Priests are called father because they are life-givers in the spiritual order. Spiritual fathers protect their children; they teach them; they are there for them; and at the limit, they even give their lives for them…
Jesus gathered around himself a band of Apostles whom he shaped according to his own mind and heart and whom he subsequently sent on mission. Priests, down through the centuries – from Augustine and Aquinas to Francis Xavier and John Henry Newman to John Paul II and [our] own pastor – are the descendants of those first friends and apprentices of the Lord. They have been needed in every age, and they are needed today, for the kingdom of heaven must be proclaimed, the poor must be served, God must be worshiped, and the sacraments must be administered.
--Bishop Robert Barron,
Gospel Reflection, August 14, 2019
Thank you, Fr. Pat, for accepting
this most difficult mission!
You are an extraordinary & life-giving
spiritual father to us all.
Happy Father's Day!
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