"I will show you the way to Heaven"

"You have shown me the way to Ars, now I will show you the way to Heaven." This is what Saint Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney said to the little boy who had just shown him how to find the village of Ars.

St Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney, patron saint of priests, on the priesthood:

"Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption here on earth...What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of His goods...Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest and they will end by worshipping the beasts there..The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you."

With Saint Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney's feast day coming up -- 4th in the August Ordinary Form and 8th August in the Extraordinary Form -- it is a good time to reflect on the sacrifices made by those priests with whom we have a relationship: those who have baptised us and our children, who have heard our confessions, married us, prayed for us and with us; who have nourished our souls with the Body and Blood of our Blessed Saviour. Reflect and, of course, pray for them: for those priests who are struggling with their vocation;  those who feel alone, perhaps unsupported by their brother priests or bishops; for those young men who are considering whether or not God is calling them to his Holy Priesthood; for those young boys who may one day become priests, and for their families, that they may foster their budding vocations. For all those who show us -- and who will one day show our children -- the way to heaven.

God bless our priests! Saint Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney pray for our priests! Pray for us!