To make our fervor grow:
WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS?
A few years ago, I learned about this precious initiative from a religious sister, to pray every month, together with other women who pray all over the world, for vocations and for the perseverance of priests and religious.
Since then, the certainty that through our simple prayers and offerings we can all together be helping to support a religious who may be going through a moment of crisis, or helping a young man to have the strength to respond to the call of Jesus to serve Him, fills me with joy.
In reality, I am the one who gains from these prayers.
How many times have I experienced the liberation of confession, the comfort of being able to receive the Eucharist, companionship in a moment of difficulty, good advice that has helped me make important life decisions, feeling guided in spiritual direction, etc.!
And thanks to whom has this been possible? Well, thanks to the priests.
That is why I ask the Lord, my God, do not abandon us! Without priests and religious we cannot go on! We need to receive your grace in the sacraments. Without them life is empty of meaning, the burden of living becomes unbearable, we lack the strength to go on.
Every day we see how seminaries empty, centuries-old convents close, many young people wander aimlessly, in society we are perceived as sheep without a shepherd.
Instead of despairing and resigning ourselves, let us have heroic trust in the Lord. He has promised us that if two or three ask for something in His name, He will grant it. The Lord continues to call us to work in His harvest and He is counting on our simple prayers.
Let us continue to pray therefore with confidence, perseverance and humility. And the Lord in his infinite goodness will continue to answer us.
As Blessed Maria Deluil Martini said: “To offer oneself for souls is beautiful and great, but to offer oneself for the souls of priests… is so beautiful and great that one should have a thousand lives and a thousand hearts!”