It was incredible! There were 50-60 priests filing out of church, two by two, walking past me as they went to the room to remove their vestments. It was the end of an extraordinary first mass of a newly ordained diocesan priest. A few of them I recognized. Many I did not know.
But it struck me later, what if. What if I had died and gone to heaven and they were filing past me to enter into heaven. What if, in some small—okay, miniscule—way my prayers, sacrifices, and offerings to the capital of grace had contributed to their entrance into heaven?
As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we are joined together. It is so easy to see the tangible that surrounds us every day. Yet it is the invisible that is the greatest drama.
While they, as everyone else is, are responsible for their own actions, I can through my prayers, sufferings, and contributions of the capital of grace, aid them on their journey.
At the great marathon race called life, I can be the one in the crowd, who cheers them on, offering encouragement, I can be the cup of water that refreshes their parched throats, and I can be the cool breeze that offers a brief moment of relief from the scorching sun.
As Sr. T. told me once, “Our prayers are like the gentle breezes that fill the ship’s sails when the doldrums have struck.” A sailing ship lies listless at sea without a wind. We may never know in this life the efficacy of our prayers.
In the year of the priesthood, which began June 19, 2009 and runs until June 19, 2010, let us be reminded of Pope Benedict XVI’s words, that without priests “there would be no Eucharist, no mission, not even the Church” (Zenit.org, Mar. 16, 2009). No wonder, the devil wants to attack our priests.
Let us give thanks for our priests by praying and sacrificing for them every day and often. Then maybe someday, as they file into heaven, they may smile as a gesture of thanks for aiding them on their journey. Let this be our gift to them for their gift of bringing the sacraments to us.
