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Each Friday in this Year for Priests I'll post this prayer and invite you to remember all priests and especially those who have been, who are and who may one day be a part of your life.
Several prayers for the Year for Priests are available through the US Bishops site. As an exercise for myself to enter into the spirit of this year, I wrote the following. For whatever use you make of it on behalf of my brother priests and me, we are most grateful. (Links to other material on the Year for Priests can be found on the sidebar.)
A Prayer for Priests
Gracious God, loving Father,
font of every gift and good,
make of priests for us we pray:
men of faith, men of love,
humble servants of your Word,
prophets of your Spirit’s grace;
men of hope, men of peace,
strong defenders of the truth,
heralds of your holy gospel;
men of prayer, men of praise,
guardians of our sacred rites,
of the scriptures and tradition;
men of changelessness and change,
men who follow you each day,
when and where your Spirit leads;
men of tenderness and strength,
comfort for the sick and weary,
shepherds leading home the lost;
men of counsel, men of wisdom,
gentle guides for the confused,
lights along the darkened path;
men of mercy, patient men,
understanding and consoling
of the grieving and abused;
men of justice and compassion,
reconciling and forgiving,
men of healing in your name;
men of sacrifice and honor,
single minded in your service,
set apart to do your will;
men of holiness and joy,
men anointed by your grace,
men ordained to serve as Christ.
Make us one with them in faith
and in Christ your only Son
in whose holy name we pray.
Amen.
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Coming on the heels of the article you posted prior (Greater need for women in roles of responsibility), perhaps we could extend this prayer to women. (I know... Year of Priests... but still.)
ReplyDeleteAnd to play with language a bit, the article says "a greater female presence, not at a subordinate level". How about at an ordinate level? :)
In all seriousness, perhaps ordination should not be a prerequisite for the lead role in church or diocesan management. The role of the priest in the sacrificial rite is not the same thing as the role of the head executive in a company or the head of a family, and women do perform both of those roles admirably. In fact perhaps a parish could have both a "father" and a "mother", fulfilling the priestly and managerial roles respectively? The church is after all the bride of Christ.