At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."
REFLECTION: "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few"
If we were to run a Google search on "What are the biggest complaints about the Catholic Church?" or "What is the biggest problem with priests?", what do you think will be the top results?
It used to be the myths and misconceptions about the Church: Idolatry, Indulgences, Infallibility, etc.
Nowadays, the top few dozen results will be related to priestly abuse scandal and shortage of priests.
In PAPA, we know these are hard truths we need to face as Catholics. And this is one of the reasons for our apostolate: To pray for priests, the good, the bad, the lukewarm.... So they can all be on fire for Christ.
We are not indifferent, and we are not in a crusade against them. We pray for those involved in scandal so they take responsibility for their life and be accountable for their deeds.
We pray for lonely priests, for those about to fall into temptation, and for those in distant lands so they persevere and not falter in their mission to bring Christ to others.
We pray for young and old alike. For those healthy, and those sick. For those about to die, and those in purgatory.
For those who we personally know and have known throughout our life. Without them we would not know about the repository of faith, the sacraments, the Eucharist...
Join us in praying today, right now, the PAPA Prayer for Priest, so we can see ALL priests adore Christ in the Holy Eucharist, love the Church that Jesus Himself founded over 2000 years ago, and willingly and without hesitation give up their lives for their people.
In the words of St. John of Vianney, patron saint of priests: “A priest goes to Heaven or a priest goes to Hell with a thousand people behind.”
Can you imagine all the good these priests would do? When you pray for one priest to be holy like Christ, you may bring thousands of souls into heaven.
Comments