A MESSAGE FROM THE FATHER:
Here I am to assure you
that whenever you turn to Me
with an 'open' heart
you delight Me.
In your bad times and good times
you are precious to Me;
and it delights Me to hear your prayers.
It delights Me profoundly
to see your heart aflame with joy,
to hear your expression of thanks,
and to hear your exclamation of delight
in My love, and in our friendship.
Share the good news
that everyone who welcomes gifts from Me
can draw even closer to Me
by becoming more childlike and clear-sighted.
Each will then recognise the depth of My love:
love which causes Me
to pour out My gifts upon you, unceasingly,
and to offer privileged roles
to weak human beings.
Encourage My priests, especially,
to be grateful for their special calling
and for the many gifts
with which I have adorned them.
I Myself have chosen each one
to live in holiness and joy
as My special servant,
and to spread hope and joy
by reconciling sinful people with Me
through Jesus Christ, My Son.
I Myself have called each one
to Ordination, to begin a privileged role.
I Myself have asked each one
to 'put on' Christ,
to preach the Good News
about forgiveness and salvation,
to lead My People in prayer,
to bring Christ to them in the sacraments,
especially in the greatest of sacraments:
in the Holy Eucharist
which is both sacrament and sacrifice,
and through which Christ honours Me as no-one else can.
I Myself allow each priest
to offer Christ's saving sacrifice
from the altar, for sinners;
and that is the reason
why I Myself invite each priest
to become worthy of the honour of his calling,
to put his trust in Me once more,
to grow in faith and hope and love,
to believe that Heaven's joys await him,
and to persevere to the end.
I can see the sufferings of My priests.
I can see the mockery you all bear
in being faithful to the Gospel.
I can see the road to Calvary
which, for Christ's sake, some of you follow.
Each priest in Christ's Church, however
- rather than meditate on his hardships -
would only benefit were he to remember
the dignity of his state.
The glory of his vocation
is so great that he would weep for joy
were he to understand it clearly.
Each priest, whatever his griefs,
and no matter how deep his soul's darkness,
would do well to pause each day,
to kneel before Christ in the sanctuary,
there to pray, with conviction and wonder:
"Lord!
I praise and thank You
for the honour You show me
in using me
to do Your work."
This is a prayer which can bring
great blessings from Heaven
to everyone who prays it,
to lay people as well as clergy:
but especially to each priest of Mine
who serves Me in Christ's Church.
Powerful help will be given, through it,
to priests who pray it: to every dedicated man
who has accepted My invitation
to be 'another Christ' on earth,
and therefore to continue in a special way
Christ's loving, sanctifying, saving work.