Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Pope: May the pierced heart of Christ inflame the heart of every priest

» 06/19/2009 20:45
VATICAN

Benedict XVI inaugurates the Year for Priests with Vespers of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Chris’s heart contains the revolutionary novelty of Christianity. Priests must contemplate his Heart in order to be his witnesses, and to learn the “pain of sins”. Veneration of the relics of Saint Jean Marie Vianney, the Curè d’Ars, to be imitated this year also in his devotion to Mary.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – With the Vesper prayers, in the presence of priests of all ages and from every corner of the world, Benedict XVI inaugurated the Year for Priests, for the rediscovery of the value and style of vocation to the priesthood, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint Jean Marie Vianney (the Curè d’Ars). “Ours –said the pope – is an indispensable mission for the Church and the world, which requires complete fidelity to Christ and a ceaseless union with Him; it requires that we constantly strive for sainthood as did Saint Jean Marie Vianney”. Ahead of the celebration the pontiff briefly venerated the relics of the Curè d'Ars, in the chapel of the choir of St Peter’s basilica.

The Pope published a letter for the year of the priest (issued yesterday) in which citing the example of the Curè d’Ars, he urges priests to contemplate the Heart of Christ, to pastoral charity and to “give their lives for their flock”. The Pope quotes the saint, “Priesthood is love of the heart of Christ” and adds: “How can we fail to remember that the gift our priestly ministry springs directly from this heart?”.

This was why the Pope had wanted to inaugurate the Year for Priests on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which marks “the mystery of the heart of a God who is moved and pours out his love on all humanity…He does not give up in the face of ingratitude and not even in the face of rejection by the people He has chosen; in fact, with infinite mercy, he sends his Only Son to the world so he will take upon himself the destiny of a destroyed love, defeating the power of death and evil, to restore dignity of children to the humans made slaves by sin. All of this comes at a price: the Only Son of God is immolated on the cross”.
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See also:

From Asia News, "Every day I pray for the Christians of Iraq and the Middle East says Pope"

From CWN, "Pope Benedict inaugurates the Year for Priests"

posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 4:57 PM