When a priest begins to pray less, his own faith is weakened and the Christian community he cares for suffers, says the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy.
Cardinal Cláudio Hummes said this in a letter he wrote for priests on the importance of prayer. It was released by the dicastery today.
“Prayer necessarily occupies a central place in the life of the priest,” the cardinal states. “This is not hard to understand, since prayer fosters the disciple’s intimacy with his Master, Jesus Christ.”
“We all know that when prayer lessens, faith is weakened and the ministry loses content and meaning,” he continued. “The essential consequence of this is that the priest will have less joy and less happiness in his daily ministry.”
The prefect noted that the priest also needs prayer to keep the Christian community strong.
Quoting St. John Chrysostom, he said: “The devil attacks the shepherd […]. In fact, if by killing the sheep the flock is reduced, by instead eliminating the shepherd he will destroy the entire flock.”
“Truly,” Cardinal Hummes noted, “without the vital food of prayer the priest becomes sick, the disciple does not find the strength to follow the Master, and thus dies of hunger. As a consequence his flock is scattered, and dies in its own turn.”
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 9, 2009 (Zenit.org)