Seoul Archdiocese: Cardinal Andrea Soo-jung Ordains 20 Men to the Priesthood

Cardinal Andrea Yeom Soo-jung ordained 20 men to the priesthood for Seoul archdiocese on February 5, 2021. The ordination ceremony was held at Myeongdong Cathedral. The Catholic Church in South Korea has been growing steadily and currently 11% of the population are Catholics. Image Credits: Seoul archdiocese #Catholic #ShalomWorld #Seoul #Faith #Hope #SouthKorea #Priesthood (Source: Shalom TV)

Aleteia: How a radical atheist became a Catholic priest

Source: Aleteia by Philip Kosloski | Aug 14, 2017

He hated the Church until one event changed his life forever ... and his story would later impress Maximilian Kolbe.

Born into a wealthy Jewish family in France in 1814, Alphonse Ratisbonne was set to become part of his uncle’s large banking firm. At first Ratisbonne was a nominal Jew, but when his older brother converted to the Catholic faith and became a priest, a hidden rage woke within him.

Ratisbonne wrote, “When my brother became a Catholic, and a priest, I persecuted him with a more unrelenting fury than any other member of my family. We were completely sundered; I hated him with a virulent hatred, though he had fully pardoned me.”

Furthermore this hatred for his brother was broadened to include all Catholics, and Ratisbonne explained how it “made me believe all I heard of the fanaticism of the Catholics, and I held them accordingly in great horror.”

This also affected his personal beliefs and he came to no longer believe in God. Ratisbonne was too busy following worldly pursuits to worry about his Jewish faith and his deep hatred for Catholicism only pushed him further away from any type of religion.

He eventually began to feel the void in his heart, but at first sought to cure it through marriage. Ratisbonne was betrothed to his niece, but because of her young age the wedding was postponed. During this time of waiting Ratisbonne decided to travel without any singular purpose.

His trip started out by traveling to Naples, where he stayed for about a month. After that Ratisbonne wanted to go to Malta, but took the wrong boat and arrived in Rome. He stayed there, making the best of it, and ran into an old friend.

One day when visiting his friend Ratisbonne encountered a Catholic convert, Theodore de Bussieres, who knew Ratisbonne’s priest-brother. While this made Ratisbonne hate the man, he enjoyed conversing with him because of his knowledge.

Later Ratisbonne visited de Bussieres again. They had a heated discussion about Catholicism and de Bussieres made a wager with Ratisbonne.

Have you the courage to submit yourself to a very simple and innocent test? Only to wear a little something I will give you; look, it is a medal of the Blessed Virgin. It seems very ridiculous, does it not? But, I assure you, I attach great value and efficacy to this little medal. [Also] you must say every night and morning the Memorare, a very short and very efficacious prayer which St. Bernard addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

While at first Ratisbonne protested at wearing the medal (which was the Miraculous Medal), he decided to put it around his neck and say the prayer each day. He figured that it couldn’t do any harm and would prove to all the ridiculous nature of Catholicism.

Ratisbonne lived up to his side of the bargain, finding it easy to recite the Memorare. Then one day he was traveling in the city with de Bussieres and they stopped at the church Saint Andrea delle Fratte. When Ratisbonne entered the church it appeared to be engulfed in a marvelous light. He looked to an altar from where the light was coming and saw the Virgin Mary, appearing as she did on the Miraculous Medal.

He left the church in tears, clutching his Miraculous Medal. Several days later he was received into the Catholic Church. After returning to Paris his betrothed was shocked and rejected him and his new religion. Ratisbonne then entered the Jesuits and was ordained a priest.

This amazing story of conversion would later influence Saint Maximilian Kolbe to found the Militia Immaculatae and convinced him of the power of the Miraculous Medal. He firmly believed in Mary’s role in bringing the world to Christ.

CNA: New Iraqi priests bring joy amid years of sadness, displacement

By Elise Harris

Roni Salim Momika is ordained a priest in Erbil's Aishty camp for the displaced Aug. 5, 2016. Courtesy of Fr. Roni Momika.

Erbil, Iraq, Aug 8, 2016 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Roni Salim Momika, one of three priests ordained in an Erbil refugee camp Friday, said the event has turned the dreary mood of displaced Christians into one of joy, which he hopes will give them the strength to stay in their homeland.

“My feeling is happy, happy!” Fr. Momika told CNA after his Aug. 5 ordination, adding that he feels “something inside” that makes him deeply joyful.

He was ordained a priest of the Syriac-Catholic Church alongside his friends and fellow deacons Emad and Petros in the large, prefabricated church inside Erbil’s Aishty 2 camp for the displaced, which is home to some 5,500 people forced to flee their homes due to ISIS.

The ordination, he said, “will give hope to (the people)” in the camp, mostly Syriac Catholics from Qaraqosh, who for two years have been forced to live as refugees.

Fr. Momika, who is from Qaraqosh, noted how Aug. 6 marks the exact two-year anniversary since ISIS attacked his hometown, driving out inhabitants who didn’t meet their demands to convert to Islam, pay a hefty tax or face death.

“We left Qaraqosh during this time two years ago,” he said, explaining that it’s been “a time of challenge” and “a time of sadness” for the Christians.

However, while the anniversary could serve as a reminder of the bleak and uncertain reality for Christians in Iraq, the sight of three young men being ordained to the priesthood has instead made it “a happy time, a hopeful time, and a good time,” Fr. Momika said.

“Before it was a bad day because we became refuges and ISIS entered to Qaraqosh, but now this day became a good day because it’s our ordination and we give hope to our people,” including the hope “to stay here,” he said.

