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.