I have been experiencing spiritual consolations these past few days. My desire for the priesthood was at its peak. The unfailing charity of the Eternal God fills my heart as if I am already a priest. The love of God does not only fill my heart but seals it with purity and unearthly motives.

I passed though a great decision-making in the past. The question whether becoming a priest or not was already settled. I have said “yes” after the long period of discerning. I want to be a priest! But the question now is, what type of priest do I like to be?” My heart is full of love for the priesthood and everything about it. My ordination is still a few years before me but I am already so idealistic of what the Church should be.

How good and pleasant it is to be one of the “priests-in-process”! How wonderful it is to be among the chosen few from the multitude of young men in the country at large. I am just a small drop of water from the ocean. I am just a piece of wood taken from the forest to be chiseled and become God’s masterpiece later on. In god’s overflowing grace and in His time, I am to be His priest. I am to prostrate before the altar while the choir majestically sings the Litany to the Saints. Time would come that my bishop would lay his hands on me.

Yes, I want to be a priest. Even if people would often ask seminarians, upon knowing they are such, the reason for entering the seminary or for wanting to become a priest. Some asks with sincerity while others inquire as if priesthood is a taboo and should be avoided. Some are interested on “how priests are made” (formation of future priests) while others avoid such conversations.

In the middle of spiritual consolations, a copy of a prayer for priests suddenly came way of telling me what priesthood would entail. I took it as God’s reminder on how magnificent the priesthood is. I accepted it as cue on how to protect my son-to-be ministerial priesthood. As a seminarian, I have taken to heart this prayer as a good preparation for my future ministry, dealing with it one line after another.

“Keep pure and unearthly their hearts sealed with the sublime marks of your glorious Priesthood.” To keep pure and unearthly my heart is to keep an eye on the Crucified Jesus. He is the Priest crucified. He is the Priest downcast because of the sins of the world. But he did resurrect because of the unfailing charity, which continuously flows from the Father. Despite his sufferings, his heart is heavenly. So is the challenge for me today, despite my sufferings, to make my heart pure and unearthly.

“Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch your Sacred Body.” Having assisted in several ordination rites for sometime, I have witnessed right before my eyes the anointing of chosen hands. Anointing is essential to the priestly life of service. With hands anointed, h e has now the power to bless and make the bread and wine become the real Body and Blood of Christ.

When we were kids, my parents would always tell us to ask blessings from the priest. We would hurriedly grab the hand of a priest to obtain such blessing precisely because these hands were anointed to sanctify and to consecrate. These same hands touch daily the consecrated Body of the Savior and unselfishly distribute them to the faithful. It is only fitting to have a clear and devout intention when a priest would hold the consecrated host, the Sacred Body of Christ. It is rightful to utter, “O God, make these hands free from stains which are not seen by the eyes of man but seen by the eyes of the heart.”

“Keep unsullied their lips purpled with your precious Blood.” I received the two species for Communion in the Mass. I ate the Body of Christ and drank the Blood of Christ from the chalice. My lips had been purpled by the precious blood of Jesus. My lips’ being touched is like the prophet Isaiah’s lips, dipped by coals to clean his impurities (Isaiah 6:7). How much more then when a priest celebrates Mass. His lips would always be touched by the Sacred Blood of Christ. My lips would also be purpled with the Almighty’s blood when I, as a priest, drink from the chalice, which holds the Blood of Jesus.

Nowadays, the search for truth is abandoned. The challenge for every Catholic is to be a proclaimer of truth because Jesus Himself is the Truth. WE really have to speak for the truth. “If you want to hold on to the truth, you must be ready to stand alone.” This mouth is intended to teach, to preach and to bring the Good News of salvation to all. My mouth is Jesus’ mouth which should speak of what He has told before, a message that continues to be relevant. When the time comes, I will say, “Lord, keep this lips unsullied. Use this mouth to utter words of absolution to bring your mercy and forgiveness to the helpless and to the downcast. Use this mouth to save the poor souls of your people.”

“Let your holy love surround them and shield them from the world’s contagion.”  Seminarians and priests are not superheroes. They also have their share of weaknesses and also feel helpless at times. I constantly hear from an old priest telling us, seminarians, “When you become priests, keep your feet on the ground. You would be needing help and you would also be extending help.” Truly, there is great wisdom from the oldies. IN time of distress, priests also need to ask help. People, on the other hand, are fond of helping the priests because they see and find the face of Jesus in them.

In times of distress, the Lord is the priests’ comfort. In times of illness, priests suffer and share in the wounds of Christ. O how gracious the priesthood is! It is the love of the Risen Savior, which serves as the priests’ consolation, fortress, and refuge. It is His love that surrounds and shields the priests, the servant-leaders. Christ is everything to the priests because in priesthood, we share in the one priesthood of Christ, the High Priest.

“Bless their laborers with abundant fruit…” Like St. John Mary Vianney, the Good and Almighty Lord blesses his labors with abundant fruits. When he told the people of Ars that he will show them the way to heaven, he really did it with God’s guidance and grace. The hundred-fold produce is granted to both the priest and the community grows spiritually, becomes God-fearing, and they become aware of God’s presence in their midst. True enough, our “shepherds” are God’s presence in their midst. They are our gift to God and they are God’s gift for us.

As the chosen servant labors especially for the salvation of the restless and the frail souls, the Lord extends His unwavering unconditional, and overflowing forgiveness to us so that we may be brought back to the state of grace. As he labors for the welfare of the community especially the poor and the unprivileged, the Lord touches the hearts of the rich and the poor alike to be concerned with other people’s needs. “No one is so rich that he needs not help. And no one is so poor that he has nothing to share.”

We live in the world with God as our guide. And in following Him, we carry the cross. It is not the weight of it that matters but the disposition we have in our hearts while carrying it. It is not the personal motive that should prevail but the love of the suffering Christ that one reaches out through ministry. It is not the self-appraisal that we must desire but the hope that one longs for. May the Good Lord grant us the graces necessary for us to become closer to Him.

“But there are some who have given up the possibility of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 19:12). They are the priests and religious. May we be blessed with an increase of priestly and religious vocations?