A mere glance at the Church's history reveals that her priesthood has never traveled a royal road. To the contrary, the holy priesthood takes the hard and narrow way [cf. Mt 7:13-14] to a more stringent judgment: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness.” [Jas 3:1]
Every age has its crisis inside or outside of the Church and perhaps in the most difficult of times both. Whether a man follows the path of cloistered or secular priesthood, the cares of the Church and the world follow him, crying for help as supplicants on the roadside who hear Jesus passing by.
The priest in a monastery, the priest in a diocese must shoulder the pastoral task of lifting up his own and every fallen soul to the sweet fragrance of the Divine Mercy that surrounds the heavenly throne like incense. Likewise, the priest must fervently set about the task of sanctifying the world “in the fulness of the blessing of Christ” [Rom 15:29] even has he cares for his own soul.
Thus he clothes the Church with the peace of Christ in the midst of turbulence and empowers her with “times of refreshing” [Acts 3:19] to stay the course regardless of the most arduous challenges.
