Last Supper – the institution
of two Sacraments: the HOLY EUCHARIST – the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of
Christ and the PRIESTHOOD, the Sacrament in service of the Eucharist.
Two Sacraments …. two mysteries
of faith.
How can a piece of bread
contain God, the Creator of the Universe?
How can to the ordinary man
be granted such a power, to transform the bread into the Body of Christ? And
yet … this is exactly what Jesus did during the Last Supper.
Lk 22:19 – “Then he
took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for
you; do this in remembrance of me.”
What is the primary purpose
and task of a priest? What is his ultimate vocation? The answer we can find in
the life and mission of Christ. So what was the primary reason of the
incarnation of the second Person if the Holy Trinity?
- Was it the healing of the
sick?
- Was it the feeding of the
hungry?
- Was it the social justice
work?
- Or was it maybe the making
His disciples feel good?
I think it was none of the above!'!!
He, the High Priest was the
Priest for two reasons, which finally come to the only one:
- the GLORY OF GOD and the SALVATION
OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD!
John 4:34 – “My food is
to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work.”
John 17:3 – “And
eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 18:37 – “Jesus
answering Pilate said, 'It is you who say that I am a king. I was born
for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are
on the side of truth listen to my voice.”
Mt 28:19 – “Go,
therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
So Glory of God and sanctification
of the members of Christ's Church.
2Tim 4:1 nn – “Before
God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I charge you, in the name of his appearing
and of his kingdom, proclaim the message and,
welcome or unwelcome, insist on
it. Refute falsehood, correct error, give encouragement -- but do all with patience
and with care to instruct.”
It will be a betrayal to
anything else. Like searching popularity, luxury, easy life, career etc.
The Founder of my Society of
the Divine Saviour left us the Salvatorians the words of our vocation: “As long as there is
one person in the world who doesn’t know and love Jesus Christ you cannot rest.
Preach Jesus Christ with all means dictated by the love of God and love of your
brothers and sisters.”
****************************************
Parish in communistic Russia,
since 1918 no priest for almost 90 years …
Church turned or transformed
in to kolkhoz’s storage facility …
After three generations of
prayers they got a priest …
·
Lord Jesus
Christ, the only One and Eternal Priest,
we
thank You for sending us Your priest;
Your
servant whom You chose and appointed to be among us.
He
is the minister of Your mysteries,
and
the pastor for our community.
We ask You to give him
faithfulness and perseverance in Your holy service
and to give us a living faith
in knowing that You sent him to us
and instituted him as our
pastor and spiritual guide.
Help us to understand that
his first and primary obligation
is to help us to become
saints.
This is the ultimate reason
that You sent him to our community.
·
Give him a spirit
of wisdom and good council.
Give
him the strength of fatherly love.
Give
him the courage to tell us the truth,
You're
the Truth and we have to know the TRUTH, to be free,
Give
him the courage and perseverance to teach us the ultimate TRUTH
and
not to compromise Your Good News for the sake of popularity.
And give us the gift of
acceptance, respect and caring,
so that we can attentively
listen to his word and trust that
he is preaching Your Good
News,
even if it seems sometimes
awkward and challenging,
Even if our ears are itching
...
·
You chose him
from among us and for us,
a
man who sometimes falls down because of his own weaknesses,
but
also who has to deal with our weaknesses and sins.
Give us both patience and
mutual understanding.
Give him health and patience
in his difficult work and responsibilities.
·
May he be for us
a good Pastor,
May
he be for us a good and truthful Teacher,
May
he be for us a strong and courageous Prophet,
who
guides us to Heaven,
where
You our Eternal Pastor are waiting for us;
in
the Kingdom of Your Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God for ever and
ever. Amen.
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