Fr. Momika, Emad, Petros and another seminarian named Paul were all forced to flee Qaraqosh when ISIS attacked in 2014.

Before being forced to leave, Momika and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

Since the Qaraqosh seminary was closed following the 2014 attack, the then-seminarians were sent to finish their studies at the Al-Sharfa Seminary in Harissa, Lebanon. After completing their studies in Lebanon, they returned to Iraq for their deaconate ordination, which took place March 19.

Since then, Paul decided to serve in Baghdad, and was ordained there roughly 20 days ago, while Fr. Momika and the others were ordained in Erbil.

Archbishop Yohanno Petros Moshe, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan, the priests’ bishop, was the one who celebrated their ordination Mass in the Aishty camp.

Fr. Momika, whose family fled to Erbil after leaving Qaraqosh, said that while the church only has a capacity of about 800 people, about 1,500 showed up for the ordination.

Several of his family members were able to come for the ordination, including his father, sister and many others who traveled from Baghdad, Aqrah and other cities to be there.

Until now Fr. Momika has worked with the youth and led the women’s groups inside Erbil’s refugee camps. The priest said that for now he will remain in Erbil and continue to serve in that capacity, but it’s up to Archbishop Moshe to decide “if I will stay here or not” in the long run.

As a newly ordained priest surrounded by violent persecution, Fr. Momika said that he wants “to stand with the refugees” despite the “the danger (in their) lives.”

He said he wants to give the Christians “power, hope, and courage to continue their lives and stay with the poor people” and those who are suffering, adding that for him, the essence of his role and vocation is “to give Christ to the people.”

Q&A: Priestly Vestments, Is it Biblical?

Question: My Friend Born Again ask me. Why it is Important to Wear your Priests a Vestment?? And Where are the Biblical Verse???

Answers:

There's nothing unscriptural about vestments. God commanded that they be used in the Old Testament. Look at Exodus 28:2:

For your brother Aaron you will make sacred vestments to give dignity and magnificence. You will instruct all the skilled men, whom I have endowed with skill, to make Aaron's vestments for his consecration to my priesthood. These are the vestments which they must make: a pectoral, an ephod, a robe, an embroidered tunic, a turban, and a belt. They must make sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons, for them to be priests in my service. They will use gold and violet material, red-purple and crimson, and finely woven linen.

The rest of the chapter gives details on each garment.

Nothing in the New Testament requires abolition of priestly vestments. Our Lord attacked the Jewish leaders for a number of sins, but he never condemned their priestly garb. It's true the early Church didn't use the Old Testament vestments, but this is because Christians didn't want to identify their leaders with the Jewish priesthood.

Part of the problem for Fundamentalists is that vestments set priests apart from the laity. Fundamentalists object to a ministerial priesthood in the Church. They see vestments as a way of expressing a distinction between clergy and laity.

On this they're right, but there's nothing wrong with such hierarchical distinctions. The New Testament is full of them (Acts 20:28; Eph 2:20, 4:11; Phil 1:1; 1 Tm 3:1-13; Ti 1:5).

Within Fundamentalism there's also an unhealthy opposition set up between the spiritual and the material realms. There is an anti-incarnational attitude which views the use of anything material as superstitious. The distaste for vestments is but one example of this.

Fundamentalists who say Catholic priests adopted distinctive dress in the fifth century to put themselves above the laity have got it backwards. Actually, it was the laity who changed their attire, not to distinguish themselves from priests, but to keep up with fashions.

Catholic priests simply retained their manner of liturgical dress. Priestly vestments are no more than stylized secular Roman garments which have accrued symbolic, liturgical significance over the centuries.

Source: We are Catholic Sheep

AsiaNews: For Mongolian Catholics, a first native priest is a source of joy and pride

The country’s Catholic community is the world's youngest. On 28 August, it will celebrate the ordination of Deacon Joseph Enkhee-Baatar. “One of us has it made! And if he did it, others will follow his example. We are sure that there will be many after him." An indigenous Catholic minister will be able to “connect our faith with what our” traditions.

Ulaanbaatar (AsiaNews) – On 28 August of this year, Mongolia’s tiny Catholic community will welcome its first native priest, Joseph Enkhee-Baatar, at a service in Ulaanbaatar’s Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral led by Mgr Wenceslao Padilla, apostolic prefect of Mongolia.

In December 2014, the future priest was ordained deacon by Mgr Lazzaro You Heung-sik, bishop of Daejeon. Fr Giorgio Marengo, a Consolata missionary present in the country since 2003, sent AsiaNews the following piece in which he describes the reaction of his community of faithful to the news.

The small Catholic community in Arvaiheer (21 people) joyfully welcomed the news that on 28 August Enkhee-Joseph will be ordained as the first native priest of ‘Outer’ Mongolia. In Chinese-controlled Inner Mongolia, there have been priests in the past century, but none in independent Mongolia. Enkhee will be the first.

Sitting around the table, sipping some suutei-tsai (a salty tea with milk) after Sunday Mass, parishioners expressed their views about the news. Obviously, they are happy about it.

For some, "Enkhee has shown that he is very patient and disciplined if he has managed to train for so long and in a foreign country." In fact, Enkhee spent many years at seminary in Daejeon, South Korea, the guest of the local diocese.

The faithful know that becoming a priest is a demanding process, especially in terms of self-discipline. Some actually can hardly believe it. Still "One of us has it made! And if he did it, others will follow his example. We are sure that there will be many after him."

In reality, no one knows him personally. When they were baptised, he was already in Korea to study. Of course, they their love and prayer went along with him to the faraway place.

