My friends in Christ, Peace!
As I prepare to head to the altar today (a bit early - hospital time runs a bit different than parish time!) I want to share with you my prayers for a rich and meaningful Paschal Triduum.
In a particular way, today, I want to invite each of you to sit with the privilege and challenge of your priesthood. There is an amazing and beautiful reality that comes into our lives with the imposition of hands and ordination to the priesthood. Today, as we mark the institution of the Eucharist and the establishment of the priesthood, we each are given the opportunity to lay hold more deeply of our calling, and to ask ourselves how our ministry may be of greater use to God and to those whom he would have us serve. At the same time, we remember the challenges of our priestly calling. I don't want to offer any trite ideas about how to overcome the challenges - I simply want to acknowledge that they are there, they can be significant, and that neither you nor I are any the less for experiencing those challenges.
While we will formally recommit ourselves to our ministries in June at our Retreat, I would invite each of you - as you celebrate the Eucharist today - to take a brief moment of private prayer to recommit yourself to the ministry you are called to.
For my part, my friends, I especially commit myself to each of you - to holding you in prayer, and to being here for you when you need me... and I seek to be your servant on our mutual journey to the kingdom.
Grace, peace, and blessings - this Triduum, and always!
