One afternoon, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Shrier, a member of a group known as the Serrans, that is, a group that promotes vocations to the priesthood and religious life, was waiting for a priest to arrive to celebrate Mass. As she was waiting, she spoke to a few nuns who were visiting and said where they were, there were no priests in their parishes anymore. It led Elizabeth to ask herself a question, what would it be like if there were no more priests and then she asked herself the most important question of all, what could she do about it.

That is why today, is not just the 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, it is also known as Priesthood Sunday, dedicated as a day by the Serrans to thank God for those who have answered their call and to continue to support them in their vocation with your countless prayers and support, especially in this day and age.

Because, it seems, out of any vocation that one has been given, the most misunderstood and, indeed, the most difficult to fathom is a vocation to the priesthood. In fact, when I started to tell people that I was thinking of becoming a priest some could not understand, they didn’t know why I wanted to give up so much, in their eyes, in order to do so little.

Yet, I think that idea is the result of trying to compare a vocation that has become increasingly counter-cultural to a culture that supports almost anything to avoid sacrifice.

In fact, in our second reading, it tells us that that is exactly what the priest is called to do, “to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” He is called, “among men, as a representative before God to make sin offerings for himself and for all the people.”

This is the primary focus of his vocation, because he has been ordained to dispense the sacraments not of his own accord, but as one who acts in the Person of Christ, so that in every sacrament from the Eucharist to confession, it is, indeed, Christ to whom you come, not me, not Fr. Ed, it is Christ, the great high priest.

And, it is a great and monumental task, filled with many graces, with many blessings, and with many challenges, but is also an opportunity to be a witness for the faith, in both action and in blood, as we see happen time and time again throughout our world, especially in those areas where Christian persecution is so strong.

Because, a priest, at heart, is a witness, and this happens by how he daily lives his call, by heeding his vocation, by sacrifice, by celebrating the sacraments, by assisting the sick and the dying, by offering spiritual counsel, by blessing a home, by teaching, by preaching, in short, by, daily, trying to imitate Christ in every single thing that he does.

Personally, the first time I ever realized this and realized that I was a priest, wasn’t at my first Mass, but, rather, when I heard my first confession, when I realized that now I must dispense the same mercy I had been given time and again, and continue to receive, that I must now bring the healing power of Christ to this person, by absolving them and forgiving them, not by my own power, but in the name of the Church and in the name of Christ to whom they are asking for forgiveness.

And, probably one of the greatest examples of this was a priest I got to meet many years ago at a program for priestly formation. He had many jobs, but the one in particular that stood out was as the exorcist of a major metropolitan city.

We had a great conversation about exorcisms, how it happens, how they know if a person is possessed etc. However, when I asked him how he prepares for an exorcism he said something very profound, he said: “I fast, I pray, and have others pray for me, and most importantly during the actual exorcism, I get out of the way.”

It was probably the most profoundly simple piece of advice I had ever heard, but the entirety of the vocation of a priest simply put. That in order to do such a great thing, he had to let himself be the lowest thing, the mere conduit through which God works.

Today, then let us pray for our priests, those that have served us, those that continue to serve, those that are retired, those who have died, and most importantly, for those of whom their humanness was all too evident.

Because while every priest is called to live a life of holiness, he needs help in that endeavor, and it is by your prayers that this happens, it is by your prayers that we are strengthened, and, by doing so, the priest then begets what he has become, so that his example inspires others, who inspire others, until the Body of Christ is brimming with new priests to bring the sacraments to the next generations.

Because, at heart, without the priest, there is no Eucharist and, indeed, without the Eucharist, there is no church.