This Eucharistic Meditation has been prepared as a gift to our bishops and priests in gratitude for their ministerial priesthood and gift of self to Jesus and his bride, the Church.
THE GRACE I SEEK: to believe that I share intimately and forever in the priesthood of Jesus Christ
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
Pause for a few moments, and allow yourself to become aware of Jesus’ gift of himself in the Eucharist. Realize that at this very moment, the Lord of Life is gazing upon you with great love. Allow yourself to receive his loving gaze. You are his beloved child . . . rest in his loving gaze.
Thank Jesus for the gift of himself in the Eucharist.
ASK FOR THE GRACE: Jesus, help me believe in my unceasing participation in your Holy Priesthood.
Read slowly, 3–4 times. Allow the words of Scripture to wash over your mind and heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through this passage.
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his Blood, who has made us into a Kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever.” (Revelation 1:5–6)
Allow yourself to sit with these questions for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.
How have you experienced the power of the Blood of the Lamb in your ministerial priesthood? Can you sense his loving mercy for you and his intimate companionship? Allow Jesus to share with you a new depth of his own intimacy with God the Father, who gazes upon you as a beloved son.
Read slowly, 3–4 times. Again, allow the words of Scripture to wash over your mind and heart. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through this passage.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Luke 4:18)
Allow yourself to sit with these questions for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.
Jesus came not to be served, but to serve: to bring healing, comfort, provision, forgiveness, and freedom. Gazing upon the Eucharist, let Jesus remind you, through the gift of memory, of a specific moment when you participated deeply in his holy priesthood through your own ministerial priesthood. Savor that memory—how it felt, what it looked like, the sounds and other sensory experiences. Recall how your heart was moved. Allow this memory to strengthen you as you persevere along this road of intimacy and sacrifice with Jesus.
Remain in silence with the Lord. Allow him to speak in the silence, in your heart. Receive his presence. If it helps, write down what you sense the Lord communicating to you during this time of prayer.
O God, who anointed your Only Begotten Son with the Holy Spirit and made him Christ and Lord, graciously grant that, being made sharers in his consecration, we may bear witness to your Redemption in the world. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Collect, Holy Thursday Chrism Mass)
At every Mass, Jesus offers himself to the Father for us. We can always join our own offerings with Jesus at Mass. At the Chrism Mass, offer your desire for deeper intimacy with Christ, the Great High Priest, in your priestly life.
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