Christ came into the world to be the Victim for humanity, to take upon Himself our sins and to bear the chastisement due to them, to procure for humanity eternal life by His Passion and Sacrifice. We, as priests, have voluntarily agreed to continue here below Christ’s life as a Victim, to save mankind. Christ has made Himself the food for souls. Priests should likewise allow the faithful to consume as food their time, their strength, and their talents. The faithful must be allowed to try and to take advantage of a priest’s patience, to tax his health, and to use his goods, without expecting anything in return here below.
The grape is destined for the wine-press. Unless it is pressed, it will not give up its precious juice. The priest, following the example of Christ, is destined to be wasted for souls, giving up for them his time, his convenience, his life itself. Christ had no place to lay His head. He was born and brought up in poverty. He died abandoned on the Cross and had as a sepulcher a borrowed tomb.
How then can a priest allow himself to become engrossed in this world’s goods? Our kingdom is not of this world. We have here no fixed abode. Why should he attach himself to things that pass away? Priests, above all, must seek first to extend Christ’s kingdom on earth. If a priest is a priest with Christ, all other things will be given him in due time by God the Father in heaven.
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
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