What is a Priest?

“The Sacrament of Orders, which you are about to receive, will make you sharers in the very mission of Christ; you will be called to scatter the seed of his Word, the seed that carries in itself the Kingdom of God; to dispense divine mercy and to nourish the faithful at the table of his Body and Blood”

A man of God, chosen by God

"The Priesthood is a call, not a career; a redefinition of self, not just a new ministry; a way of life, not a job; a state of being, not just a function; a permanent , lifelong commitment, not a temporary style of service; an identity , not just a role.  We are priests; yes the doing, the ministry, is mighty important, but it flows from the being; we can act like priests, minister as priests, preach as priests, because first and foremost we are priests!  Being before act!"

A man of the Eucharist

"We were born from the Eucharist. If we can truly say that the whole Church lives from the Eucharist (“Ecclesia de Eucharistia vivit”), as I reaffirmed in my recent Encyclical, we can say the same thing about the ministerial priesthood: it is born, lives, works and bears fruit “de Eucharistia”(cf. Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, canon 2: DS 1752). “There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist”

A man of the Word

"We want to stress once more the very important place that preaching still has, especially in the modern Catholic apostolate and in connection with the dialogue which is our present concern.  No other form of communication can take its place, not even the exceptionally powerful and effective means provided by modern technology: press, radio and television.  In effect, the apostolate and sacred preaching are more or less synonymous terms.  Preaching is the primary apostolate.  Our ministry, Venerable Brethren, is before all else the ministry of the word."

A man of Pastoral Charity

"Pastoral charity is the virtue by which we imitate Christ in his self-giving and service. It is not just what we do, but our gift of self which manifests Christ’s love for his flock. Pastoral charity determines our way of thinking and acting, our way of relating to people. It makes special demands on us."

A Sign of Contradiction

"In a culture like ours, the Priest’s life is a sign of contradiction to much of what the world imagines to be true. The priest is not a contrarian, however. His being-different is not an end in itself, an indulgence in idiosyncrasy. The priest is a sign of contradiction so that the world can learn the truth about itself and can be converted. The radical openness to serve others that should be manifest in a happy, holy priest's life is a living lesson to the world that self-giving, not self-assertion, is the royal road to human flourishing."

A man configured to Christ, the Good Shepherd

The Priest, the steward of the mysteries of God, is truly himself when he is for others.  Prayer enables him to recognize those whom the Father has given to him.  These are, in the first place, those whom the Good Shepherd has as it were placed on the path of his priestly ministry, of his pastoral care.  They are children, adults and the aged.  They are the youth, married couples, and families, but also those who are alone.  They are the sick, the suffering, the dying; they are those who are spiritually close…but also those who are distant.  Those who for different reasons are negatively disposed, those who find themselves in difficulties of various sorts, those who are struggling against vices and sin, those who are fighting for faith and hope, those who seek the Priest’s help and those who reject it.