The Catholic Spirit of St. Paul and Minneapolis recently shared a video “Day in the Life” of a parish priest, Fr. Nels Gjengdahl.

It is truly a “blessed life.”

In this “Year for Priests,” we must continue to find ways to present the life of priests as the attractive and full adventure that it is.

Damien De Veuster, the Belgian priest who sacrificed his life ministering to the forsaken leprosy victims at Kalaupapa in the 19th Century, was added to the litany of Roman Catholic saints today in a solemn Mass led by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The pontiff said the newly canonized had taken up the call of Jesus to give themselves totally without “calculation or personal gain.”

“Their perfection, in the logic of a faith that is humanly incomprehensible at times, consists in no longer placing themselves at the center, but choosing to go against the flow and live according to the Gospel,” Benedict said in his homily.

In his homily, Benedict praised Damien’s missionary work, saying that “not without fear and repugnance, he chose to go to the island of Molokai to serve the lepers who were there, abandoned by all.”

“Thus he exposed himself to the disease they suffered from. He felt at home with them,” the pope said, speaking in Flemish. He added that the missionary contracted leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, suffering from it during the last four years of his life.

After the ceremony, the pope came out on the basilica’s central balcony to greet the crowd in the square. Speaking about Damien in French, he told the pilgrims “I encourage you to support with your prayers and efforts those involved with generosity in the battle against leprosy and other forms of leprosy caused by lack of love or cowardliness.”

Sufferers of the disease, which can result in disfigurement, had been ostracized for centuries by their societies, towns and even families. Benedict said Damien “invites us to open our eyes to the lepers that disfigure the humanity of our brothers and today still calls, more than for our generosity, for the charity of our serving presence.”

Hawaiian-born President Obama released a statement indicating that “Father Damien challenged the stigmatizing effects of disease, giving voice to the voiceless and ultimately sacrificing his own life to bring dignity to so man.”

Father Damien was a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Hawaii, where the president was born and spent many of his childhood years. While Obama did not attend this church, he recalled the positive influence his ministry had on Hawaii. “I recall many stories from my youth about his tireless work there to care for those suffering from leprosy who had been cast out,” the president said.

The president said Father Damien’s life should stand as an example for how to deal with modern-day diseases. “In our own time as millions around the world suffer from disease, especially the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien’s resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick,” Obama said.

The president also offered his prayers to people of all faiths who join the Catholic Church in celebrating the life of Blessed Damien de Veuster.

A “priest funeral” occurred last week. St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore mourned the death of their Vice Rector Fr. Anthony Perez, S.S. Fr. Perez died of an apparent heart attack on Saturday morning, September 12, while playing racquetball. He was fifty-seven.

Originally ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam, he later became a Sulpician, a member of the Society of St. Sulpice, whose mission is towards “Supporting, Teaching, Guiding Priests and Future Priests”

In the obituary provided by Saint Mary’s, it is noted that “Fr. Perez will be remembered as a liturgist who celebrated and organized the Liturgy of the Church with great love, exactness, and zeal; as a professor who sought to impart that same love of liturgy to seminarians whom he taught; as a mentor who stressed the need for personal configuration of the priest and seminarian to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ; as a tireless, dedicated, generous, and caring spiritual director; as a hard-working and friendly colleague; as a good person, and most simply yet profoundly, a good priest.

The enclosed tribute video was assembled by Deacon Chris Ballard, a 4^th year seminarian at St. Mary’s Seminary from the Diocese of Syracuse, NY.  He had Fr. Perez as a professor in his first year, worked with him as chairman of the Liturgy Committee for the seminary, played racquetball with him, and worked with him as a Master of Ceremonies for various large liturgical celebrations. He noted that Father Perez “was supposed to be the one to teach my classmates and I how to say Mass next semester. We will certainly miss that!”

Chris finished his note with the same refrain as the seminary’s obituary, “He was a good man and a good priest!”

