The Priesthood
What Do Priests Do?
Individual priests have a very wide variety of tasks within the Church. There are many specialized ministries such as being a chaplain, working at the diocesan offices, or teaching in a seminary. But the majority of priests serve in parishes.Priests instruct others...
Why Celibacy?
Discerning Priestly Celibacy Are some of these your thoughts in regards to celibacy? “I really like girls!” “I have not always lived a chaste life. Can I still be considered for the seminary?” “I struggle with purity, so I’m not sure I possess the holiness that is...
Signs of a Priestly Vocation
How do I know God is calling me? If you have ever thought about being a priest, these qualities may be clues to a future priestly vocation: 1. God has placed in your heart a desire to be a priest. If Jesus has placed a desire in your heart for the priesthood, no...
Overcoming Fear of the Priesthood
Perhaps priesthood has crossed your mind, but fear pushes the idea away: Fear of commitment Fear of celibacy Fear of being unworthy These fears are very common, even for men who are already in seminary. But literally thousands of men have had the same concerns and...
Priesthood FAQ
The purpose of a priest is to bring people to Jesus, and Jesus to people. He does this primarily by preaching the Word and offering the Sacrifice of the Mass. His daily life involves administering the sacraments—Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance and...
What is Seminary Like?
The seminary is the place where a man is formed mind, body, and soul into the image of Jesus Christ. Seminaries are not places where men walk around in silence all day chanting in Latin. Rather, they are places of joy, camaraderie, and deep learning! Today’s...
THE HEART OF MAN
When God created Adam, He gave him a threefold mission. First, along with Eve, he was to “be fertile and multiply”; to “subdue” the earth and “have dominion” over the creatures of the earth (Gen. 1:28). Then, God gives Adam in particular the commission to “cultivate and care for” the garden where He places him (Gen. 2:15). These passages reflect the keys to a man’s identity in God’s design. The heart of a man desires to generate life and to create things; to be productive; and to provide for and protect others. Said another way, every man is called to be both a husband and a father — that is, to give himself to another in love, and to be spiritually fruitful.
Each of the particular vocations God can call a man to addresses these longings of the masculine heart in a different way. Married men, priests, and religious brothers all sacrifice themselves for others. They reflect God’s own fatherhood, giving life through their self-sacrificing love, bringing order through their work, and providing for and protecting those whom God places in their care. And all of these vocations are founded on a Christian man’s primary identity — that of a beloved Son of the Father. His identity flows not from what he does, but from Whose he is — and that identity gives meaning and direction to his work.
The Priesthood
Diocesan priests are conformed to the person of Jesus Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which enables them to speak and act in persona Christi capitis (in the Person of Christ the Head). Pledging obedience to the diocesan bishop, the priest becomes a sharer in his ministry, the ministry of Christ the Good Shepherd. Through celibacy (which is intimately connected to the priesthood in the Roman Rite), the priest gives his heart exclusively to God and thus is able to love his people with the Heart of Christ the Bridegroom. That love is fruitful, making the priest a spiritual father for the people he serves. Simply put, priests bring Jesus to people and people to Jesus.
Through preaching and teaching the Word of God, a priest feeds his people and protects them from error and sin. Through celebrating the Sacraments, he brings about new life, sustains it, heals and restores it. Through leading the people of God, most often in a parish, he exercises his fatherhood, ordering and directing the different gifts of the people entrusted to him. And he experiences a profound joy in witnessing Jesus do all of these things in and through him. As he ministers to others in Christ’s name, he experiences a deeper and deeper intimacy with Jesus, who has called him and reminds him, “without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). And in living among his people as a spiritual father, he becomes an image of God the Father for them.