How to Help Your Priests

 How to Help Your Priests        

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDoD4ia3tpY

 

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TRANSCRIPT 

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The Lord be with you. And with your spirit.

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A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. Glory to you.

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Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

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The hired hand who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and

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runs away. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

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The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

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I am the good shepherd.

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I know my own and my own know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep.

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I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.

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I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice.

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So there will be one flock, one shepherd. The gospel of the Lord.

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My brothers and sisters, you may be wondering why we're hearing the good shepherd again. We heard this gospel all of last week. It's because it's the

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1 minute, 38 seconds

feast day of St. Franis de Laval, the first bishop of Canada. He was a bishop in Quebec City and actually his dascese,

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his territory extended to all of North America. He's the first bishop to come here. So all the Catholics there are

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trusted to his care and all souls. So we are reading from the gospel John chapter 10 the good shepherd

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because Sasuad Lavad was a good shepherd is what the church holy mother church is telling us today. He was a good

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shepherd. He was zealous and he loved his flock. Not all priests are good shepherds.

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And I'm not saying this to scandalize you. Actually, it's the opposite. I think every priest by nature is a hired hand and he must become a good shepherd.

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There is only one good shepherd and that's Jesus Christ.

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The hired hand differs from the good shepherd in two ways. Jesus says in this gospel, I am the good shepherd. Twice

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and then he explains after each one what it means to be a good shepherd. So the first he says I am the good shepherd.

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2 minutes, 57 seconds

The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

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3 minutes, 1 second

The hired hand runs away when the wolf is coming.

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3 minutes, 6 seconds

So the hired hand to become like the good shepherd must be willing to lay down his life. That's the first thing.

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3 minutes, 15 seconds

The second time Jesus says,"I am the good shepherd." He says, "I know my own and my own know me just as the father

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knows me and I know the father." So knowledge of the sheep. But not just knowledge like knowing someone's name.

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It's a kind of love that Jesus has for his father. How is Jesus's father and Jesus himself? How is that love shared in his prayer?

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These two things that transform a hired hand into a good shepherd is sacrifice

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and prayer. Prayer and sacrifice. You may be wondering, why am I preaching about this? None of you are priests. I

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4 minutes

should be going to a seminary or something talking about this. What why does this matter to you? Actually, it matters because it's in all of your interests that you have holy priests,

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4 minutes, 12 seconds

that they lay down their lives for you, that they correct, rebuke, encourage, like we heard in the first reading.

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4 minutes, 20 seconds

But you're saying, "Okay, well, what can I do about this? I'm not the priest.

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4 minutes, 25 seconds

Your prayers and your sacrifices are what make priests holy.

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There is no such thing as an unholy priest. There are only priests that their flock do not pray for them enough.

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This is an old saying, but the more I stay in the priesthood, the more experience I have, the more I see it's true.

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4 minutes, 49 seconds

The only reason some priests seem to be holier than others is because there are many people who love them and pray and

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sacrifice for them. That's the best way to help your priests and in that in turn your priests will give their lives for

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you. So many people will think you know let me make like a nice casserole for the priest that those are all very good things. I appreciate it if your food is all delicious and everything like that.

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these ways that you know invite them over or do this kind of stuff. This is how I show that's great. Above all

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though, pray and sacrifice for your priests.

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Pray for the priests who do not pray enough and that grace will touch their hearts. Sacrifice for those who are

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5 minutes, 35 seconds

scared to give things up, to suffer, and they will have that courage. This is a

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very simple lesson, but it's the most important one. Imagine there was a small village with a priest who was kind of indifferent, you know,

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5 minutes, 53 seconds

not very kind to others, didn't have time for people, whatever.

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5 minutes, 57 seconds

If everyone in that little parish, 200 souls, 300 souls, if they all prayed for their priest, you think he would stay like that? No. He would transform.

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6 minutes, 10 seconds

And if he became holy, then the parish would become very holy. So I I'm not kicking the can to say it's not my job

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or my responsibility. I'm reminding you that you have a very important role to play.

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You don't just come and receive and go home. We're all one body.

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And if I suffer, you suffer. If you suffer, I suffer.

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If you want to support the church, if you want to help the church, pray and sacrifice for priests,

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that's what will make holy priests and a holy church that will bless your families, will give us holy vocations,

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will give us courage and light in a dark world.

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So today we ask this good shepherd who gave his life not actually by shedding his blood in this country but with his

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zeal with his prayer with his sacrifice he helped build the

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church here in Canada. We ask for his intercession and we'll pray in a special way for our shepherd here in Ottawa Cornwall French Bishop Marel Dus.

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Maybe we can offer a little sacrifice this afternoon or this evening for him.

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Maybe we can pray during the holy hour for him that he may be as zealous as Safas was and lead us the whole flock to heaven. Amen.