Holy Orders
Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry.
There are two different ordinations:
to presbyterate and to diaconate.
From the moment of Jesus' conception in the womb of Mary until his Resurrection, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. In biblical language, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and thus established by God the Father as our high priest.
As Risen Lord, he remains our high priest. . . . While all the baptized share in Christ's priesthood, the ministerial priesthood shares this through the Sacrament of Holy Orders in a special way.
Ordination to the priesthood is always a call and a gift from God. Christ reminded his Apostles that they needed to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest. Those who seek priesthood respond generously to God's call using the words of the prophet, "Here I am, send me" (Is 6:8). This call from God can be recognized and understood from the daily signs that disclose his will to those in charge of discerning the vocation of the candidate.
~from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
Prayer for priests
Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the gift of our priests.
Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments.
Help our priests to be strong in their vocation.
Set their souls on fire with love for your people.
Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.
Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel.
Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.
Help them to become instruments of your divine grace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest.
Amen.
How will I know?
Most of us who have ever wondered if the vocation to religious life was for us must have asked the question, "how will I know?" It comes in many forms. "What is God's will in my life?" "How do I find happiness and fulfillment in my life?" "What is the ultimate purpose of my existence?" "How will I know that God is calling me to live the religious life as a priest, brother, or sister?"
An inherent part of life is the responsibility to make difficult, challenging, and sometimes even painful decisions.
To make important decisions often requires time, prayer, and discernment. Perhaps today more than ever, we face a greater multiplicity and complexity of decisions in ordinary day-to-day living.
In the discernment process, we consider the options, balance the advantages with disadvantages, and carefully examine the consequences. "How will I know . . . what is good, right, or best? How will I know what God is calling me to?"
Before the rainbow shown in the sky, perhaps Noah wondered, "How will I know?"
Before John the Baptist sent his disciples from his prison cell to find Jesus he must have asked, "How will I know?"
When Thomas heard from the disciples that Jesus rose from the dead, he must have struggled with the question, "How will I know?"
As Mary Magdalene gazed into the empty tomb that first Easter morning, she must have pondered, "How will I know?"
Today, as in Jesus own time, God continues to give signs to help us to decide, to discern and to know what the Lord is asking us. In particular there are four general signs which are often seen.
Availability and Openness:
Am I open-hearted to whatever God is calling me?
Am I disposed and free to respond to that call?
Desire:
Do I sense a degree of potential satisfaction, hope, or joy when I consider religious life?
If it is God's will, do I trust that it can be fulfilled?
Proper Motivation
Is my primary motivation of a spiritual nature, such as serving and loving God and God's people?
Would I experience adequate happiness and fulfillment?
General Disposition
Do I have reasonably good health, emotional stability, social ease, and spiritual-centeredness?
In a more specific way, there is a rather practical spiritual discernment process which can be a tool or guide to help us determine what God is calling us to. This discernment process combines reflection, prayer, dialogue, and Scripture.
How Does One Begin Discernment?
One way to prepare for discernment is to make a time line of your life story, from your birth to the present day. Reflect upon the following:
Significant Persons in My Life
Who have been the people in my life?
What has my relationship been to them?
How have they influenced me positively and negatively?
Who has had the most impact on me?
Reflect on your experience of family
What have I learned?
What do I value?
What do I want to let go of?
Educational Experience
What schools?
Did I like, dislike, favorite memories, activities, friends, significant events, people?
What did I learn of life that I want to keep? What gets in the way?
Social and Sexual Development
What do I enjoy doing with others?
What do I do just because it's in?
What do I find relaxing and renewing?
Who have I dated, what circumstances?
What has been my relationship to men?
What has been my relationship to women?
Review your sexual history.
From whom did you first learn about sex?
What have been your experiences as a child, teen, young adult, now?
What impact have various relationships had on you?
Work History
Jobs held, how long, where, colleges, preparation for positions, responsibility, initiative.
What did you learn and what skills did you acquire in each job or preparation process?
Faith Experience
What's your earliest recollection of God?
Who taught you about God?
Who has had the greatest influence in faith development?
How was church, faith, God in your family?
What practices do you do to care for your faith life?
Where did you learn about these practices?
Who is God in your life?
Name your experiences of the Divine in your life.
How did that feel, what impact did these have?
How do you see God in the everyday circumstances of your life?
How do you nurture this relationship?
Life Choice
When did you first think of religious life?
What has been the pattern in this?
Why religious life? What about marriage? or single life?
I want to know more
Resources
Man, Woman, Priest, Deacon, Religious Life, Married, Single