"For us it is very important that the new priest be Mongolian because he will speak our language like one of our children or one of our siblings. More importantly, he will be able to link the faith to our traditions."

Such a goal is quite legitimate. For a religion still seen as "foreign", having a native minister can mean a lot both in terms of the relationship with local secular authorities, who so far have had to deal with foreigners (us missionaries). At a deeper level, they also know that Enkhee will be able to do a lot to reconcile traditional Mongolian practices and the Catholic faith.

"We expect that a Mongolian priest knows better how to explain our faith to those who have questions; this way, he can help us on our journey of internalising the same faith."

A flicker of satisfaction and joy can be seen in their eyes: pride in being Mongolian. As one woman says, he will be able to “connect our faith with what our ancestors passed on to us and made us what we are: Mongolians.” For Catholics in Arvaiheer, “This is the greatest wish. And they will count on Enkhee for this.”

Eventually, the conversation shifted to television where a Christian woman was able to respond intelligently to a journalist’s provocations, showing that her faith did not go against the deepest values she had received.

For a moment, the faithful forgot about Enkhee and began asking me to help them understand how Catholics must participate in family or social events in which the others follow the country’s dominant Buddhist tradition. Everyone talked about their experience. I listened to them and tried to offer some suggestions.

Ultimately, our role as missionaries is to foster the encounter with Christ. After that, it will be up to them re-define their cultural identity in the light of the faith, and find their place in society. The first Mongolian priest will help in this, as long as he can remain humble and attentive after he meets a lot of people in August.

Let us also hope that his fellow Mongolian Catholics will help him keep his feet on the ground, and become a minister of mercy and holiness who accompanies them in the inculturation of their faith. With a lot of praying and through a simple life.

Meanwhile, we Consolata missionaries shall remain, unless a wave of extreme nationalism does not force us to leave. Perennial outsiders, we are pilgrims and visitors, the seed that falls to the ground and disappears, so that the Church may be born.

“I am a Catholic priest and I am married.”

Who says Catholic Church do not have married priests?

Marysville church's Catholic priest brings along his wife

By Julie Muhlstein
Herald Writer
Published: Saturday, May 28, 2016

Karin McMicheal with her husband, the Rev. Tom McMichael, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marysville. McMichael converted from the Lutheran Church and has served St. Mary's for a year.

MARYSVILLE — When the Rev. Tom McMichael arrived at St. Mary Catholic Church in January, he had already introduced himself in a “Pastor's Page” letter on the parish website. In his note, he wrote of looking forward “with joy and hope” to serving at the church. And he added a surprising detail: “I am a Catholic priest and I am married.”

In his office at the Marysville parish, the 55-year-old McMichael talked Thursday about his journey, from serving 17 years as a Lutheran pastor to a time of deep spiritual discernment. That led him, along with his Lutheran wife, Karin McMichael, to convert to Roman Catholicism. On Jan. 10, 2009, he was ordained as a Catholic priest at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.

“I attribute it to the Holy Spirit,” McMichael said. “I truly felt a call to the priesthood.”

Greg Magnoni is a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Seattle, which oversees all of Western Washington's Catholic parishes. He said it's not unprecedented for married men to serve as priests. In the past, Magnoni said, several widowers have been ordained.

The first married clergy to make the transition in the United States were Episcopalian priests who petitioned Pope John Paul II about 35 years ago. McMichael is now one of about 200 Latin rite married priests in the United States. Most are former Lutheran and Episcopal clergy.

He was appointed to serve at St. Mary's after the Archdiocese of Seattle reassigned the Rev. Dwight Lewis, a popular priest administrator at the Marysville parish. McMichael said his tenure in Marysville will last at least until June 30, 2017.

Just before coming to Marysville, McMichael served five Catholic churches in Skagit County, primarily St. Charles in Burlington and Sacred Heart in La Conner.

CALLED TO THE COLLAR: WITH LISA LING OF CNN

Disclose.tv - This Is Life With Lisa Ling Season 1 Episode 8 - Called to the Collar

In an Unintended Experiment Catholic Priests are Still Seen as Respectable Holy Men of God

It was an unintended experiment by an individual who wants to investigate the power of the "UNIFORM". Surprisingly people's reaction seeing a "priest" with his cassock visiting his favorite bartender IN A BAR is unexpected. Read the story below and be amazed. Yes, after all those sensationalized "Priest Scandals" in the news, still our Catholic priests are revered, respected and loved in places where they are least expected to be seen "in a cassock". LET'S KEEP ON PRAYING for our remaining courageous holy men and women serving the Lord in the Religious and Priestly life. They need our prayers more than anything. -CD2000

What Happened When I Dressed Like a Priest
An investigation into the power of the uniform.

BY TOM CHIARELLA
AUG 24, 2015
Source: Esquire

I was a priest, standing at the bar of the Billy Goat Tavern beneath the great concrete decks that brace up downtown Chicago. Strike that. I was not a priest. I shouldn't say that. I was me, me wearing the uniform of a priest. It was 10:30 on a Friday morning, the bar a well-lit temple of Formica. I was visiting my favorite bartender, as is my wont when I am in Chicago. Priest or no: My uniform was an old-school liturgical cassock. Twenty buttons rising to a traditional clerical collar. Part tunic, part Nehru jacket, with a big open flare at my feet. That thing really kicked up in the wind when I walked the city. The thing really had some sweep.

