2006 KJT Website Homepage

KJT, Catholic Union of Texas, Spiritual Director

. Year For Priests Allowed An Opportunity To Reflect On Nature Of Priesthood

The Year for Priests draws to a close this month of June when we celebrate the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Year for Priests has afforded the Church a great and wonderful opportunity to reflect on the very nature of priesthood. Simply defined, a priest is one who offers sacrifice. Speaking of sacrifice and the nature of the priesthood, Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk of the twentieth century, once said:

If you are afraid of love, never become a priest, never say Mass. The Mass will draw down upon your soul a torrent of interior suffering which has only one function, to break you wide open and let everybody in the world into your heart, for when you begin to say Mass, the Spirit of God awakens like a giant inside you and bursts the locks of your private sanctuary. If you say Mass, you condemn your soul to the torrent of love that is so vast and so insatiable that you will never be able to bear it alone. That love is the love of the Heart of Jesus, burning within your own heart and bringing down upon you the huge weight of His compassion for all the sinners of the world.

On behalf of the world’s priests (if I may be so bold!), thank you very much for your thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes during this Year for Priests! May each and every one of us know more deeply the vast and insatiable love of the Heart of Jesus in the sacrifices of our lives given daily to God!

Father Bob Knippenberg
State Spiritual Director




	Home President Spiritual Advisor State Officers Insurance Marketing Director Sales Representatives Life Insurance Events Calendar Culture Benefits Forms Contact Us Activity Center Links		KJT, Catholic Union of Texas, Spiritual Director . Year For Priests Allowed An Opportunity To Reflect On Nature Of Priesthood The Year for Priests draws to a close this month of June when we celebrate the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Year for Priests has afforded the Church a great and wonderful opportunity to reflect on the very nature of priesthood. Simply defined, a priest is one who offers sacrifice. Speaking of sacrifice and the nature of the priesthood, Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk of the twentieth century, once said: If you are afraid of love, never become a priest, never say Mass. The Mass will draw down upon your soul a torrent of interior suffering which has only one function, to break you wide open and let everybody in the world into your heart, for when you begin to say Mass, the Spirit of God awakens like a giant inside you and bursts the locks of your private sanctuary. If you say Mass, you condemn your soul to the torrent of love that is so vast and so insatiable that you will never be able to bear it alone. That love is the love of the Heart of Jesus, burning within your own heart and bringing down upon you the huge weight of His compassion for all the sinners of the world. On behalf of the world’s priests (if I may be so bold!), thank you very much for your thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes during this Year for Priests! May each and every one of us know more deeply the vast and insatiable love of the Heart of Jesus in the sacrifices of our lives given daily to God! Father Bob Knippenberg State Spiritual Director