Fr. Campbell at St. Paul's in Shettleston has been promoting prayingforpriests at his parish... and so he has FIVE people signed up to pray for him every day! I am going to have to urge more priests to do this. I know they have many, many things to keep track of and lots to put in their bulletins. But, I'm sure they all want people praying for them, so I'm going to gently remind them to put a notice in when they get the chance.
A reader has reminded me that there will be a worldwide day of prayer for the sanctification of priests on the 30th of May. I'm going to have to think of something special to do for that...
Tuesday 29 April 2008
Monday 14 April 2008
Vocations Sunday
Yesterday was Vocations Sunday. We all need to pray for an increase in vocations because, to put it bluntly, we're running out of priests. I don't know how many seminarians we have in the Archdiocese of Glasgow, but I gather there aren't very many. More and more parishes are going to be closed in the near future. We may find ourselves attending laity-led prayer services on some Sundays, as is common in some areas of the United States.
But, I don't feel gloomy about this. I really do believe that we're about to turn a corner. The younger generation of Catholics are rediscovering their roots, and are more faithful to Tradition than ever. In some dioceses, vocations are booming. While secular humanist culture is still seducing many people into leaving the Church, more and more people are finding that there is nothing "out there" but a desert of nihilism and despair. With joy they are discovering the one, true, holy Catholic Church. Reverts and converts tend to be very enthusiastic about their faith, and their zeal can be contagious. There is a movement to renew the liturgy and bring back the emphasis on the Transubstantiation and reverence in worship. In such an atmosphere, boys will be struck by the awesome significance of the priestly vocation. They'll hear the call and they'll heed it because the Catholic community will encourage them.
When we are afraid, we must pray. We must pray every day for our priests, who are our most precious earthly resource. We must leave our worries to God and trust in Him. We have to remain positive. We have to live the Gospel with joy and so be a beacon of love to the world. Don't dwell on the negative stories you'll hear in the news about Catholics losing their faith, about scandals in the clergy, or any of that. Remember: a lot of the media is emphatically biased against Catholicism. They want to instill doubt in us about ourselves. They want us to bow to societal pressure regarding birth control, abortion, IVF, homosexuality, and chastity. They seek to weaken our conviction by alternating between ridiculing the Truth and portraying it as something no longer relevant.
Keep praying for our priests!
But, I don't feel gloomy about this. I really do believe that we're about to turn a corner. The younger generation of Catholics are rediscovering their roots, and are more faithful to Tradition than ever. In some dioceses, vocations are booming. While secular humanist culture is still seducing many people into leaving the Church, more and more people are finding that there is nothing "out there" but a desert of nihilism and despair. With joy they are discovering the one, true, holy Catholic Church. Reverts and converts tend to be very enthusiastic about their faith, and their zeal can be contagious. There is a movement to renew the liturgy and bring back the emphasis on the Transubstantiation and reverence in worship. In such an atmosphere, boys will be struck by the awesome significance of the priestly vocation. They'll hear the call and they'll heed it because the Catholic community will encourage them.
When we are afraid, we must pray. We must pray every day for our priests, who are our most precious earthly resource. We must leave our worries to God and trust in Him. We have to remain positive. We have to live the Gospel with joy and so be a beacon of love to the world. Don't dwell on the negative stories you'll hear in the news about Catholics losing their faith, about scandals in the clergy, or any of that. Remember: a lot of the media is emphatically biased against Catholicism. They want to instill doubt in us about ourselves. They want us to bow to societal pressure regarding birth control, abortion, IVF, homosexuality, and chastity. They seek to weaken our conviction by alternating between ridiculing the Truth and portraying it as something no longer relevant.
Keep praying for our priests!
Thursday 10 April 2008
Praying for the Priests of Glasgow
www.prayingforpriests.com
It recently occurred to me that I take priests for granted. I think a lot of us do.
Priests work so hard for us. They've dedicated their entire lives to serving God at the altar and to ministering to our spiritual needs. I'm not sure they get enough enough recognition for what they do.
I became especially aware of my own tendency to nitpick the way a priest says the Mass. I have some traditionalist leanings and I like a reverent Mass. I can get impatient with things that aren't to my liking. But, it's too easy to slip into a habit of criticizing and complaining about how Father elevates the host or genuflects. This is obviously not what we are meant to do. I do think we need a renewal of the liturgy in the Church. But, not at the expense of charity. Didn't Paul make it very clear that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are meaningless if we don't have charity?
Somehow, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and made it clear that what I need to do is pray for priests and encourage others to do the same. I somewhere came across an American web site that encourages prayer for the Archdiocese of Raleigh, North Carolina:
http://www.cureprayergroup.org/
I immediately knew I needed to do this for Glasgow! The administrators of that site were very gracious, giving me advice on how to get started, and letting me copy their idea.
We have only just launched the web site. I am still trying to spread the word. I think I've told maybe four people about it, but it would seem that they're telling others, already. I've heard from someone at the Catholic Times that they read about prayingforpriests.com on Fr. Finigan's blog, The Hermeneutic of Continuity. How he found out about it, I have no idea!
At the moment, I'm sending emails, using the Catholic Directory for Scotland and the Archdiocesan web site to find addresses for parishes. Here's what my email says:
It recently occurred to me that I take priests for granted. I think a lot of us do.
Priests work so hard for us. They've dedicated their entire lives to serving God at the altar and to ministering to our spiritual needs. I'm not sure they get enough enough recognition for what they do.
I became especially aware of my own tendency to nitpick the way a priest says the Mass. I have some traditionalist leanings and I like a reverent Mass. I can get impatient with things that aren't to my liking. But, it's too easy to slip into a habit of criticizing and complaining about how Father elevates the host or genuflects. This is obviously not what we are meant to do. I do think we need a renewal of the liturgy in the Church. But, not at the expense of charity. Didn't Paul make it very clear that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are meaningless if we don't have charity?
Somehow, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and made it clear that what I need to do is pray for priests and encourage others to do the same. I somewhere came across an American web site that encourages prayer for the Archdiocese of Raleigh, North Carolina:
http://www.cureprayergroup.org/
I immediately knew I needed to do this for Glasgow! The administrators of that site were very gracious, giving me advice on how to get started, and letting me copy their idea.
We have only just launched the web site. I am still trying to spread the word. I think I've told maybe four people about it, but it would seem that they're telling others, already. I've heard from someone at the Catholic Times that they read about prayingforpriests.com on Fr. Finigan's blog, The Hermeneutic of Continuity. How he found out about it, I have no idea!
At the moment, I'm sending emails, using the Catholic Directory for Scotland and the Archdiocesan web site to find addresses for parishes. Here's what my email says:
Hello!
My husband and I have built a website to
encourage prayer for the preists of the Archdiocese of Glasgow. We are
committed to praying daily for our Archbishop, our priests, and for
more vocations. And, we want to let priests know that they are being
prayed for!
Launched just last week, prayingforpriests.com asks people to sign up
to pray for specific individual priests.
Could you please spread the word about this ministry? If you could
find the space in your Sunday bulletin to print a little notice and
our URL, that would be wonderful. The more people praying for our
priests, the better!
Here is our url:
http://www.prayingforpriests.com
The list of priests and their parishes is based on information
published in the Catholic Directory and on the Archdiocesan web site.
If you see any errors or have any suggestions, please let us know!
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