Mat Father Perez, a good priest, rest in peace

In week twelve of our celebration of the Year for Priests, Alison describes her pastor, Msgr. Lloyd Aiken as someone who is exhibits “openness.”

If you have been following this weekly series, you will note that our young people admire the heroic nature of their priests.

This weekend, we are also reminded of the heroic role that priests played on the scene during the 9/11 attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon in Washington. These stories are highlighted in We Were There…Catholic Priests and How They Responded. This document is a compilation of personal accounts of ministry amid ashes and ruin, highlighting how the Word of God and the Sacraments infused comfort and hope into the lives of firemen, policemen, and co-workers and families of the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Find it at www.usccb.org/vocations/WWT.PDF

(Yes, I know I’m on vacation…. but it is Sunday, so it must be vocation: “Year for Priests!”)

In week eleven of our celebration of the Year for Priests, Alex discusses how Father Marty Nocchi of the Msgr. O’Dwyer Youth Retreat House makes himself available to young people.

Forty-five years ago, Msgr. Clare J. O’Dwyer  established a Youth Retreat House intending to offer “a Spiritual Powerhouse” providing a retreat  ministry for catholic adolescents.  The Msgr. Clare O’Dwyer Retreat House has provided programs for the personal and spiritual development of youth in the parishes and Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese.  The aim of the retreat house is to enable youth to grow in faith and in their relationship with God.  A variety of retreat opportunities are offered: weekend retreats, weekday retreats, Confirmation retreats and Days of Reflection.

It is exactly opportunities such as retreats that many young people claim as the instant where they heard God whispering the direction for their lives.  This week, we pray for all the young people that experience retreats throughout this academic year, that they might have moments of discernment for their lives.

We quite often think that we make a difference as ministers when we can outline how busy we seem, running from activity to activity.

In week ten of our celebration of the Year for Priests, Krista describes Fr. Mike Triplett as someone who is “willing to sit down and talk.”

This week, take some time to sit down and listen.

In week nine of our celebration of the Year for Priests, Aubrey talks about Father Kevin Farmer. In this brief video, she shares how Father Kevin serves as an model of one who “goes beyond.” 

On August 19th, nearly 3,000 people gathered in the courtyard of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo for a papal audience. Our Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien was seated in the front row. The pope spoke about St. John Eudes, the 17th-century founder of the Eudists, a religious congregation dedicated to training diocesan priests.

The pope said that “Today we see a need for each priest to be a witness of the infinite mercy of God with a life completely conquered by Christ and for them to learn this from the very first years of their preparation in the seminary.”  Without well-prepared priests, “the new evangelization” of society will be just a slogan, Pope Benedict XVI said.

As our seminarians are returning to school, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this Year for Priests.  May their lives all be examples of “going beyond.”

In week eight of our celebration of the Year for Priests, Archbishop O’Brien adds to a series of public service spots that he does in the ArchBalt and  describes this as a time for all of us to consider the contributions of our priests.  See it here.

Resources on Saint John Mary Vianney, patron of parish priests, can be found here.  

Meanwhile, check and see how our neighbors in Arlington and Military Services USA are celebrating

Sarah talks about her Confirmation sponsor, Father Sylvester Kim. In this brief video, she shares how ministry is not just on behalf of the institutional Church, but is a personal relationship as well.

In this manner, Fr. Kim is living out the example of Saint John Mary Vianney.  Pope Benedict, in his declaration initiation the Year for Priests reported that “the Curé of Ars was very humble, yet as a priest he was conscious of being an immense gift to his people: “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy’.”

Are there others around you who might be treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish?  Please consider forwarding this to them and share your hopes for the future with them.

As we continue our celebration of seven of our celebration of the Year for Priests, we call your attention to Tuesday’s celebration of the feast day for Saint John Mary Vianney. Pope Benedict declared this year beginning on the 150th anniversary of the death of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. He is a figure worth further examination in light of this year. Kristin Witte of our offices produced additional resources regarding him and they can be found at here