as a deacon, I have met many priests, some are good friends, while there are others I know casually.  Several more I discovered later were pedophiles serving time, and then I met a few who appeared to be holy without any airs about them.  They all have one common attribute; they are God’s chosen ministers regardless of their status, and each one received the Grace of ordination empowering them to forgive sin, Consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ, and reach souls with God’s blessings.  Do we judge some, condemn others, or lift a few to the status of saint?  Jesus called twelve men; fishermen, a tax collector, and ordinary men without PHD’s.  One doubted Him, one denied knowing Him three times, and one turned traitor with a kiss.  Read my article “Who did Jesus die for?”.

The Sacrament of Holy Orders has so much Grace that those upon whom hands are imposed and hands anointed are now the very instruments of Jesus Christ reaching souls with forgiveness, consecrating and issuing the Body and Blood of the Christ who suffered, died and rose from the dead to redeem mankind.  But it can’t happen without the priest who becomes Christ in the flesh of a man. 

 St. John Paul II lived from the word of God and allowed himself to be guided by the spirit of Christ, he in a sense became Christ, living among us here and now, touching hearts and changing lives.  He himself writes, “the greater or lesser degree of holiness of the minister has a real effect on the proclamation of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and the leadership of the community in charity.”  Quoted from (John Paul II, Pastores dab obis, 25).

There are many Christian preachers, some on TV and others with smaller churches, that attract a lot of people seeking what Augustine called a longing to know what they don’t understand until they find that their search is for God.  Problem here is the Holy Roman Catholic Church already has the answer to this longing and the search should end within the Holy Mass.  Of course, some of these ministers will tell their followers that they have the grace of God and you don’t need to believe what the Catholic Church teaches in its doctrines.  Just call on the name of Jesus.  Fine, except we have one major element that they do not have;  Apostolic Succession!  This comes directly from Jesus to Peter, to bishops who would follow and for two hundred centuries has withstood the battle of Powers and Principalities with many heresies, schisms, and fallen away believers to still stand the attacks of Satan and his empty promises.  Even one such minister told a close relative who feels drawn to his type of ministry that with their communion if you believe it is Jesus ok or if not that’s ok also.  This woman a staunch Catholic is enamored with his approach and she feels obligated to proselytize with other relatives.  It seems that the Mass just isn’t satisfactory enough for her searching.    

This all leads to one special element of priesthood; The Blessed Mother of God, Mary Most Holy.  Mary is the one person who reaches all priests in more ways than we might think.  She is a patroness for priests, the strength of heaven’s adversary of motherly love, and her ministry begins and ends with the life of her Son, Jesus Christ.  

The Angel Gabriel came with a greeting,

Within your womb resides the Son of God.

To a man is given a seed one day,

Who will carry the torch for Jesus Christ. 

In the temple was told to Mother Mary,

A sword will pierce your heart of love.

This man now grown also will find,

As a priest the sword of strife will come.

At the Cross His mother soon was crushed,

She watched in pain and heard the words.

Woman your son; Son your mother.

This man a priest now knows his mother.

From Incarnation to passion and death, to the Resurrection and Heaven’s Glory, Mary is there to guide and embrace every priest that is found in need of prayer.  All methods of prayer are the strength of our church, but the rosary becomes a two-edged weapon to continue the priesthood and fight the battle against Powers and Principalities.  First, Mary is there with each individual prayer, and second the enemy, Satan and his cohorts are confounded because of heaven’s gate fighting to safeguard our priests.  

At Mass, during the Doxology, the Great Amen will cease if there is no priest to elevate the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ, and without that the Mass would be no more.  Pray for your priests, their continued spiritual stability, and for the increase of more vocations in our Roman Catholic Church.  Mary is calling us to bend our knees and pray to God for the Grace needed.