When I walked in, my friend immediately set me up with a no-disrespect-intended pour of bourbon, with a draft beer back. My shoulders were turned to the half-full restaurant; a small circle of recent acquaintances screened me. I'd like to say I was mindful of being the most visible man in the room—me, the priest—but who was I kidding? People had been staring at me for twenty-three blocks. One hour in the uniform and I knew this much: On a bright summer's day, in a sprawling city, a priest in a cassock is a thing to behold. People draw out their eye contact with a priest. They give nods or bow just a smidge. Or they stare. Openly. Respectfully. Distantly. When walking in pairs, men wind up their cheeriest selves to blurt out suddenly, "Good morning, Father." A habit learned in high school, revisited gladly. Twenty-three blocks and the world could not take its eyes off me. A priest, striding north.

And so, in a what-the-hell moment, I lifted the glass, nodded to Jeff the barkeep, and took that long good swallow. Only as I put the glass back in its ringlet of condensation did I notice a woman who'd maneuvered herself to some pass-through window, filming the whole thing on her phone. "You're going to be on the Internet before you eat lunch," said the barfly to my left without looking up, adding, "Father."

I picked up the beer, took a sip, and told him, "I'm not a priest." He turned, narrowed his eyes, gave me a lazy up-and-down. "What is this, then?" he said. He meant the frock.

"It's a uniform," I said. That was true. This was always my plan. Be honest. And that seemed to be enough, because he went back to his box scores. A couple minutes later, he said, "One thing's for certain, some priest, somewhere, is going to get in trouble for that."

[The same TOM wore different uniforms, and HERE is the rest of his STORY.]

CNN: From girlfriends to God: Seminarians answer the call

By Jessica Ravitz, CNN

Updated 2220 GMT (0520 HKT) September 22, 2015

Springfield, Pennsylvania (CNN) Chris Massaro tugs at his clerical collar, swapping it out for another as he pulls on a black cassock and white surplice in preparation for Mass.

It's the sort of repeated daily change -- between black clerical clothes, vestments for Mass, work clothes and back again -- that he's still getting used to as a first-year Catholic seminarian.

"I've been sweating constantly and that's frustrating, I got to be honest," he says. "I enjoy the schedule, but there are parts of the schedule I don't like -- and that's a good thing. It works on obedience."

Ask Massaro what he used to think his life would look like at 24 and the answer is immediate: "Nothing like this."

He had girlfriends. He was a sports nut who couldn't get enough of his New York Giants. He enjoyed the adrenaline rush of triathlons and Tough Mudder obstacle courses.

He enrolled in a Ph.D. program in medical physics at Vanderbilt University and imagined a career that would allow him to care for a family.

Now he's one of nine men taking part in their "Spiritual Year" at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary -- one stop in a seven-year journey to become priests.

Unlike the other 130-plus seminarians living at Saint Charles' sprawling, picturesque campus on Philadelphia's Main Line -- where Pope Francis will stay this weekend -- these men are spending the year in a no-frills brick building 20 minutes away. Living with them is the Rev. Christopher Cooke, who directs the one-year program and serves as an adviser.

It's a dedicated time spent apart -- free of tests, grades and outside tensions -- to go deep, focus on prayer and develop their personal relationships with God.

"But," says Cooke, "don't get the idea that this is a year of resting in hammocks." Read more here....

Catholic365: Why We Refer to Our Priests as Fathers?

Bishop Robert Barron (Photo Credit: Word On Fire)

By Sergio Garibay-Olivares
Catholic365/ 9/2/2015 11:00:10 AM

How many times are we told "Don't call your priest a Father, it is a sin"? The people that question Catholics mostly for this reason of why we refer to our Priests as Fathers, [they] tend to quote from St. Matthew 23:6-11, which says:

“Like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted respectfully in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi. ‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one Master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant.”

First it is important to analyze this topic for we are all called to preach the truth to this world. When people tell Catholics to not refer to our priests as fathers, they tend to only quote from St. Matthew 23:9 that says, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.” Jesus is not warning us to refrain from using the words Father, Rabbi nor teacher. Jesus is actually forbidding us from the spirit of superiority:

“Whoever exalts…will be exalted” (St. Luke 14:11).

“Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.” (St. Matthew 23:12).

So why then we refer to our Priests as Fathers?

This is because St. Paul wrote, in 1 Corinthians 4:15 “Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the Gospel.” He isn’t saying that we should make our priest feel superior (nor that he was superior to the people of the Church of Corinth). He is saying that Priest give us the spiritual food (The Eucharistic: Matthew 26:26-18). They become our fathers or parents in showing us the Word of God. They nurse us in our times of illness (darkness), and they prepare us, so we can go to the world and fly.

In Addition

St. James talks to us about how not many of us should become teachers because those who become teachers will be judged more strictly. Those who abuse the power are related (by St. James) in the good and bad use of the tongue. A Father is a person that must use good language as a fig tree it is called to produce olives, just as a river is called to give men fresh water. A Father is a guide of men. They are called to become fishermen and farmers. They must plant a seed in each of us, and cultivate it, so one day we can become a forest full of life.

*(In reference to St. James 3:1-12)

**Note: While reading St. James 3:1-12, we can see he says "not many should become teachers" if Jesus had meant to take St. Matthew 23:6-11 as many Protestants tend to understand it, then St. James would be wrong by calling himself a teacher. (In the KJV Bible the one used mostly among all Protestant, the word teacher is substitute by the word Master). However I doubt St. James misunderstood Christ’s message.

CBS News: More Young Men Choosing Priesthood

Contrary to what anti-Catholics like the cult Iglesia ni Cristo founded by Felix Manalo in the Philippines in 1914, the number of seminarians is rising and Catholics grew by 18 million.

FORT WORTH (CBS 11) - No sex, no money, and complete obedience. Not what you think the average 20-year-old guy would go for. But according to the Catholic Church, the number of men joining the priesthood is up.

