To the Editor:
This year, World Priest Day will be celebrated on Friday, June 24, providing all Catholics an opportunity to focus on praying for their priests. The Saint Serra Club encourages you to join in this worldwide appreciation for our priests.
Officially known as the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, the celebration takes place each year on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The World Priest Day celebration was established by Pope John Paul II in 2002 to encourage priests to reflect upon the importance and dignity of the gift of priesthood they have received from Christ.
Importantly, on World Priest Day the faithful are encouraged to pray for priests that they may be strengthened in their ministry and remain steadfast in their commitment to the Lord. Each day our priests pray for us and our intentions as they preside over Mass, hear confessions, baptize our children or bury our loved ones.
Here is a prayer you could offer for your parish priest:
“Sacred Heart of Jesus, protect our priest, (insert name of your priest), in his work at (include the name of your parish). Comfort him in his burdens; give him health of body, assistance in his temporal needs, and your blessing on all that he does. We ask the Holy Spirit to light his heart anew for the priesthood and help him to continue to grow in holiness.”
The Saint Serra Club is a ministry to foster vocations for the Davenport Diocese.
Ken and Donna Golden
Bettendorf