These relationships with family
and friends, peers and mentors are
indispensable for living a happy celibate life. A good priest avails himself
of and nurtures this intimacy. It is so
important to his life of celibacy. To
grow in trust with another mirrors
that trust and intimacy he has with
God.
A final attribute of a good priest
is dedicated service to others. “A
deep sense of service to the church
and all people, along with a deep
faith, is what lies at the basis for
meaning in this very special vocation,” says one of my fellow Franciscan priests, Father Tom Merrill,
O.F.M.Conv. “Nothing gives me
greater joy than to have served
others, especially at a significant or
difficult time in their lives when they
were at a crossroads.”
A channel of God’s grace
All priests have occasion to serve
others and in so doing be reminded
of how God works through them.
This truth hit me profoundly in the
second year of my own priesthood. I
received a call late at night to come
to a hospital in a distant town to
help a family deal with a death.
When I arrived, I was met by
two doctors who filled me in on
the situation. Earlier that evening a
13-year-old girl had died quite suddenly from a tumor. The family was
so distraught they refused to allow
the hospital staff or funeral director to do anything else until a priest
came. With the local pastor out of
town, it took four hours to locate a
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