The Lord Jesus, during His public life, had disciples and apostles, who continued with the evangelizing task to preach the Gospel to all people. Since then, the Church throughout her history, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has ordained priests. They have the responsibility to bring the Eucharist, the real presence of the Lord. There is a special relationship between the priests and the Eucharist. Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. says about this relationship, “In the Catholic Church, the priest exists for one main purpose: to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass. So true is this that, without the priesthood, there would not only be no Sacrifice of the Mass. There would be no Catholic Church. This may sound strange, even exotic. But the fact of life is that God became man in order to sacrifice Himself on the Cross by dying for the salvation of the world. Having died once on Calvary, He continues offering Himself in every Mass so totally that He would be willing to die every time that Mass is offered” (taken from “The Eucharist and the Priesthood“).
Therefore, I invite each of you to pray for our priests and vocations to the priesthood. Let us pray for our seminarians, who are preparing themselves to become Holy Priests for our Diocese of Rochester, and of course, for our Roman Catholic Church.
Let us pray for all of them because all of us (priests, seminarians, deacons, religious people, and all laity) need to act in persona Christi, to act in the Person of Christ.
You will find an insert in the bulletin with a list of the Diocese of Rochester seminarians for this year.
God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you!
Fr. Jorge Ramirez
PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
Heavenly Father, Lord of the harvest, call forth vacations to the priesthood and consecrated life from our parishes.
Inspire men to imitate Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest in sacrificial service to Your Church.
Move the hearts of men and women to offer themselves wholly to You in poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Send them as laborers for Your harvest.
Inspire the faithful to support them with prayer and sacrifice.
Raise up holy families who foster openness to Your call.
We ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Mary Immaculate, pray for us.
St. John Fisher, pray for us.
St. John Vianney, pray for us.
Diocese of Rochester Vocation Website: rocpriest.org
