ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends, dear Young People in particular,

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or what we have but by who we are and whose we are!

We are priceless in the eyes of Jesus because we realize that Jesus loves us so much. As we gather this evening in front of our Eucharistic Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament, we give praise and thanks to Almighty God for our love of His son Jesus, for our love of the Eucharist. We realize the value of our lives. Yet so many times in the midst of the crosses we bear, in the midst of the hardships we endure, the times in our life when we feel discouraged, we come to Jesus, present in the Eucharist, so that He may give us hope and sustain us throughout our Christian life. Our love of Jesus is sustained through prayer and our desire to grow in holiness.

In Saint Matthew's Gospel, Jesus assures us that we are the "salt of the earth" but if salt goes flat then how can its flavor be restored? It is good for nothing. When the flavor of our love for Jesus seems to be gone we need to have Jesus as our light leading us and guiding us to the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of everything we do. The Eucharist gives us life and strengthens us in our journey of faith.

Tonight we gather in front of the Eucharist to pray for more vocations, in particular vocations to the priesthood. The Gospel reminds us that God calls all of His people to be rooted in His love. He gives everyone a vocation. Some He calls to the married life, others to a dedicated single life of service, and to some he gives a particular vocation to be a religious. And some are called to be priests. If God is calling you to be a priest you must not be ashamed of that call, you must be proud of it. Let that excitement and love you have for Jesus shine forth in your heart; let it shine forth for the world to see.

A vocation is a precious gift from God. To be called to be a priest is a special call that God gives to some men to follow Him in a particular way. To be a priest means to be called to serve the Church in a specific way. The role of the priest is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to celebrate the Sacraments and especially to offer up the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

Pope John Paul II, in his letter to priests in 2004 states: "We were born from the Eucharist. If we can truly say that the whole church lives from the Eucharist (Ecclesia de Eucharistia vivit), as I reaffirmed in my recent encyclical, we can say the same thing about the ministerial priesthood: It is born, lives, works and bears fruit 'de Eucharistia'" On a previous occassion the Pope told us: "There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist" (Gift and Mystery. pp 77-78).

We need priests to make the Eucharist present for the people. Every time we gather at the liturgy, we witness the priest taking ordinary bread and wine and changing them into the Body and Blood of Christ. We recognize Jesus present on our altar this evening. It is through the priest that Jesus comes into our lives. By virtue of our Baptism we are called to be attentive to various vocations in the Church. Today I am inviting young men to consider the priesthood.

It is through the awesome gift of the priesthood that Jesus comes to us. Jesus is made present by the sacramental ministry of the priest. How many of us have benefitted from the help of a priest? When we need consolation at the death of a loved one, when we need the forgiveness that comes to us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest walks in solidarity with Jesus as a servant and evangelizer. The priest's central service is evangelization, which finds its source and summit in the Eucharist. With Christ and in His Church priests are ministers of reconciliation, proclaiming mercy and pardon and the forgiveness of sins. Priests are builders of community - on the one foundation, Jesus Christ. Priests are teachers in the Church; they speak with the love of Christ and in accordance with the wisdom of His Church. As priests proclaim the Paschal Mystery of Christ's death and resurrection and His whole Gospel of life, sometimes they have to part ways with the majority opinion, with unanimous verdicts, and with politically correct positions. Priests are always called upon to remember that Jesus says: "My teaching is not my own but is from the one who sent me" (John 7:16).

In speaking about the pastoral charity of priests, Pope John Paul II says: "The priest's special love will always be with the sick and dying, with those in pain and sorrow, and with those in sin." And he adds, "For every Bishop and every priest there is but one ideal-the person who says, 'I am the good shepherd . . . and I lay down my life for the sheep'" (Ad Limina Address of September 9, 1983).

Vast new horizons and possibilities open up for us as we speak about Jesus, as we proclaim His death and resurrection and the pardon and merciful love that flow from them.

The community of the Church is with their priests in prayer and pledge them support and love as they strive to respond faithfully, generously, perseveringly to the question of Jesus: "Do you love me?" and as they strive to meet His challenge and fulfill His words: "Feed my lambs . . . tend my sheep."

This is the awesome gift of the priesthood. That is the gift I invite young men to consider this evening. All of us are on a journey of faith. No matter what we do, God is always there to forgive us, and the priest is the instrument of the forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus.

Our Gospel tells us this evening to let that light of Christ shine before others that they may see the good we do. The good we do for one another is a good that stems and shines forth from the Eucharist. The Eucharist gives us joy. The Eucharist helps us to participate in the life of Jesus. I believe the more time we spend with Jesus, the more we become like Jesus. We gather this evening as priests and as members of the Body of Christ and as young people to pray for more vocations. We ask the Lord of the Harvest to strengthen us in our journey of faith. To strengthen our Church with more young men willing to consider the priesthood, with more young women willing to consider Religious Life. Once received, the awesome gift of the priesthood is a gift that must not be taken for granted but rather be lived out each day and every moment of the priest's life. The priest lives to celebrate the Eucharist.

Pope John Paul II was once asked a question by a reporter. "What is the greatest joy you have as Pope?" Some were waiting for a complicated answer. Quite simply the Pope said that his greatest joy was to be able to celebrate Mass every day, just like every Catholic priest throughout the world.

Tonight as we gather as members of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and particularly the Philadelphia North Vicariate, we gather to celebrate our love for Jesus in the Eucharist, our love of the priesthood and our commitment to be attentive to vocations in our families and our parishes. To be attentive to vocations in our midst is so vitally important.

May the Lord of the Harvest bless all of you, dear friends, and bless our Church with more vocations to the priesthood and Religious Life.