Thursday, November 14, 2013

a month away...

Dear Family and Friends,

Ordination is one month away. Wow!

At my seminary the whole month before an ordination, we all pray a special prayer together. It’s called the “Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim”. Pope John Paul II used to pray it at his seminary too.

Praying this prayer over the years has been a good reality check for me. It’s helped me see that becoming a priest isn’t some kind of promotion, rather it’s signing your life over to the service of God and his people, 24/7. It’s a giving up of your life, a becoming Jesus for those you meet each day. That’s a tall order, certainly, but I trust that God is the One who called me and he knows what he’s doing. He gives the grace that makes you a priest.

The prayer is below, and also attached in leaflet format for printing. I invite you to pray along with me for the 31 of us who will be ordained December 14th!

God bless you!
Deacon Kevin
www.cblstones.com

 
Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim
 Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy.
 
God our Father in heaven Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world
God the Holy Spirit
Holy Trinity, one God
 
Lord Jesus, both priest and victim Have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus, you are a priest forever in the order of
Melchizedek
Lord Jesus, the priest sent by God to proclaim the good
news to the poor
Lord Jesus, the priest who, at the Last Supper, instituted the
liturgy of the eternal sacrifice
Lord Jesus, the priest who lives forever to plead on our behalf
Lord Jesus, the high priest anointed by the Father with the
Holy Spirit and power
Lord Jesus, the high priest chosen from among men
Lord Jesus, the high priest made the representative of
humanity before God
Lord Jesus, the high priest of the faith we profess
Lord Jesus, the high priest worthy of greater glory than
Moses
Lord Jesus, the high priest of the true tabernacle
Lord Jesus, the high priest of the blessings that were to come
Lord Jesus, the holy, innocent, and undefiled high priest
Lord Jesus, the faithful and merciful high priest
Lord Jesus, the high priest burning with zeal for God and
for souls
Lord Jesus, the high priest made perfect forever
Lord Jesus, the high priest who entered heaven through
your own blood
Lord Jesus, the high priest who opened a new way for us
Lord Jesus, the high priest who loved us and washed away
our sins with your blood
Lord Jesus, the high priest who gave yourself up to God as
offering and victim
 
Lord Jesus, victim of God and man Have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus, holy and unblemished victim
Lord Jesus, appeasing victim
Lord Jesus, gentle victim
Lord Jesus, victim offered in atonement and praise
Lord Jesus, victim bringing reconciliation
and peace
Lord Jesus, victim giving us confident access to God
Lord Jesus, victim living for ever and ever
 
From rashly going on to ordination Keep us, Lord.
From the sin of sacrilege
From infidelity to the spirit of priestly celibacy
From using the ministry for sordid personal gain
From the slightest taint of simony
From administering the Church’s goods unworthily
From loving the world and its vanities
From celebrating your mysteries unworthily
 
Through your eternal priesthood Purify us, Lord.
Through the holy anointing by which God the Father made
you a priest
Through your priestly spirit
Through the ministry by which you glorified your Father
on earth
Through your self-immolation in blood, made once and for
all on the cross
Through that same sacrifice, renewed every day on the altar
Through the divine power that you exercise sacramentally
in your priests

Keep all priests holy and faithful Lord, hear our prayer.
Give your people shepherds after your own heart
Fill them with the spirit of your priesthood
May the lips of your priests preserve the knowledge of
your teaching
Send faithful laborers to your harvest
Increase the number of the trustworthy stewards of your
mysteries
Help the m to persevere in their service in accordance with
your will
Make the m gentle in ministry, capable in action, and
constant in prayer
Through your priests promote devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament everywhere
Welcome into your joy the priests who have served you well

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us
Christ, hear us.
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.

V/ Let us pray:
Father, you guard your Church and make her holy.
Through your Spirit, raise up suitable and trustworthy stewards
of your sacred mysteries. Help them, by their example
and ministry, to guide Christ’s people under your protection
on the path to salvation.
Father, while the disciples were offering worship to
the Lord and keeping a fast, you told them to set Barnabas
and Saul apart for the work to which you had called them.
Listen once again to your Church gathered here in prayer,
and since you can read everyone’s heart, show us whom you
have chosen to receive the office of ministry. We ask this
through Christ our Lord.
R/ Amen.