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Something that should be part of our daily routine

I am of the impression, accurate or otherwise, that one thing most (yes, I said most which is different than all) Catholics tend to forget to do in their every day activities is to take a moment to pray for priests – their pastor in particular and priests in general. Certainly some of us are graced enough to remember that the priests stand on the front lines in the battle against Satan and are thus in greatest need of our prayers, but it can sometimes be easy to forget or lose focus on that fact in the hectic stress of our day-to-day lives. Fr. Z recently posted this beautiful prayer for our priests – the context of his post shows just one of the reasons our priests need your prayers. Take the time to pray it and pray that you might remember it every day.

Lord Jesus, we your people pray to You for our priests. You have given them to us for OUR needs. We pray for them in THEIR needs.

We know that You have made them priests in the likeness of your own priesthood. You have consecrated them, set them aside, annointed them, filled them with the Holy Spirit, appointed them to teach, to preach, to minister, to console, to forgive, and to feed us with Your Body and Blood.

Yet we know, too, that they are one with us and share our human weaknesses. We know too that they are tempted to sin and discouragement as are we, needing to be ministered to, as do we, to be consoled and forgiven, as do we. Indeed, we thank You for choosing them from among us, so that they understand us as we understand them, suffer with us and rejoice with us, worry with us and trust with us, share our beings, our lives, our faith.

We ask that You give them this day the gift You gave Your chosen ones on the way to Emmaus: Your presence in their hearts, Your holiness in their souls, Your joy in their spirits. And let them see You face to face in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread.

We pray to You, O Lord, through Mary the mother of all priests, for Your priests and for ours. Amen.

By John Cardinal O’Connor

March, 1995

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