Fr. James Farfaglia: I Love Being a Catholic Priest

Married men with children are called "Father" by a select group, their families. As a celibate priest, people call me "Father."  I, too, have been called "Father" by the thousands and thousands of people that I have provided for, nourished and educated for more than twenty-three years as a priest.  It is my vocation to celibate fatherhood that allows me to stretch my heart and give of myself unconditionally with joy and love each day with renewed commitment and dedication.

align="justify">CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (CATHOLIC ONLINE) - One morning, I was pouring myself a hot cup of coffee in the kitchen and a priest friend came through the kitchen, his face beaming with his characteristic joviality.  "Come here," he said, "I need to show you something."  Father had just celebrated his birthday and he had bought himself a little present.  As he carefully opened the box he looked at me with the anticipation of a small boy with a new toy and cheerfully said, "Look at this!"  What he was showing me was a beautifully stitched corporal and matching altar cloth that he had ordered from a liturgical supply company for his celebration of the Mass.  "This new corporal and new altar cloth will remind me to say Mass better and better," he exclaimed.  I was profoundly moved by his words.

Similarly, Pope Paul VI prayed a beautiful prayer each time before he celebrated Mass, "Lord, grant me the grace to celebrate this Mass as if it were my first Mass, my only Mass, and my last Mass."  When I was newly ordained, I mentioned this story to another priest friend who said, "Yes, I know about the Pope's prayer, but I have changed the wording.  Rather than saying as if it were my first Mass, I pray that my Mass will be better than my first Mass." 

How wonderful it is for me to be in the company of Catholic priests who passionately love Jesus, the Church and their vocation to the priesthood!

On Friday, June 11, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Year for Priests will conclude with a concelebrated Mass with Pope Benedict XVI and thousands of priests from all over the world.  I am going to be there!  My parishioners decided that I am going, so many of them contributed to a special fund that is making this trip possible. 

When I contemplate the mystery of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, I am continually reminded of these beautiful words from the Sacred Scriptures:  "Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.  For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved" (John 3: 16-17).

We cannot even begin to fathom the depth of God's love for us.  His love is so immense that he himself is defined as love.  "God is love" (1 John 4: 8, 16).  The Holy Eucharist is the most visible sign of God's love for each of us.  Jesus loves us so much that he cannot leave us.  "And know that I am with you always until the end of time" (Matthew 28: 20). 

As we consider the mystery of God's unconditional love we are reminded that love defines the very purpose of our existence too.  The purpose of our life can be summed up with only one word: love.  ".since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another" (1 John 4: 11).

I came across an acquaintance that I had not seen in a long time.  We exchanged warm greetings and she asked me how everything was going at my parish.  I told her that our parish, the newest in the city of Corpus Christi,  is growing and that we are moving forward with our plans to start a small elementary school. 

 "Are you still the only priest over there?" she asked.  When I told her that I am, she wondered if I was ever bored with saying many Masses on the weekend.  I assured her that everything was wonderful, but I thought to myself, "bored"?  I love what I do!  I did not want to embarrass my friend, but I wanted to tell her that my biggest problem on Sunday is that each Mass has to come to an end.  How could I be bored when I have been called to the Catholic priesthood?  Each time I celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it is as though a new Bethlehem and a new Calvary have become present for me.  How could I be bored when I hold Jesus in my sinful and trembling hands? 

What intimacy!  When Jesus comes to us, he comes to us as communion.  God and man become one.  He comes to us as the divine lover.  His communion with us is more intimate than the intimate union of husband and wife or a mother with her unborn child. 

Let us recall then the words from the first encyclical letter written by Pope John Paul II, "Man cannot live without love.  He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it." (Redemptor Hominis, 10.1). 

Married men with children are called "Father" by a select group, their families. As a celibate priest, people call me "Father."  I, too, have been called "Father" by the thousands and thousands of people that I have provided for, nourished and educated for more than twenty-three years as a priest.  It is my vocation to celibate fatherhood that allows me to stretch my heart and give of myself unconditionally with joy and love each day with renewed commitment and dedication. 

Am I bored?  That question from my friend caused me to reflect.  I realize that the older I get, the younger I feel.  With the rapid passage of time, I begin to understand Saint Paul's dilemma: his passionate love for Jesus caused him to desire to be with him in heaven, yet that same love caused a passion to continue the work of the Lord here on earth. The daily encounter with our Eucharistic Lord allows us to be caught up in the mystery of continual and unconditional love. 

On June 11, thousands of Catholic priests will stand together with Pope Benedict XVI and proclaim to the world that we believe in love and that we love being Catholic priests.

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Father James Farfaglia is the pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Father has a hard hitting blog calledIllegitimi non carborundum.  He has also published a book called Man to Man: A Real Priest Speaks to Real Men about Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life.  You can contact Father at fjficthus@gmail.com.

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