In the Diocese of Fort Worth alone, the number of seminarians has nearly doubled in the last 10 years.

And who is joining might surprise you.

Brett Metzler bench presses 250 pounds, squats 305, and can shoot hoops with the best of them.

But the former high school Athlete of the Year is not your typical college student.

20-year-old Brett believes becoming a priest is a better fit.

The Denton County native is preparing for the priesthood at Saint Joseph’s Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana–1200 acres of woods, water, and worship north of New Orleans.

He says his calling came during his freshman year at Texas A & M.

“Everything that everybody was telling me to do that was supposed to fulfill me, it just wasn’t working,” explained Metzler. “I was living in a house with four of my best friends from high school. I mean it was a blast. We’d throw the frisbee and play football every day. I just felt a feeling kind of like unfulfillment every night when I was going to sleep.”

Pope to Priests: "Go To the 'Outskirts'"

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

HOLY THURSDAY CHRISM MASS

ST PETER'S BASILICA

28 MARCH 2013

(Source: Whispers in the Loggia)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning I have the joy of celebrating my first Chrism Mass as the Bishop of Rome. I greet all of you with affection, especially you, dear priests, who, like myself, today recall the day of your ordination.

The readings of our Mass speak of God’s “anointed ones”: the suffering Servant of Isaiah, King David and Jesus our Lord. All three have this in common: the anointing that they receive is meant in turn to anoint God’s faithful people, whose servants they are; they are anointed for the poor, for prisoners, for the oppressed… A fine image of this “being for” others can be found in the Psalm: “It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down upon the collar of his robe” (Ps 133:2). The image of spreading oil, flowing down from the beard of Aaron upon the collar of his sacred robe, is an image of the priestly anointing which, through Christ, the Anointed One, reaches the ends of the earth, represented by the robe.

The sacred robes of the High Priest are rich in symbolism. One such symbol is that the names of the children of Israel were engraved on the onyx stones mounted on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, the ancestor of our present-day chasuble: six on the stone of the right shoulder-piece and six on that of the left (cf. Ex 28:6-14). The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were also engraved on the breastplate (cf. Es 28:21). This means that the priest celebrates by carrying on his shoulders the people entrusted to his care and bearing their names written in his heart. When we put on our simple chasuble, it might well make us feel, upon our shoulders and in our hearts, the burdens and the faces of our faithful people, our saints and martyrs of whom there are many in these times…

From the beauty of all these liturgical things, which is not so much about trappings and fine fabrics than about the glory of our God resplendent in his people, alive and strengthened, we turn to a consideration of activity, action. The precious oil which anoints the head of Aaron does more than simply lend fragrance to his person; it overflows down to “the edges”. The Lord will say this clearly: his anointing is meant for the poor, prisoners and the sick, for those who are sorrowing and alone. The ointment is not intended just to make us fragrant, much less to be kept in a jar, for then it would become rancid … and the heart bitter.

A good priest can be recognized by the way his people are anointed. This is a clear test. When our people are anointed with the oil of gladness, it is obvious: for example, when they leave Mass looking as if they have heard good news. Our people like to hear the Gospel preached with “unction”, they like it when the Gospel we preach touches their daily lives, when it runs down like the oil of Aaron to the edges of reality, when it brings light to moments of extreme darkness, to the “outskirts” where people of faith are most exposed to the onslaught of those who want to tear down their faith. People thank us because they feel that we have prayed over the realities of their everyday lives, their troubles, their joys, their burdens and their hopes. And when they feel that the fragrance of the Anointed One, of Christ, has come to them through us, they feel encouraged to entrust to us everything they want to bring before the Lord: “Pray for me, Father, because I have this problem”, “Bless me”, “Pray for me” – these words are the sign that the anointing has flowed down to the edges of the robe, for it has turned into prayer. The prayers of the people of God. When we have this relationship with God and with his people, and grace passes through us, then we are priests, mediators between God and men. What I want to emphasize is that we need constantly to stir up God’s grace and perceive in every request, even those requests that are inconvenient and at times purely material or downright banal – but only apparently so – the desire of our people to be anointed with fragrant oil, since they know that we have it. To perceive and to sense, even as the Lord sensed the hope-filled anguish of the woman suffering from hemorrhages when she touched the hem of his garment. At that moment, Jesus, surrounded by people on every side, embodies all the beauty of Aaron vested in priestly raiment, with the oil running down upon his robes. It is a hidden beauty, one which shines forth only for those faith-filled eyes of the woman troubled with an issue of blood. But not even the disciples – future priests – see or understand: on the “existential outskirts”, they see only what is on the surface: the crowd pressing in on Jesus from all sides (cf. Lk 8:42). The Lord, on the other hand, feels the power of the divine anointing which runs down to the edge of his cloak.

We need to “go out,” then, in order to experience our own anointing, its power and its redemptive efficacy: to the “outskirts” where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight, and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters. It is not in soul-searching or constant introspection that we encounter the Lord: self-help courses can be useful in life, but to live by going from one course to another, from one method to another, leads us to become pelagians and to minimize the power of grace, which comes alive and flourishes to the extent that we, in faith, go out and give ourselves and the Gospel to others, giving what little ointment we have to those who have nothing, nothing at all.

