THE PRIESTHOOD

Pope Benedict XVI, Shepherd of Truth

Notable quotations from Pope Benedict XVI and official
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

God makes use of us poor men in order to be, through us, present to all men and women, and to act on their behalf.

THE "AUDACITY OF GOD"

This audacity of God Who entrusts Himself to human beings — Who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead — this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word "priesthood."

READY AND ABLE

We have to beg for workers for God's harvest, and this petition to God is, at the same time, His own way of knocking on the hearts of young people who consider themselves able to do what God considers them able to do.

SHARE GOD'S CONCERN

God wants us, as priests, in one tiny moment in history, to share His concern about people. As priests, we want to be persons who share His concern for men and women, who take care of them and provide them with a concrete experience of God's concern.

WALKING WITH GOD'S PEOPLE

We should strive to "know" men and women as God does and for God's sake; we should strive to walk with them along the path of God's friendship.

A WELLSPRING OF LIFE

Every Christian and every priest should become, starting from Christ, a wellspring which gives life to others. We ought to be offering life-giving water to a parched and thirsty world.

THANK THE LORD

Lord, we thank You because for our sake you opened Your heart; because in Your death and in Your resurrection You became the source of life. Give us life, make us live from You as our source, and grant that we too may be sources, wellsprings capable of bestowing the water of life in our time. We thank You for the grace of the priestly ministry. Lord bless us, and bless all those who in our time are thirsty and continue to seek. Amen.

(Source: Homily of Mass concluding the Year for Priests, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 11, 2010)