…what I know about God will always be quite limited. But as a priest I’m committed to learning all I can about our God and then sharing it with others, especially through the sacraments.
To be a good priest starts first and foremost with that relationship with God—to learn and experience as much as possible, to love and be loved by a God who is both immanent—with us—and intimate and transcendent—beyond us—and all-knowing. It’s an ongoing and life-giving process with many facets, and it always begins with prayer.
Prayer is the anchor for any priest. His personal prayer is a time of solace and silence in God’s presence. It is also a time of words—words spoken in the manner that best nurtures that priest’s relationship. The crucial element is that the priest actually spends time in personal prayer. It might seem odd to make this point, but the constant demands of ministry and the many occasions for public prayer can easily cut in on one-on-one time with God.
Personal prayer always informs and enriches public prayer, and vice versa. For a diocesan priest, the ancient regimen of psalms and prayers in the Liturgy of Hours is primarily a private prayer. For priests who belong to a religious order, it is a prayer prayed with members of his community. The Liturgy of Hours is the prayer of the church, a linch-pin to other public prayers and liturgies, and it is essential for priests in developing a deeper relationship with God.
…To be a good priest you must make an effort to be a good homilist. This comes from the fruit of prayer—both private and public—and a commitment to work at it.
…A priest is never acting alone, never relying entirely on his own attributes, for God’s continuing miracle is to fill the world with grace by working through human hands.
“What does it take to be a good priest?” Father Jim Kent, O.F.M. Conv.
http://www.vocation-network.org/articles/read/40
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