Love of Jesus acquires special meaning for Priests and Religious: Pope

June 2, 2012: On Saturday morning, Pope Benedict XVI, met the clergy and the religious of Milan in the cathedral basilica of St Mary Nascent, on the first full day of his pastoral visit to the city which is hosting the VII World Meeting of Families.

The Pontiff while presiding over a daytime prayer – the hora media – said that the liturgical prayer – the official, public praise of God – as the highest expression of the mystery of the Church. “Our lips, our hearts and our minds,” he said, “are, in the prayer of the Church, interpreters of the needs and aspirations of all humanity.” The Pope called the daily prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, “an essential task of the ordained ministry in the Church.”

Pope Benedict encouraged seminarians to learn to enjoy the prayer right now and live their time in seminary with commitment, saying, “If Christ, in order to build up His Church, places Himself in the hands of the priest, these priests must in turn entrust themselves to Him without reserve.”
“Love for the LORD Jesus,” said the Pontiff “is the soul and the reason for the priestly ministry, just as it was also the premise upon which He assigned Peter the mission of feeding his flock.

There is no opposition between the goodness in the person of a priest and his mission. Pastoral charity is the unifying element of life from a more intimate relationship with Christ. Each action is designed to lead the faithful union with the Lord and grow ecclesial communion for the salvation of the world. The love of Jesus is for all Christians, but acquires a special meaning for the celibate priest, an undivided heart, and for those who responded to the call to consecrated life, the Pope said.