Cure D'Ars: Model Priest

Dear Friends in Christ,

I found this article from Zenit on St. John Vianney, the patron saint of Diocesan Priests. This year, in the Year of the Priest, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI will declare St. John Vianney patron saint of all priests.

Click here to read the article.

St. John Vianney once said that the priesthood "is the love of the heart of Jesus". This heart of Jesus, His Sacred Heart, was punctured when Jesus was on the cross, and from it poured forth water and blood. The Church was founded from the side of Christ, since from that thrust came forth the healing waters of the sacraments (Baptism, and the Eucharist). For the Eucharist, it is the priest which offers every day, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the same sacrifice and action as Jesus on the cross. So it is here that the priest is the love of the heart of Jesus, since it is from the Sacred Heart of Christ that the salvific powers of the Eucharist flow. Priests continue to reside in His Sacred Heart, and every time Mass is offered, that same salvific power flows outward in the Eucharist.

During the year of the priest, this blog will be used to update people on activities of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of the different programs and activities of this office, the Vocation Office, as well as the Archdiocese as a whole. May you be blessed abundantly in this year of the priest, and through the intercession of St. John Vianney, may you come to a deeper realization of the vocation God has given you, whatever it may be.

May you reside in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.