Reflecting on My Priesthood
This year of 2026 has been a special one for us, having celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation with the Declaration of Independence, but I can say this year is a particularly special one for me. With Fr. Daniel McCarthy, my confrere in Rome, and Fr. Josias Dias de Costa, a brother monk of our priory of St. Joseph’s in Brazil, we celebrate our anniversaries of priestly ordination, twenty years for myself, and thirty-five and forty years for Fr. Danel and Fr. Josias respectively. My twenty years as a priest have been a wonderful blessing, I want to thank everyone for all of their prayers, support, and good wishes over the years, particularly those in my family and the monastic community.
In the last year or so of my priestly ministry, our national anniversary has been prominent in my thinking. Anyone who has been around me in my preaching knows I cannot resist resist a temptation to speak of history, and, as you might imagine, that has spilled over into my homilies and conferences.
One theme in particular offers a lens with which to reflect on priesthood and my time as a priest. The founding fathers often spoke of Providence, believed that the nation had been blessed with liberty by God, and I most certainly agree. Indeed, Providence is a very fundamental Catholic idea, nothing less than the guiding hand of God in time and in all things. Providence is God caring for everything, moving all things and events toward a final, everlasting perfection and blessing, and, of course, it is Jesus in his death and resurrection who opens it for us and allows us in.
The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that it happens through Jesus becoming the Great High Priest, possessing a priesthood directly from God and, for his priestly offering, sacrificing himself, his gift of his body and blood one of absolute perfection. This in itself is Providence, and, through it, Jesus has made eternal perfection possible for us to attain through our faith in him and our obedience to his commandments.
In reality, Christ alone is the only true priest, but Christ has chosen to make himself present in an ordained priest, and by virtue of the sacrament of holy orders, that man is graced to act in the person of Christ as head—in persona Christi Capitis. Priests like myself are simply Christ’s minsters and servants, carrying out his priesthood. Summed up, a priest is consecrated to Christ’s name and to his service: carrying on and extending the work given to the Apostles by Jesus in proclaiming the word of God, and offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass to fulfill the command, “Do this in memory of me.” Of course, this has meant for me and any of my brother priests, many Masses, countless confessions, frequent assistance in matrimony and anointings of the sick and infirm. All of this attests to the truth: priesthood is a service, and especially a service of communion. All of it is meant to bring people together in love of God and one another. It says in the Catechism, Holy Orders is a sacrament meant to help save others, and it is a sacrament meant to assist all of the faithful in what they truly are. A nation of priests, a priestly people who themselves share in their own way in the gift and blessing from Jesus Christ, who share his work, and who need Jesus’s strengthening in their own ministry.
It’s common to ask people on their anniversaries, “What have you learned?” or “What wisdom can you give us from your experience?” I will share one thing that is not necessarily exclusive to priests, but from numerous discussions with brother priests over the years highlights something very common in priests’ experience: we can often feel grace “kick in.” Innumerable times, myself and the priests with whom I have spoken have felt God giving us the words to say, the ability to take action, or do whatever might be needed, a little boost or a jolt of divine energy that can even take us to another level at times, occasionally even to a love beyond our usual limits.
I say it’s a reason for all of the faithful to rejoice. Myself, because it is a tremendous, joyful experience in my own life, but the all of us because it’s a sign that God’s love is truly at work, God doing something in us priests for all of you. Jesus promised, “I will give you shepherds,” and in His priests, and in his Providence he indeed does. However, in his Providence that gift of the priest goes beyond that man’s limitations, abilities, even his sinfulness. My experience, and the experience of so many other priests to whom I have spoken confirms that in a priest God is truly working to grace us and save us, and doing it by giving exactly what’s needed at just the right time and in the right measure. Again, I say this is reason to rejoice, to be encouraged, and to have hope.
What does my twenty of years of priesthood mean? I’ll say it means God in Jesus Christ is truly present to save. In his love, God does not remain aloof, but is present and acting in Jesus and in his priests and that is why we all, most especially myself, ought to give him thanks and praise. I say myself because this is an honor given to an unworthy soul, a sinner, but God in his love, in his Providence, has chosen to bless me in my priesthood. May it be for all of you help for your salvation.