Novena for our Priests and Bishops in Ireland - Day 2

Today we remember all retired Bishops and Priests and those who are ill or dying at this time.

Reflection taken from from Bl. John Paul II's letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2005. 

Dear Priests!

1. In this Year of the Eucharist, I particularly welcome our annual spiritual encounter for Holy Thursday, the day when Christ's love was manifested "to the end" (cf. Jn 13:1), the day of the Eucharist, the day of our Priesthood.

My thoughts turn to you, dear priests, as I spend this time recuperating in hospital, a patient alongside other patients, uniting in the Eucharist my own sufferings with those of Christ. In this spirit I want to reflect with you on some aspects of our priestly spirituality.

I will take as my inspiration the words of Eucharistic consecration, which we say every day in persona Christi in order to make present on our altars the sacrifice made once and for all on Calvary. These words provide us with illuminating insights for priestly spirituality: if the whole Church draws life from the Eucharist, all the more then must the life of a priest be "shaped" by the Eucharist. So for us, the words of institution must be more than a formula of consecration: they must be a "formula of life".

Prayer for Priests and Bishops

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your Priests and Bishops.  Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.

In their loneliness, comfort them.  In their sorrows, strengthen them.  In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption.

Our Lady Mother of the Church, and Mother of all Priests pray for our Bishops and Priests.  

Pray the Chaplet of Mercy...remembering the sufferings of Christ for all our Priests and Bishops.