ONCE I RECEIVED THE CERTAINTY OF HIS PRESENCE IN THE MASS, I WAS HOOKED.
I’ve been a priest for over 33 years, and I’d have to say that every year the joy of priesthood just gets better. It is this joy that keeps me going and maintains my sense of deep gratitude.
At the centre of the life of a priest is this mystery of being loved by God and feeling that love increase as you get older. I have never felt more contentment and deep satisfaction in my life as I do now. All this is due to the grace and blessings of being one with Jesus in His priesthood.
My journey began at 15 years of age when I felt that the Lord was calling me. I started going to Mass daily beginning each day with Him, and once I received the certainty of His real presence in the Mass, I was hooked for life.
I began a St Vincent de Paul conference with mates from school where we would mow lawns for the widowed and visit the lonely once a week. Small acts of charity but the blessings I received through those encounters only enhanced my sense of vocation.
The paths I have taken as a priest have led me from Australia to Latin America and serving amongst very poor peoples. It has been a privilege and again joy to become family amongst different cultures.
As a priest, you are given the name Father because you become part of a family in any mission or parish you are sent to lead. The Spirit is the one who leads you to places you would never have thought possible. The mateship and loving friendship amongst my priest mates and beautiful people of the parishes I have belonged to never leave you. There is a bond that reaches into eternity, and every Eucharist opens that reality each day.
All the wonderful women friends and religious who have taught me the essence of my vocation are part of the joy beyond human understanding that St Paul refers to in his letters. Any suffering I have encountered along the way has always been followed by grace. This joy I refer to is the gift of the Spirit. It is the centre of our being as a priest and part of the hundredfold that Jesus promises.