Pray For Priests!!

Never attack a priest!

Always at least pray a Hail Mary for him if he should offend you.

A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,

keep them, for they are Thine-

They priests whose lives burn out before

Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world,

Though from the world apart;

When earthly pleasures tempt, allure,-

Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them, and comfort them in hours

Of loneliness and pain,

When all their life of sacrifice

For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them, and O remember, Lord,

They have no one but Thee,

Yet they have only human hearts,

With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host,

That daily they caress;

Their every thought and word and deed,

Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

I found this prayer again, while in the chapel last night. It is from my Pieta prayer book. I used to pray it daily. It used to be a favorite! Why did I stop? I need to start praying it again.

Yes, this is our bumber sticker on our (dirty) van. I have always liked it because it has a positive message and is so true.

A very long time ago, before we had children, my husband and I were at a double feature movie. I can't remember the first movie we were there for, but it was a Jennifer Anniston one, so it was bad, (in the moral department) the 2nd free movie was "In and Out". Not a great movie either. We happen to be sitting behind 2 local priests (known for being very liberal, one for whom I prayed every day by name). Well, once the movie started, I started thinking "why are these priests here?" "How can they watch these kind of movies?" "I can't believe they would watch this kind of movie!" "They should be home praying!" Every time they would laugh (and they laughed loudly) I would think, "they should be disgusted by this!" "They should not be laughing!" "They should be ashamed!" Well, you get the picture! I was judging them in my mind. Then, somehow, I realized it. I realized, wait a minute, why am I here? They are human just like me. Why am I sitting here watching something that is not pure? I totally turned it around and was so ashamed that I was there and that I had judged them for the splinter in their eyes yet I had a huge log in my own eye! At that moment, I realized it was me that I needed to worry about, my soul, not theirs. I can pray for them, and I can change myself but I cannot judge them. I cannot attack a priest. I must pray for them. We all must! After all, we need their prayers, and they need ours!