No matter how people make successes and achievements in mundane life, they still miss an important part of their lives, namely the spiritual aspect.
No matter how powerful and influential people become, they are still impotent as they still seek a divine power that guides them in their lives.
When people become sick, they feel hopeless. They restore their hope when they get close to a superpower, namely a divine power that can extricate them from their suffering.
All in all, in cases of calamity, happiness, and joy people always resort to the Almighty God for help or for being thankful for His mercy.
In all moments of life people seek pious people who are glorified through their august deeds in the service of the Lord. They are namely “the priests” who are the instrument used by the Almighty God for the salvation of souls.
In his Angelus prayer, on July 26, 2009, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “Priests become instruments of salvation for many, for all!"
Furthermore, on February 6, 2016, Pope Francis addressed the priests on the occasion of the Jubilee for Priests saying, “The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.”
Priests are always instruments in the hands of God. All they do and achieve are the fruits of being such instruments. As such, they hand over themselves to God as they fulfill a mission for and of the Kingdom of God.
This view is corroborated in several references in the Holy Bible. He are some of them:
ACTS 9:15
“But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.”
1 Timothy 3:14-15
“I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
JOHN 15:16
“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
The two main offices of priests are saying Holy Mass and forgiving sins. These are the most exalted among the many powers and privileges God grants His priests. The faithful, therefore, for these and many other reasons, owe the greatest respect and devotion to God’s chosen ministers.
Priests offer the Mass and thus renew Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross which constitutes the priest’s chief dignity. While engaged in the sacred liturgy, the priests assume the role of the Lord Jesus Christ, lovingly offering Himself to the Father on behalf of all mankind.
When the priests say the words of consecration, they reenact Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, himself separating the Lord’s precious blood from His holy body. The priests then literally raise God up high so that the people can adore their Savior.
Furthermore, the priests, in addition to being the specific instrument God uses to manifest Himself daily to the Church, also distribute divine grace when giving the Holy Communion to the faithful. Thus, the people receive God directly from the hands of the priests.
The priests’ dignity is not limited to the Mass alone for they also shares another divine prerogative when they pardon sin through the Sacrament of Penance. Only souls in the state of grace can enter paradise; therefore, God has entrusted the very keys of Heaven to his priests.
As priests are highly venerated in all societies for the divine services they provide to people and satisfy their spiritual needed, we pray for them saying:
“O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.
In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption.”
