OUR PRIESTS, OUR UNSUNG HEROES

The above photos were taken during the Eucharistic Procession in Lourdes on 4 June 2008. When I saw our heroes during the procession, I felt so proud of them. I immediately took out my camera and snapped as many photos as I could throughout the procession. In Malaysia, we don't get the chance to see so many priests.

Only those endowed with superhuman strength can accept the call to priesthood and the truth is - not many are endowed with this special gift from God. The priesthood is not a career option. It is a vocation which places on our priests the heavy demands of Christ's life and in living these demands they have truly become our heroes.

In the midst of this materialistic world where everyone is busy pursuing wealth and fame, these unsung heroes forgo all earthly treasures, career, marriage, and even themselves to lead us to the path of righteousness. How many of us can actually be like them? We all want to make a lot of money, to get married and to have children, to enjoy ourselves and to live a comfortable life. This is human nature and that's why the number of priests is declining. Our priests have therefore become a rare treasure today.

We tend to show great love and respect for our favourite artistes but we seem to have forgotten about our priests who have devoted their entire life serving God and serving us selflessly with great patience and endurance. How much love and respect have we shown to our priests? Who baptized you when you were born? Who feeds your soul and gives it strength to travel the journey of life? Who will prepare you for your last journey home to appear before God? Our Priests, of course. But have we ever expressed our gratitude to our priests? Many of us tend to take our priests for granted assuming that it is their duty to serve us. Perhaps it's time for us to learn the art of gratitude.

Let us pray for our Holy Father, our Bishops and all our priests in this special Year for Priests. Let us remember to be grateful to them for the sacrifices that they have made for us. (To view the contents page, please click here )