A priest who seldom goes out of himself, who anoints little – I won’t say “not at all” because, thank God, our people take our oil from us anyway – misses out on the best of our people, on what can stir the depths of his priestly heart. Those who do not go out of themselves, instead of being mediators, gradually become intermediaries, managers. We know the difference: the intermediary, the manager, “has already received his reward”, and since he doesn’t put his own skin and his own heart on the line, he never hears a warm, heartfelt word of thanks. This is precisely the reason why some priests grow dissatisfied, become sad priests, lose heart and become in some sense collectors of antiques or novelties – instead of being shepherds living with “the smell of the sheep”, shepherds in the midst of their flock, fishers of men. True enough, the so-called crisis of priestly identity threatens us all and adds to the broader cultural crisis; but if we can resist its onslaught, we will be able to put out in the name of the Lord and cast our nets. It is not a bad thing that reality itself forces us to “put out into the deep”, where what we are by grace is clearly seen as pure grace, out into the deep of the contemporary world, where the only thing that counts is “unction” – not function – and the nets which overflow with fish are those cast solely in the name of the One in whom we have put our trust: Jesus.

Dear lay faithful, be close to your priests with affection and with your prayers, that they may always be shepherds according to God’s heart.

Dear priests, may God the Father renew in us the Spirit of holiness with whom we have been anointed. May he renew his Spirit in our hearts, that this anointing may spread to everyone, even to those “outskirts” where our faithful people most look for it and most appreciate it. May our people sense that we are the Lord’s disciples; may they feel that their names are written upon our priestly vestments and that we seek no other identity; and may they receive through our words and deeds the oil of gladness which Jesus, the Anointed One, came to bring us. Amen.

The Catholic Priest (Official Promotion)

McLean: Beware of the celebrity priesthood

Written by Dorothy Cummings McLean

Dorothy Cummings McLean is a Canadian writer living abroad. She recently published her book "Seraphic Singles".

Dorothy has an MA in English literature from the University of Toronto, an M.Div./STB from Regis College and spent two years in doctoral studies in theology at Boston College.

Checking the headlines of Catholic Internet media every day has its down side. The stories are often sad. Catholic journalists, paid and unpaid, professional or amateur, report everything that might be of interest to other Catholics, and thus not a week goes by in which some scandal, minor or major, is presented to the public worldwide. These scandals, I hasten to add, rarely have anything to do with the Gospel. These scandals, more often than not, detail sins of commission or omission committed by priests, bishops or other Catholic leaders. Not only do they disgust and depress Catholics, they erode our trust in God’s ministers and messengers.

Three cases in particular have troubled my thoughts in recent months. One, coming out of Australia, is so vile I dare not discuss it in a family newspaper. The others are merely distasteful and disappointing, so I will confine my thoughts to them.

Priests in China arrested for not supporting illicit ordination

Ukrainian Catholic Leader: Married Priesthood Not Cause Of Vocation Boom

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav (Photo Source: interfax)

Ukraine, EWTN - Less than a week after his enthronement as head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said that the ordination of married men to the priesthood has not been the major contributing factor to the numerous young vocations in his Eastern Catholic church. The average age of a Ukrainian Catholic priest is 35.

In our tradition, we do have a married clergy, but a married clergy is not the main reason we have so many young priests, he said, noting that religious orders, which require a vow of consecrated chastity, also have numerous young vocations. The possibility of being a married priest is not the main cause of an increase or decrease in vocations to the priesthood because this vocation comes from God.

Patriarch: Jordan Supplying 80% of Seminarians

Emphasizes Nation's Importance for Christian Community

By Mariaelena Finessi

ROME, OCT. 19, 2010 (Zenit.org).- When Benedict XVI made his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 2009, Jordan was his first stop.

But many pilgrims overlook Jordan, excluding it from official Holy Land tours. Still, it is one of the nations that falls under the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and according to the patriarch, the importance of Jordan needs to be recognized.

Archbishop Fouad Twal, himself of Jordanian birth, spoke of his homeland at the exhibit "A Look at Christians of the Middle East," being sponsored by the Custody of the Holy Land during the synod on the Middle East, which is under way through Sunday.

The archbishop said that in Jordan "is the most consistent portion of our local Christian community, grown numerically with the addition in 1948 and in 1967 of so many Palestinian refugees."

The result is that today the country has 65 parishes and 77,000 faithful.

In fact, Archbishop Twal noted, "80% of our seminarians are of Jordanian origin."

The patriarch asserted that Christians of the Holy Land must be at the center of the Church's attention: They are "descendants of the first community formed by Jesus Christ himself," he reminded, and never before has it been so much the "Church of Calvary" such that the presence of Christians in the Holy Land can be read as "a mission, a vocation," called by God to "bear this cross."

For its part, Jordan is an example of dialogue and religious coexistence, Archbishop Twal continued. He pointed to the charitable work done by the Christian community there, though it is a minority. Jordan assists something like 500,000 refugees, especially Iraqis, and aspires to be a model for the whole of the Middle East area, he said.

It was also in Jordan, the prelate continued, that the best reactions to the Pope's Regensburg address could be found. There, there was an openness that culminated in Benedict XVI's visit to the mosque of Amman, where he was received explicitly as Successor of Peter.

Addressing issues

Archbishop Twal was accompanied during his address by a leader of Caritas-Jordan, Monsignor Sayegh e a Huda Muhasher.

The decisive role of Christians in Jordan's civil society is found in that which Benedict XVI defined as "the dialogue of works," Muhasher said. "There are so many, and as laity we have a great role in them."

He said Caritas has addressed all the most serious national emergencies, including that of the immigrants.

"We have two charitable fronts," the Caritas director said, "one for Jordanians, for whom Caritas was founded, and one for all the foreigners who arrive in the country and are in need of help."

And being a laboratory of coexistence between Christians and Muslims, between citizens and foreigners, "the greater part of funds received in the last years has been allocated to Iraqi refugees and not to Jordanians," he added.

