Catechetical Saints: Saintly Priests

As you have read in the last issue of The Sower, because this is the Year of the Priest, the articles this year will be devoted to priests. In all the years that we have studied the lives of catechetical saints, we have seen many, many priests who devoted their lives to handing on the faith. The General Directory for Catechesis notes that, ‘The function proper to the presbyterate in the catechetical task arises from the sacrament of Holy Orders which they have received. “Through that sacrament priests, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the priest, in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head.”… ‘In catechesis the sacrament of Holy Orders constitutes priests as “educators of the faith.” They work, therefore, to see that the faithful are properly formed and reach true Christian maturity (224). In this issue, I want to focus on the priest and the Eucharist. We need the Eucharist in order to undertake our work as catechists. The priest, as well as being only our catechetical leader, is also the one who makes it possible for us to receive the Eucharist.