What you say and how you live always go hand in hand, building up
the church and the people of God, Pope Francis told new priests. "Therefore,
may your doctrine be nourishment to the people of God, joy and supporting those
faithful to Christ (be) the fragrance of your life, because the word and
example go together," he said. "Word
and example edify the house of God, which is the church," he said in his
homily April 17, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Celebrating
Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis ordained 11 new priests; nine were
ordained for the Diocese of Rome and two of the new priests -- including one
born in Baghdad -- belong to the Rogationist religious order. In
his homily, the pope urged the men to read, reflect on and teach the word of
God and to be a living example of what they preach. He
asked that they imitate Jesus in their lives, including "carrying Christ's
death" inside of them and walking with him in new life. "Without the
cross you will never find the true Jesus. And a cross without Christ has no
meaning." In
administering the sacraments, especially the sacrament of penance, show mercy,
he told them. "Please, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord, and in the
name of the church, I asked you to be merciful, very merciful." He
reminded the men that they were called by Jesus to continue his mission as
teacher, priest and shepherd, and to serve the church and the people of God. "Always
have in front of your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd, who didn't come to
be served, but to serve and to look for and save those who were lost," he
said. Later
in the day, the pope told those gathered in St. Peter's Square for the
"Regina Coeli" prayer that the image of a shepherd with his flock
"shows the close relationship that Jesus wants to establish with each one
of us." "He
is our guide, our teacher, our friend, our role model, but above all, he is our
Savior," the pope said. Christ
has saved humanity and "nothing and nobody will be able to wrench us from
Jesus' hands because nothing and no one can overpower his love," he said.
"Jesus' love is invincible." While
the devil and his minions try all sorts of ways to tear this promise of eternal
life away from people, "the evil one cannot do anything unless we open the
doors of our soul to him, and follow his deceptive enticements," he said.
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
