Congregation for Clergy - Letter to Priests
13 June 2009
In the run up to the beginning of Year for Priests the Director of Ongoing Formation for Priests in the Clifton Diocese, Father Christopher Whitehead writes for cliftondiocese.com.
As we look forward to the start of the Year for Priests, the Congregation for Clergy have issued a letter of invitation to the Priests of the world to join the Holy Father in the Celebration of First Vespers in the Basilica of St Peter’s, Rome on the 18 June (the Vigil of the Feast of the Sacred Heart).
The Congregation has highlighted an important aspect of this Year for Priests - a Call to conversion in the hope that our priests will grow to be more like Christ the Good Shepherd. Christ is the image of what it means to be priests of today, possessing a heart filled with a sincere and honest love for Christ’s people.
This Year for Priests, which begins on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the 150th Anniversary of the death of the Cure d’Ars, the Patron Saint of priests, is an opportunity to renew our understanding of what we do as priests as well as recapturing the sense of the spirituality of the priest in the midst of our busy parish lives and renewing with in us that call to holiness of life - a holiness that, by our ministry we seek to bring others to experience in their own lives.
It is chance for us as priests to pray that Christ may more perfectly reveal himself through us as we continue to offer ourselves to him and to his service. During this Year of the Priest there will be opportunities for the priests of our diocese to come together in prayer and in reflection around the diocese and, hopefully, to find support and encouragement from their fellow priests.
It would be sad, however, if this year were to be seen as an exclusive one just for priests. It is an opportunity for our parishes to pray for their priests asking God to renew his love within them and to help them, with his grace and his gifts, to be men of God, men of holiness, and vehicles of his love. It is also an opportunity for the priests of our diocese to know the support and the encouragement of our Catholic communities through their prayers.
Father Christopher Whitehead, Director of Ongoing Formation for Priests
In the run up to the beginning of Year for Priests the Director of Ongoing Formation for Priests in the Clifton Diocese, Father Christopher Whitehead writes for cliftondiocese.com.
As we look forward to the start of the Year for Priests, the Congregation for Clergy have issued a letter of invitation to the Priests of the world to join the Holy Father in the Celebration of First Vespers in the Basilica of St Peter’s, Rome on the 18 June (the Vigil of the Feast of the Sacred Heart).
The Congregation has highlighted an important aspect of this Year for Priests - a Call to conversion in the hope that our priests will grow to be more like Christ the Good Shepherd. Christ is the image of what it means to be priests of today, possessing a heart filled with a sincere and honest love for Christ’s people.
This Year for Priests, which begins on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the 150th Anniversary of the death of the Cure d’Ars, the Patron Saint of priests, is an opportunity to renew our understanding of what we do as priests as well as recapturing the sense of the spirituality of the priest in the midst of our busy parish lives and renewing with in us that call to holiness of life - a holiness that, by our ministry we seek to bring others to experience in their own lives.
It is chance for us as priests to pray that Christ may more perfectly reveal himself through us as we continue to offer ourselves to him and to his service. During this Year of the Priest there will be opportunities for the priests of our diocese to come together in prayer and in reflection around the diocese and, hopefully, to find support and encouragement from their fellow priests.
It would be sad, however, if this year were to be seen as an exclusive one just for priests. It is an opportunity for our parishes to pray for their priests asking God to renew his love within them and to help them, with his grace and his gifts, to be men of God, men of holiness, and vehicles of his love. It is also an opportunity for the priests of our diocese to know the support and the encouragement of our Catholic communities through their prayers.
Father Christopher Whitehead, Director of Ongoing Formation for Priests
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