Day 278: All The Priests!

Photo courtesy of Kristen Lynch. You can see my spouse and a kid's head in the lower right!

Consecration. Photo courtesy of Kristen Lynch

Last night (actually Monday night because I wrote this yesterday) we went to a special Mass held at our new parish. The bishop and all of the priests from our diocese are here for Presbyteral Days. I don't really know what that is, but I know there were something like 75-80 priests at the Mass. We took the kids, even though 5:30 p.m. isn't their best time of day, and only one of them seems to "like" church. We thought it would be cool to see so many priests together and fun to do evening prayer with them, too.

So many men dressed in the same white vestments was pretty cool to see. Bishop Folda's miter kept the little one engaged for a while, and overall it was just a cool experience. One kid fell asleep, another got a bloody nose, and the third yelled "That Father wearing him hat!" during the bishop's homily. And still I'm glad we went! We met the bishop on the way out, which all of us but the two-year-old enjoyed.

During the prayers of the consecration, I just felt... tingly? Is that weird? I can't think of a better word to describe it. I mean, it is awesome when one priest says Mass, but we have the opportunity to go so often that it can unfortunately become a bit mundane. When 75 priests are there, the spiritual feeling is kicked up a notch. So cool. Thanks, Holy Spirit. Well done!

I got to thinking about how varied the group was, young and old, American and not, all different shapes, sizes, and hair styles, not to mention varying gifts. It's easy for me to think that they have given their lives for the Lord, right? I mean, they trained for so long and have sacrificed so much to be priests in His church. It's a little more difficult and humbling for me to think about how much they have sacrificed for me.

I have only encountered a handful of those men in person, but in a way they have all given their lives for me. For us. For the people who complain that the homily was boring, that Mass was too long, that they shouldn't be asked to teach religious ed, or that we got called out for leaving right after communion.

They bring us to the sacraments. They do it whether or not they like us personally and despite the fact that none of us deserves it. They do it day after day and year after year. It's just such a gift, one that we take for granted. Or at least I do.



And since we're talking priests today, here's a great homily I heard today. I know I've shared Father Bryan's homilies here a bunch of times, but this is Father Craig, who also posts his homilies at Evangelical Disciple. Check this one out: Get Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries.