Call to Holiness

 

From my Catholic Book of Prayers

Today, the feast of St. Patrick’s Day was a special treat. Not for the beer and cabbage. For the homily at mass.

As a young college student Father was in Ireland on vacation and visited a pub while there.  As a spiritual fast and discernment of a life decision decided he was not going to drink, which was pretty unusual for a college student. His spiritual director was there and he didn’t have a drink either and father took notice of this and asked him about it. He shared with him that when he was 16 years old he made an oath and I’ve never had a drink since. He went on to tell him that he was Irish, and he prays offering this up as a Pioneer for those that have difficulty with drinking so that our graces are with those that struggle with addictions. I mean after all the Irish are known for their hardy drinking. So father decided on that day himself to also become a Pioneer and since that day has not had a drink either. Every morning and every evening in his prayers he asks for mercy for those that struggle with addictions. He equates this offering with love, a love that is selfless. He gains no benefit to do these sacrifices but is convinced it benefits others, those he is called to shepherd. I was blown away by this act of charity.

The night before mass I was researching information on our latest upcoming podcast on holiness and I read Lumen Gentium chapter V on the universal call to holiness. I skimmed over the part about priests and focused on the laity, since that is more our audience. But I did glean a few things about offering up sacrifices for their flock and such.

After mass I stopped by the vestibule and thanked him for his commitment to holiness and we had a brief chat. I decided to look back up what the chapter said about priests and the call to holiness.

Here is what it says, (and I paraphrase)

Priests, who resemble bishops by way of their sacrament of Orders, form the spiritual crown of the bishops. Exercising their office through Christ, participating in the grace of their office, they should grow daily in their love of God and their neighbor by this mediator. They should be plentiful in every spiritual good and present to all men a living witness to God preserving the bond of priestly communion. Doing all this in imitation of the priests who often, down through the course of the centuries, left an outstanding example of the holiness of humble and hidden service. In this office of praying and offering sacrifice for their own people and the entire people of God, they are called to rise to greater holiness. In their apostolic labors, rather than being ensnared by perils and hardships, should use these struggles to rise to greater holiness. Their actions ever strengthened from an abundance of contemplation, doing all this for the solace of the entire Church of God. All priests should keep continually before their minds the fact that their faithful loyalty toward and their generous communion with their bishop is of the greatest value in their growth in holiness.

As I reflect on this call to holiness for priests I see wonderful witnesses in my community of these faithful priests and now more than ever I pray for them daily. In my catholic handbook I have written the names of some of my personal priest friends and pray for their vocation, that it be pleasing to the Lord.

Then being the research dork that I am I looked up this Pioneer group. From their website it states:

The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA) is an Irish organization that seeks to promote and support healthier lifestyle choices so one can lead a joy-filled life without the involvement of drugs or alcohol.

The Association was founded by Fr. James Cullen S.J. in 1898 in response to widespread alcoholism among Irish Catholics.

In the 20th Century, the term Pioneer became synonymous with teetotallism among Irish Catholics, and the PTAA influenced public policy. By 1948, the PTAA claimed 360,000 members.

Fr. Cullen was always concerned with social issues, and his motivation in setting up the Pioneers was to address the enormous damage that he saw excess alcohol was doing in the Ireland of his times. Many workers were heavy drinkers, and alcohol was the greatest drain on the weekly earnings of the family.

Pioneers gain strength and support through prayer and meditation, demonstrating unconditional love and friendship, and leading by good example, and it is those characteristics that distinguish it from other secular temperance organizations.

             Members take a pledge of abstinence for a period of time (Lent is common), or for a lifetime.  While total abstinence is the personal choice of the Pioneers for themselves, their overall message is temperance, moderation, and self-control in all things. https://www.pioneerassociation.ie/

             The fact that this was fathers independent choice, one that he kept to this day some 30 years later is so impressive. We chuckled in our brief conversation that the call to holiness is a lifetime pursuit and he said I’m sure trying. It really inspired me to try harder too. I’ll leave you with a quote I also discovered in my research.

“The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy on life,                                       is not becoming a saint.”

Léon Bloy French novelist

Prayer for Priests

Almighty Father,

Grant to these servants of Yours the dignity of priesthood.

Renew within them the Spirit of Holiness.

As co-workers with the order of bishops may they be faithful to the order of bishops, may they be faithful to the ministry they receive from You, Lord God, and be to others a model of right conduct.

May they be faithful in spreading the good news, so that the words of the Gospel may reach the ends of the earth, and the family of nations, made one in Christ, may become God's one, holy people.

Amen