Pray For Our Priests

Perhaps it is because my brother is a priest.  Or maybe because I spent 12 years working as a cook for the priests of my parish, It could be that being involved in ministry has given me the opportunity to work alongside some amazing priests.  Honestly, I am not sure of the reason - but I am sure that I am compelled to pray for our priests.  Our priests sacrifice their lives to bring us closer to Jesus - they need our prayers.  I have heard a priest friend of mine say that he depends on the prayers of the faithful.  Join me today in praying in a special way for our priests.  Pray for the ones you know by name. Beg the Lord to pour out his grace and mercy on them - to give them a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they may complete the mission entrusted to them.  Thank the Lord for the gift of the priesthood and the many holy, humble priests you have met in your life that have enriched your faith. Forgive any priest who may have hurt you and surrender them to the Lord.I particularly love this prayer by  Richard Cardinal Cushing (1895-1970), Archbishop of Boston:O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Son, and for the love of Him who is the eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop's hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory. But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly N. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.