Eugene became a priest as a response to his awareness of God\u2019s indescribable love for him. Here, in his retreat in preparation for his priestly ordination he prays to be able to make his priestly ministry a response of total love:<\/p>\n
\nAnd so I am convinced that I have never really loved you. But whom did I love in your place? The devil. Yes, it is the devil who has been my god, it is to him I have prostituted my whole being! See then how I have fulfilled the end for which I was created: I have hated my Creator, or at least I have acted just as if I hated him, and I have delivered myself over to the devil as his slave. And it is a monster like this, O my God, that you wish to claim as your own and have admitted into your sanctuary, whom soon you will invest with your priesthood.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
My God, what language is there to express what this infinite, incomprehensible goodness means to me? My head is prostrate in the dust, my lips press the earth, my soul is emptied, I can do no more.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
My God, double, triple, increase my strength a hundredfold that I may love you, not merely as much as I can, that is nothing, but that I love you as much as did the saints, as much as your holy Mother loved and loves you.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Notes made during the retreat in preparation for ordination to the priesthood,
\nDecember 1811, EO XIV n. 95<\/em><\/p>\nIn Mary, the new priest saw a model to imitate to learn to love God and be an example to him of a total giving of self through his ministry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us pray in particular for the new priests of the Diocese of Rome who I had the joy or ordaining this morning. \u2026 And let us call upon the intercession of Mary, who is the Woman of the ‘Yes’. She said ‘Yes’ her entire life. She learned to recognize Jesus’ voice from when she carried him in her womb. May Mary, our Mother, help us to always know better Jesus’ voice and to follow it, to walk in the path of life.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Pope Francis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eugene became a priest as a response to his awareness of God\u2019s indescribable love for him. Here, in his retreat in preparation for his priestly ordination he prays to be able to make his priestly ministry a response of total … Continue reading