CAPG's Blog 

not only in stature and years, but in the full and perfect sense of the word, is the glory of our nature, of the human; and the life which he leads is an honor to the religion that has made him what he is, and a source of salutary influence to all who know him, bay, even to the world at large. "Every noble life," says Ruskin, "leaves the fiber of it interwoven for ever in the work of the world." The example of such a life gives light and strength to men when they are tempted to despair, and inspires them with courage to grapple with difficulties and struggle till they achieve success.

There are those who. though they reach maturity, and even old age, remain mere children in character. They have no stability or firmness of mind, and they are as froward and impatient as in the days when they played with toys. Impulse and unworthy motive rule them, and they know not what it is, in the practical details of conduct, to be guided by principle. In a Christian, whose very name signifies one who denies himself and follows Christ, it is childishness to live for the pursuit of pleasure, to love display, to cherish thoughts of vanity, to be greedy of men's praise, and to seek deliberately after the enjoyment of comforts and luxuries. There are multitudes of young men who do all this, and moreover, live in sin and under the yoke of sinful habits. in weakness of Character they are veritable children, and yet they call those men fools, and milksops who, with steadfast energy, strength, and courage, overcome themselves and, in the highest sense, "scorn delights and live laborious days." No one, man or woman, merits the name of Christian who has not attained manhood in Christ and put away the childishness that is swayed by inefficacy of purpose, the fear of ridicule, and the inordinate desire of visible things, as if life on earth were never to end.

Source: Within the Soul: Helps in the Spiritual Life, a Book of Little Essays, by Fr. Michael J. Watson, S.J. 1914

When a priest realizes the value of a soul and the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, his zeal is at once kindled, and "the charity of Christ presses" him to go without delay to all who need him....

It was Saint Ambrose's practice never to shut himself in his house, but to be accessible at all times.

Saint Francis of Sales sometimes spent a long time with persons of no consequence, who talked to him of things of trifling importance. The Saint would say: "These matters appear to them weighty, and they want to be comforted. God knows I require no higher employment. The merit of our services consists not in the excellency of the works done, but in the love which accompanies them. An action of small virtue, done with much love of God, is far more excellent than a great work done with less love of God."

The life of a good priest is thus seen to be a life of continual charity to God and to his neighbor. He is hereby in the direct road to Christian perfection. Doubtless the trials of his virtue are very great, for he lives in the world; and unless he trains himself to be a man of highest principle, and that principle the love of God and of his neighbor, and unless he strives to live and act accordingly, he will very easily be drawn from God and from hi life of true charity to the life and spirit of the world around him. Let him learn a spiritual secret given by Saint Augustine: Si adharebis superiori, conculcabis inferiora. Keep to the higher principle, cling to Divine things, the you shall conquer the things of the world and the flesh. By cleaving to the higher, you are superior to the lower. Be not conformed to this world, but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the foo, and the acceptable and the perfect will of God.

Source: A Spiritual Retreat By Fr. H. Reginald Buckler

All you legions and choirs of Angels, please make haste to come to the aid and defense of our One Holy Roman Catholic Church.

Led by St. Michael, may She be protected from destruction within by all modernistic attempts that try to diminish the true presence of God and take away His proper and due respect!

In particular, come to the aid of my parish (name your parish) that it may remain or be remade to be a place of reverence and a stronghold from which the One True Triune God may continue to lead and strengthen us. Amen.

Source: Curé d'Ars Prayer Group

This connotes the man of God. The priest is man of God - that is, he ought to be. 

If he is, he will give the word of God;  If he is not, he speaks and works in his own human spirit; and as the priest, so the people.

What untold misery has followed in the Church in times gone by, because pastors have not been men of God! "They sound forth the word, but they give not the spirit. Arianism and Protestantism were largely the outcome of unworthy priests. It is the spirit and the power and the touch of God that souls need, and for this we want men of God - that is, men of prayer who are "all for God," who live and work by Him, and according to Him. "If any man speak, let him speak as the words of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the power that God administereth, that in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ.

Source: A Spiritual Retreat By Fr. H. Reginald Buckler