The Priest is a Father
by VP
Posted on Tuesday May 03, 2022 at 01:00AM in Articles
"The priest is a man of the people, a father, a
friend, a guide, a defender. It is his duty to commend good, to
denounce evil, to lead the people into virtue, to keep them from vice,
to guard the fold from the ravening wolves, to feed the sheep with
life-giving food, to train them in the ways that lead to strength and
beauty of goodness.
What a work the Christian priesthood had done in the history of the
world! It preached the Gospel to pagan Rome and Jewish Palestine, it
converted Constantine and his empire; and evangelized the barbarians; it
brought the Gospel of Christ to every nation; it built the Christian
altar by the running brook, on the hillside and in the mountain
fastness, that everywhere the people might have salvation; near the
altar; it built the Christian school; it preserved letters and science,
and civilized the world.
The saints of old, who taught men morality, established Christianity and
ruled the Christian Church, were priests. The missionaries, who gave up
life and its ambitions to consecrate themselves to the service of God,
were saintly priests of the Christian Church. They built the Church of
God into the life of every nation; they have brought the Church to this
land and to our day. We are the successors to that same priesthood, and
upon us falls the same responsibility.
The priest of today must be prepared to meet the exigencies of the
times; he must have the spirit of his vocation and courage of his
convictions, manfully and fearlessly standing for the truth. He is
called to be a leader."
Source: Our Church, Her Children and Institutions, 1908 By Rt. Rev. Thomas. J. Conaty, D.D.
