Archbishop Greets His Clergy on the Priests’ Day
Every August 4, the church celebrates the feast of St John Mary Vianney, the patron of Diocesan Priests
Being a father of the priests, the archbishop Rolly Tirona sent this greeting to his priests: My Brother Priests,
I warmly greet you with a fraternal kiss of peace as we celebrate our patron’s, feast, St. John Marie Vianney.
In the turmoil of Covid, we hold fast to the words of St. Paul:” Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 8, 37-38)
The very austere yet outmost self-giving of St. John in his priestly ministry validates the sentiments of St. Paul.
St. John, deprived of material things, of wordly knowledge, power and prestige, is abundantly overflowing in the love of God!
How true, when we give from our emptyness, we are filled to the brim and overflowing!
In our priestly life and ministry, often buffeted by issues, trials and temptations, let us draw strength and inspiration from this tenacious yet gentle Saint.
And what do we see and learn from him?
- Simplicity and humility in priestly life.
- Perseverance in prayer
- Outmost dedication to the priestly ministry.
- Openess to loving sacrifice.
We are ‘earthen jars’ molded by the caring hands of the Potter. Yet we remain fragile and subject to tarnish.
We need to look after ourselves and one another. With our fraternal charity we become strong earthen jars to be filled with God’s grace. We can then call out to our faithful: “Come here, all you who are thirsty, come to the water!” ( Is 55,1)
Through our unassuming priestly life and zealous ministry, we can provide our sheep the ‘living water,’ Jesus Christ!
My brother priests, I cannot thank you enough for your priestly life and dedicated ministry in the Church and in our Archdiocese of Caceres.
I pray that St. John Vianey inspire and guide us all to a Christ-like priestly life and ministry.
I salute you all! Dios an magbalos!
Happy Feastday!
With my fraternal blessing,
+Rolando J Tria Tirona, OCD, DD Archbishop of Caceres