Letters to Priests

By Joanne McKenna

His holiness Pope Benedict XVI established a special year for priests in 2009. The hope was to "encourage priests as they strive for spiritual perfection because, of course, on this the effectiveness of their ministry depends."1

Ten years later, on the 160th anniversary of John Vianney, patron saint of priests, his holiness Pop

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quantum Discovery
• Release date: Oct 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781959314257

Book preview

Letters to Priests

Copyright © 2022 by Joanne McKenna

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN

978-1-959314-24-0 (Paperback)

978-1-959314-25-7 (eBook)

I dedicate this book to all who respond to God’s call to love and serve (Deuteronomy 10:12)

May our prayers lift the hearts of those most in need of hope.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Prologue

Prayer for Priests

Innocence

Beginning

Growing

Befriending

Penitence

Suffering

Reconciling

Priesthood

Awakening

Appendix 1

Works Cited

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to my family and friends for their unconditional love and support especially my husband James who is a model of love and service, generously sharing his time and talent with unlimited patience.

As well, my daughter and grandchildren who teach me about love every day.

I have been truly blessed over many years to know countless priests who exemplify the mandate to love and serve. They cannot possibly know the long-lasting impact they had on so many with quiet, unassuming grace. My gratitude for those who provided spiritual direction over the years is immeasurable. It was a privilege and an honor to call you friends.

Other contributions to this endeavor include the many groups who have supported me in the spiritual life. The teachers at the meditation center, along with many parish and monastic communities, who provided limitless refuge and silence for which I will be forever grateful.

To Paula Hillman and Elizabeth Ferri for their help with research and editing.

I would also like to acknowledge Quantum Discovery, especially Kaye Porter and Alex Morgan for pursuing this project on my behalf.

Give thanks to God most of all, whose love endures, whose faithfulness lasts through every age. (Psalm 100:4-5).

Preface

His holiness Pope Benedict XVI established a special year for priests in 2009. The hope is to encourage priests as they strive for spiritual perfection because, of course, on this the effectiveness of their ministry depends.¹

Ten years later, on the 160th anniversary of John Vianney, patron saint of priests, his holiness Pope Francis addressed a letter to priests saying in part; I write to all my brother priests who have quietly left all behind in order to immerse yourselves like the Cure of Ars in the trenches, bearing the burden of the day, confronting an endless variety of situations in your effort to care for and accompany God’s people. Despite the hardships of the journey, you are writing the finest pages of the priestly life.²

Bishop Sheen identified Mary, Magdalene and John, as the three types of souls forever to be found beneath the cross of Christ: innocence, penitence and priesthood. The book is organized around the intermingling of these in the soul of the priest who at the foot of the cross is called to be as pure and as holy as an angel. He is then clothed with the robe of innocence on ordination.³ He asserts with Peter, I will never deny you, then sifted like wheat by Satan, to come back to support the brethren, (Luke 22:31, 32) discovering, I am alive, or rather not I; it is Christ that lives in me. (Gal. 2:20).

True, progression in the spiritual life is by no means linear and has no reliable signposts. Its layers are interminable. Innocence, penitence and priesthood is borrowed for the sake of discussion and gives deference to ‘stages’ defined by many wiser men and women of the church.

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¹ Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the Congregation for the Clergy on the Occasion of their Plenary Assembly at Consistory Hall on March 16, 2009, www.vatican.va/holyfather/benedictxvi/speeches/2009/ march/documents/hfben-xvispe2OO9O3i6plenaria- cleroen.html(April 15, 2010)

² Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the Congregation for the Clergy on the Occasion of their Plenary Assembly at Consistory Hall on March 16, 2009, www.vatican.va/holyfather/benedictxvi/speeches/2009/ march/documents/hfben-xvispe2OO9O3i6plenaria- cleroen.html(April 15, 2010)

³ Fulton Sheen, The Sacrament of