Among Caritas' many projects -- it is the only organization that can enter prisons, for example -- there is one that Muhasher highlighted: a care center for disabled children and their families.

There, he said, parents are "taught how to address and live with handicaps."

The Caritas leader spoke of beginning every activity with prayer, "without showy gestures but each one in the silence of his heart."

Considering Catholicism

By Fr Longenecker

When a Protestant who is considering the Catholic Church calls me for advice the conversation goes back to some recurring difficulties. So here are some commandments for converts.

1. The Catholic Church is not just another denomination. It's very different from all the Protestant churches you have ever attended. Behave as if you're visiting a foreign country.
2. Be curious, not critical
3. You’re right. There are plenty of hypocritical, heretical and lukewarm Catholics. There are a fair few Prots like that too aren’t there?
4. The Catholic Church is huge. Don’t compare it to your Protestant sect. Compare it to all Protestants of every kind in every Prot organization everywhere. Did you find some loony, left wing scary Catholics? Remember the Episcopalians. If we have to answer for radical theologians and loony leftie nuns you have to answer for Kitty Schori, Mary Glasspool, the Jesus Seminar and Matthew Fox.
5. I know it seems like you’re “not getting fed.” Once you’re received into the church you’ll be fed alright: Fed the Body of Christ. Be patient.
6. Stop imagining that there’s a perfect church somewhere. Utopianism is an Americal disease. If you expect conflict and imperfection you won’t be so disappointed with the Catholic Church (or with life generally for that matter)
7. The Catholic Church is in an epic batte with modernism. Don’t just complain about fuzzy feel good sermons, comfort hymns and carpeted churches. Join those of us who are working to ‘reform the reform’ and play your part.
8. You wonder where the ‘fellowship’ is. That’s because a typical Catholic parish is huge and socially varied. Protestant churches tend to develop congregations from the same socio economic background. No wonder they have ‘good fellowship’. In the Catholic Church you will find your ‘fellowship’ in one of a huge number of sub groups. Once you’ve swum the Tiber, join the Women’s Club or Knights of Columbus or the Pro Life Group or the Carmelite Prayer Group or the Third Order Franciscans.
9. Yes, we do read the Bible, but we read it within the tradition and prayer of the Church. The Scriptures are woven into the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. Be prepared to see the Scripture you love in a totally fresh and exciting way.
10. Ask why you are considering the Catholic Church. If you’re just church shopping you still have a long way to go. The big question is authority. If you have come to believe that the Catholic Church really is the fullest expression of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church, and that the Holy Father is the God-appointed successor of Peter, Christ’s apostle on earth, then get yourself into the Catholic Church as soon as you can. Everything else will follow.

This article was posted by Fr Dwight Longenecker in his blog. He is Chaplain to St Joseph's Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina. He was ordained under the pastoral provision for married former Anglican priests. Visit his website and connect to his popular blog, Standing on My Head.

Zoroastrian Convert to be Ordained a Cathoilc Priest

Hezuk, the young Indian Zoroastrian converted by the beauty of the Eucharist

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - On May 2011 Hezuk Shroff, a young Parsi Indian whose name means "Light of the Universe", will be ordained a priest. On his journey towards Catholicism he has also attended the Protestant community. He became a deacon on 14 May, Hezuk who has lived in Canada since the age of four, tells AsiaNews about the journey that led to his decision to offer his life to Christ. The only son of a sailor in the Indian Merchant Navy Hezuk was born in Calcutta in 1971. In 1975 with his mother and younger sister Pearl he moved to Canada following his father, who had found work with the Canadian Coast Guard.

"My parents were Parsi (Zoroastrians) - he says - and I grew up following the teachings of this religion. My name Hezuk was my paternal grandmother’s name meaning "Light of the Universe" and I find it very beautiful because Jesus said "you will be the Light of the World."

The young man first heard of Christianity from his mother, who as a child had attended a Catholic school in Nanital (Uttarakhand). His personal path to Christianity, however, began with undergraduate studies in biochemistry at McGrill University in Montreal, when a roommate introduced him to the local Protestant communities of the Pentecostal Church.

During his years in the Protestant community, the young man began to read books about the Catholic religion and in 1994, out of curiosity, he accompanied by one of his college friends to a Catholic church for mass. "The liturgy of the Mass fascinated me - he says-I knew within myself that this was a sacred moment." "I think – he continues - I fell in love with the beauty and truth of Catholic faith and it helped me greatly to hear about the Grace of God, the Holy Eucharist and devotion of the faithful to the Virgin Mary and the saints." "The Mass – he adds - is the heart of my conversion and my priestly vocation. In the Holy Sacrifice, we have it all. God gives himself to us as spiritual food for our pilgrimage from earth to Heaven.

In September 1994 Hezuk decide to begin the catechumenate. In April 1995, he received baptism in the Basilica of St. Patrick Montreal during the Easter Vigil.

"At that time - he says - I came to realize that the Magisterium and authority in the Church are at the service of Truth and Love, and that they are a great blessing. Some people reject the Catholic Church because they feel that the Magisterium "binds" them (what they can believe, do, etc.). But I felt the opposite; Truth makes one freer to love. We are so blessed to have the Holy Father and the teaching authority of the Church, because they teach us how to truly grow in the life of Grace. " Hezuk says that during his very first experience of a Catholic Mass he understood that this was the "place where God was calling him."

