Part 3-National Catholic Register Opinion

As the Year of the Priest begins, we lay editors of the Register want to take a moment to
thank priests.
And thank you, priests, most of all, for bringing Christ himself into our lives. Where would
we be without your astonishing ability to make the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ
present on our altars and in our tabernacles? You are there for us every Sunday, every
morning, giving us this infinite gift. Thank you.
In the end, that’s what is so great about you: not you, in yourself, but who you bring us —
Christ.
People call from the hospital and say, “I need a priest.” They point to the confessional and
ask, “Is there a priest in there?” They approach in the airport and ask, “Are you a Catholic
priest?”
When people need a priest, any priest will do.
Because a priest is nothing but a representative of Christ. Christ is the main actor in the
consecration at Mass. It is Christ who forgives sins. It is in Christ that we are baptized.
“The story of my priestly vocation?” wrote Pope John Paul II. “ It is known above all to
God. At its deepest level, every vocation to the priesthood is a great mystery; it is a gift
which infinitely transcends the individual. Every priest experiences this clearly throughout
the course of his life. Faced with the greatness of the gift, we sense our own inadequacy.”
Your inadequacy is your secret weapon.

Sincerely yours,
Reverend Bruce J. Powers