Message for future priests

Cardinal Piacenza publishes a letter to seminarians to celebrate the day for the sanctification of priests



Cardinal Mauro Piacenza (Photo: caorleduomo.blogspot.ca)

"Priests are channels through which God makes the divine call resound in the heart of those He has chosen," Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, writes in his letter to seminarians published June 7.

He reminds seminarians of their role as the mediator between heaven and earth, which is fulfilled through the celebration of the liturgy and the sacraments. Their response to their priestly vocation, Cardinal Piacenza added, must be of generosity and joy, empowered by fidelity and perseverance.

Here is an excerpt:

Dearest Seminarians,

The Primacy of Grace in the Priestly Life

On the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate most significantly the day for the sanctification of priests and, as you are in the Seminary to respond in the most fitting way possible to your vocation, it is important for me to send you this letter, with great affection, so that you may feel involved and, as such, remember this important occasion.

We contemplate together today the origin of the divine vocation. The Holy Father has emphasized firmly the love in which those who are Priests of Christ and of the Church must participate. In his homily at his first Chrism Mass (28 March 2013), Pope Francis said "This I ask you: be shepherds, with the 'odour of the sheep.'" By this striking image, the Successor of Peter invites us to have a strong and solid love for the People of God, a love which – as the same Pontiff has noted – is not fed from purely human sources, nor is it reinforced by techniques of self-persuasion.

For full text, click here.