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Today the Church remembers and prays for all the faithful departed; all souls who have gone before us to rest in the peace of Christ, and also today, the Church commemorates Vocation Awareness Week; a week to pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life.
\nThe work of the priest is to help all people live their lives well, so they may die well and inherit eternal life. \u00a0Starting at baptism, the priest prepares those entrusted to his care for eternal life; to be ready to join all the souls who have gone before us.<\/p>\n
A few years ago one of my parishioners organized the baptism of her baby daughter. \u00a0Family was coming to Augusta from all over the country for this baptism; mostly because the baby\u2019s great-grandma was sick and it\u2019d be a great opportunity for all to see her. \u00a0Two days before the baptism, great-grandma died. \u00a0Instead of having a baptism that Saturday morning with the whole family, we had a funeral. \u00a0That very same evening, I baptized the beautiful baby girl.<\/p>\n
On that day the starting point and end goal of the work of the priest unfolded before my eyes within the same family. \u00a0The same Easter Candle that burnt by great-grandma\u2019s remains was used to light the baptismal candle of the newborn baby. \u00a0Though nobody wants to think about death at a baptism, what begins at baptism, the promise of eternal life, reaches its fulfilment at death. \u00a0The priest is present through the whole journey in between helping the soul live well so that when the time comes, he or she may die well.<\/p>\n
I received a phone call about two years ago from a hospice nurse. \u00a0A lady was dying near Waynesboro and the family was requesting a priest. \u00a0I drove out there, prayed and spent some time with her and spoke with her husband who had been distant from the Church for decades. \u00a0The lady died two days later and I officiated a service at the funeral home. \u00a0Ever since the service, the husband never missed a single Sunday Mass at the parish having found peace and consolation in God. \u00a0As a priest, I helped this woman die well, and guided her husband to change his life so that he may be prepared to die well, knowing God\u2019s mercy and love.<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ has established his church with priests to make his presence among us more evident, and Jesus Christ continues to call men to the Priesthood so that His will may continue to be fulfilled on earth. \u00a0Jesus wants every soul to be saved so he continues to call men to serve as priests.<\/p>\n
On July 1864, the third bishop of Savannah, Bishop Verot, who was responsible for all Catholics in Georgia and Florida, assigned two of his fourteen priests to Andersonville Prison, a confederate prisoner of war camp filled with 23,000 union soldiers where living conditions were disastrous. \u00a0Verot wrote that these priests \u201cspent all day in the camp hearing confessions of the dying and administering extreme unction, for the Catholics there were numerous. \u00a0A number of Protestants and non-believers converted and received baptism.\u201d \u00a0One of the priests, Father Clavruel, reported that he would be in the camp from five in the morning till sunset. \u00a0In three months, he assisted 1,390 prisoners at their deaths. \u00a0He and Father Peter Whelan were the only chaplains of any denomination to serve at Andersonville.<\/p>\n
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The work of the priest is to lead all souls to Jesus Christ, from baptism to death.<\/p>\n
The work of the priest has eternal consequences.<\/p>\n
We must pray ardently so that every Catholic man will open his heart to hear if God is calling him to be a priest. \u00a0God calls many to be vessels of his presence and to courageously serve the people of God. \u00a0A response in necessary.<\/p>\n
If you are a single man here today, imagine yourself doing the work of a priest. \u00a0Could God be calling you?<\/p>\n
If you know a Catholic single man with the qualities you would love to see in your parish priest, ask him if he has ever considered being a priest.<\/p>\n
May God bless our diocese with many courageous men willing to serve God selflessly, so that thousands of souls may be ready to encounter Him when they take their last breath.<\/p>\n
Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exactly one week after being ordained a priest here at this beautiful Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, I celebrated a Mass in another cathedral that is about 200 years older and 3,000 miles away. \u00a0I celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at the church where I was baptized surrounded by more than 200 family members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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