After the baptism, the young man felt even more strongly the call of God to the priesthood. So, a few months later, he went to France, where he spent three years in a community of Benedictine monks. In this period of meditation and prayer Hezuk understood that the life of a monk was not for him, and entered the Community of St. John, where he spent six years first in the United States and then France, where he studied theology and philosophy. Upon graduation, the community leaders decided to send Hezuk to Cebu, the Philippines, for a period of mission. "It 's here in the Philippines - he says - after working in youth ministry, that I finally understood that God was calling me to serve as a diocesan priest."

In fact, during his mission in Cebu, Hezuk noted that the young people of his community were poorly integrated into parish life. "The young people – he says - told me that their pastor had no time for them, because he was too busy running the parish. Inside of me I thought 'how sad, after all, the first mission of a priest should be the care of the souls entrusted to him. So I began to understand that God had given me the heart of a 'shepherd' to continue his work. " "Every day – he continues – I understood more and more that God wants me to serve as pastor, to restore the sense of prayer and contemplation in the parishes." "The parish - he says - is one of the few points of contact with their Catholic faith."

Looking at the vibrancy of the young people in St. John’s and especially how they change due to common prayer and worship, Hezuk feels compelled to bring this approach to parish life. "The social aspect of faith is important - he says - but it should never be placed before prayer."

After his experience in Cebu, the young man decided to return to Canada in September 2006 and entered the Augustinian seminary in Toronto. Here he studied to become a priest at the service of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, a journey that will end next May with ordination. Hezuk said that it was difficult for his family to accept his choice, even if they respect and maybe only one sister who lives in the United States will attend his ordination.

"My mother - he says - was very happy with my conversion and even when I said that I would become a priest. It was difficult for my father, because being the only son he knew that I would not continue the family name. "

"Over time – he continues –he has accepted my choice, but it’s still very difficult for him to understand my conversion and my call to the priesthood. His religion is a part of his culture and roots and he thinks that by changing my religion, I also rejected my cultural and ethnic roots. I said that conversion to Christianity does not imply the rejection of anything, but that was a good thing. I have not rejected his religious beliefs and my roots, but I just felt that Christ was calling me to be one of his. "

Hezuk emphasizes that religion is a very personal choice, which must take place between the individual and God "Love of family and tradition are very important - he adds - but love of God must always come first. Christ calls me to follow him completely, even if this means a division between me and my father. When you fall in love with Christ, He takes full possession of your heart. And I've never been as happy as now. "

Leave the Priesthood says Vicariate of Rome after another scandal involving priests

Priestly Ordination vowing to God a Chaste, Prayerful and Obedient Life for the service of God and his Church. (Photo Credit: A Catholic Life)

An Italian weekly magazine called “Panorama” has put the entire Catholic priesthood to another round of condemnation, ridicule and shame from dissenters after it publishes"sexual" escapades of supposedly gay “priests” in the Vicariate of Rome living a “double life” having casual “fling” to male prostitutes.

The magazine captured the attention of its readers by the article’s title “Le notti brave dei preti gay” (The wild nights of gay priests) which was immediately circulated in blogspheres and other news articles. According to the report, Panorama hired gay prostitutes with a reporter who was its accomplices for the expose of priests living a “double life”. The said priests were two Italians and a French man who “happily took part in gay events and had casual sex – deeply disturbing” says one report.

For me, it seems to appear that these “gay priests” having casual sex had no shame at all. In my humble opinion, these priests should leave the priesthood and live a private life of their choice for the sake of those good priests, the priesthood, the entire Catholic Church and the faithful who are mostly affected by the recent child abuse scandal that shocked the Church. The Vicariate of Rome is right when it says “"Know that no one forces them to remain priests, exploiting only the benefits. Coherence would require them to come into the open. We don't wish to hurt them, but we cannot accept that due to their behavior the integrity of the all the rest might be tarnished."

Catholic faithfuls in Rome feel “sorrow and dismay” from this recent scandal rocking the Vicariate of Rome and the entire Catholic Church.

In response, the Vicariate of Rome asks all priests living a double life to come out and leave the priesthood for the sake of the Catholic Priesthood, the Church and the faithful who are the most affected by the recent child abuse scandal done by abusive priests (read the news from CNA)

Though it may be true to some extent, for me, the said article wasn’t exposing priests living a double life for the purpose of weeding out constructively erring Catholic priests. Apparently Panorama has the purpose of defaming again the priesthood intentionally to demonize Catholic Priesthood and the Pope-- a continuation of the series of scandals all the way from the USA, in Europe and other parts of Asia and Africa.

Expectedly, with this latest scandal anti-Catholics in the media and right wing dissenters will certainly hit the Pope overshadowing the effort of the Holy See in weeding out “bad” priests from the priesthood, who, by their “scandalous behavior” blemishes the sacredness of Catholic priesthood. Another opportunity for anti-Catholics and dissenters in mocking the Church, the priesthood and our Christian life. And surely, the Pope again will be carrying the heavy burden this may impact his papacy. Let us Protect the Pope.

Undeniably, just like any Catholic who loves the Church I feel remorseful for this scandal which involves priests. But I hope and pray Catholics will not allow themselves to be scared and succumb to hopelessness for Christ promised the powers of the Enemy “will not prevail against his Church”. These things may pass so as to purify ourselves as Church and look inwardly where we might have neglected the Church and its priests.

"Before such facts we firmly adhere to what the Holy Father Benedict XVI has repeated several times in recent months: 'the sins of priests' call us all back to conversion of heart and life and to be vigilant so as not to 'pollute the faith and Christian life, damaging the integrity of the Church, weakening her capacity of prophecy and testimony, tarnishing the beauty of her face'” say the report at CNS.

May God have mercy on us and look upon with love the Church which he has bought by his blood.