A time to pray for and honor the gift of priesthood

This Sunday, Oct. 25, is the annual Priesthood Sunday, an opportunity for parishioners and priests to bond and to strengthen relationships.

Father Elifete St. Fort talks with young parishioners after Mass at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Parish in Royal Palm Beach. Father St. Fort celebrates his one–year anniversary as a priest and is happy that the Holy Father has dedicated this year “The Year for Priests.”

GINA BARCA | FC
Father Elifete St. Fort talks with young parishioners after Mass at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Parish in Royal Palm Beach. Father St. Fort celebrates his one–year anniversary as a priest and is happy that the Holy Father has dedicated this year “The Year for Priests.”

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 10.21.09

Prayer for Priests

The following is a prayer released by Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome:

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father (name). Give him a deep faith, a bright and firm hope, and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of his priestly life. In his loneliness, comfort him. In his sorrows, strengthen him. In his frustrations, point out to him that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show him that he is needed by the Church; he is needed by souls; he is needed for the work of redemption.

ROYAL PALM BEACH | When Father Elifete St. Fort, a parochial vicar at Our Lady Queen of Apostles, was a seminarian, he kept a card in his shirt pocket that he slipped out and reflected upon from time to time.

“I would look at it and say, ‘I want to be like you,’” said Father St. Fort, who marked his first anniversary as a priest Sept. 27. “Please help me to understand what it means to be a good priest in our world.”

The 3-by-4-inch card that he still cherishes holds an image of French priest St. John Vianney, whom Pope Benedict XVI selected as patron saint for the “Year for Priests,” which began in June and continues until June 19, 2010.

“This is a spiritual year,” said Father St. Fort. “The Year for Priests is a joyful year for us as priests, especially me as a young priest. This is a year to ask God to give us grace as we spread the Gospel in the world.”

IDEA BEHIND THE YEAR

The Year for Priests opened at the Vatican on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day honoring Christ and associated with a heart illustrating the great love of Jesus.

“The Holy Father wants all priests to be in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to place all the people (the priests serve) in his Sacred Heart,” said Father John Pasquini, pastor of St. John of the Cross in Vero Beach. “People are called to pray, reflect, celebrate and honor the gift of priesthood. They are called to pray that their priests have a fervent spiritual commitment to the Gospel in good times and bad. The Year (for Priests) is also a time to develop the communion and friendship between priests and the communities entrusted to their care.”

YEARLONG ACTIVITIES

YEAR FOR PRIESTS

The diocesan Web site has information on the Year for Priests, special prayers and a calendar that can be downloaded.

This Sunday, Oct. 25, is the annual Priesthood Sunday, an opportunity for parishioners and priests to bond and to strengthen relationships. Parishioners are planning special events to honor priests, but some parishes are going beyond Priesthood Sunday, planning prayerful and joyful events throughout this Year for Priests.

“We are holding a luncheon to celebrate the Year for Priests,” Veronica Comrie, a parishioner of St. Mark in Boynton Beach, told the Florida Catholic before the parish luncheon at Quail Ridge Country Club Oct. 11 that drew nearly 100 to honor the parish’s three Franciscan priests and all they do.

Joan Lawlor of the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens came up with an idea, worked with the diocesan vocations department and is promoting a women’s prayer ministry for priests.

Women are invited to join this ministry that simply requires a little prayer time. “We look forward to this with the hope that women will respond to Our Lady’s invitation to pray for her beloved sons, the priests of our diocese,” said Lawlor.

The Diocese of Palm Beach is also encouraging the faithful to pray. A special calendar designed for the Year for Priests can be downloaded from the diocesan Web site. Each calendar day is marked with one or more priests’ names. The idea is to pray for the specific man or men named on the day, who may be celebrating an ordination or some other special milestone.

Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito said the Year for Priests “will be a wonderful opportunity for all of us to reflect upon the unique and irreplaceable identity of the priests.” He also encouraged all to pray for religious vocations.

PRIESTLY VOCATIONS

Many believe prayer is the key to increasing vocations, and restoring respect for the priesthood and honor to Catholic priests living their vocation faithfully but suffer because of the wrongdoings of few.

According to statistics supplied by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the priesthood is shrinking. In 1965, figures indicate, there were 58,632 priests in America. Those numbers dropped in 2000 to 45,699 priests. 2009 figures show a total of 40,666 priests.

Ordination figures in 1965 totaled 994 compared to 472 in 2009. Graduate-level seminarian figures are also declining. In 1965, there were 8,325 seminary graduate students compared to 3,357 in 2009, according to the Georgetown figures.

“I hope this year we will get more vocations to the priesthood,” Father Yves François, diocesan director of vocations, told the Florida Catholic.

God alone knows the good the men of the collar do – the hearts they heal, how many souls they save in a given day, taking on roles as counselors, spiritual directors, evangelizers and working with young and old, with poor, outcast and sick.

To get a real look at priesthood, the Florida Catholic visited St. Juliana Parish and School in West Palm Beach and caught up with Father Alfredo Hernandez, pastor. Father Hernandez received holy orders in 1992 and he was the first Hispanic seminarian ordained for the Diocese of Palm Beach. He explained that days can be “wild.”

Father Hernandez starts and ends his busy days with private prayer. His schedule might include morning Mass and a visit to the school. There may be a funeral, or a meeting with a couple preparing for marriage, or with an individual seeking an annulment.

“I might get lunch in there somewhere,” he explained when asked about a break.

He goes to the hospital frequently to visit the sick and dying. He might visit the maternity ward to bless the newborns before leaving medical facilities. Back at the parish, there might be another Mass, wedding rehearsal, wake or meeting. Then, there are phone calls and e-mails, and administrative work.

“A priest is about being there for people in every setting,” he told the Florida Catholic.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

What if there were no priests here, as in many areas of the world, to give the seven sacraments, the outward signs that Christ instituted to give the gift of grace?

“The Holy Father recognizes the fact that priests have a very important role in people’s lives,” said Father Charles Hawkins of Ascension Parish in Boca Raton.

“I feel affirmed,” he told the Florida Catholic about the Holy Father’s year of special prayer for spiritual leaders.

Father St. Fort went into the seminary for formation right after his high school graduation. Moments before his ordination last year, he told the Florida Catholic that he could not wait to be a priest.

When we asked him to comment on his first year in the priesthood, the priest, who is fondly called “Father Sunshine” by parishioners, said, “So far so good.”

“Being a priest is not easy,” he explained. “To be a man of prayer one must empty himself. Everything I do is for the love of God. I am available for everyone. My door is open to everyone.”

Return to Diocese of Palm Beach Front Page