|
|
 |
|
CNS Story:
|
POPE-THURSDAY Apr-13-2006 (430 words) xxxi
Pope reminds priests of their ordination, importance of prayer
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Priests can be heroically active, but if they are not men of prayer they cannot be real friends of Jesus able to share his saving love with others, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Celebrating the chrism Mass April 13 and leading more than 1,000 priests and bishops in renewing the promises made at their ordinations, Pope Benedict said, "The nucleus of the priesthood is to be friends of Jesus Christ. Only in that way can we truly speak 'in the person of Christ.'"
The pope asked the priests and bishops to remember their ordination day, particularly the moment when a bishop laid hands on their heads and then anointed their hands with oil.
The human hand, he said, is the symbol of a person's ability to act, to create and possess.
Through the imposition of the bishop's hands, Jesus transmits his "divine touch," claiming the new priest for himself, the pope said.
Pope Benedict said that when the new priest's hands are anointed with blessed oil, the bishop is designating those hands not to exercise power or to gather possessions but to become instruments of outreach, giving, creativity and love.
The pope said all priests have had an experience similar to St. Peter's when Jesus called him to walk toward him on the water; "suddenly he realized that the water could not support him and he was about to drown."
At those moments, he said, the priest must do what St. Peter did, calling out "Save me lord" and taking the outstretched hand of Jesus.
Holding firmly onto Jesus, he said, "we will not drown, but will be servants of that life which is stronger than death and that love that is stronger than hatred."
"We ask him never to let go of our hands," the pope said.
Friendship with Jesus must be nourished through prayer and Bible reading, which are as essential to a priest's ministry as preaching, teaching and celebrating the sacraments, he said.
"Simple activism can be heroic," he told the priests. "But in the end, external actions remain fruitless and ineffective if they are not borne of a deep, intimate communion with Christ."
During the morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope blessed the chrism and the oils used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick.
The oils were carried to the altar by catechumens, sick people and confirmation candidates from Rome parishes and deacons about to be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rome.
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
