"Holy Thursday created these men"

Today, Holy Thursday, I pray in a special way for all priests, particularly those priests so influential in my own life -- the priest who baptized me sixty years ago ... the one who gave me our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion for the very first time ... the priests who have absolved me from my sins in the Sacrament of Penance over and over again, always with such kindness and compassion ... the ones who have counseled me in the ways of the Lord and encouraged me to grow in holiness and love, who have comforted me in my sorrows and supported me in my trials ... the priests who were my beloved spiritual fathers and have gone home to the Father ... the priest who is my spiritual father today, whose unflinching devotion to and undying passion for the Truth challenges me to settle for nothing less, whose wisdom enlightens my ignorance and whose love for our Lord increases my own ... the priests in our parish, especially my dear pastor who loves our parish family so much ... and all the priests in our world today, who strive to be faithful to their priestly vocation, who lovingly minister to us with our many needs, who show us the Father by their lives of love and sacrifice ... and the priests who are troubled, who doubt their calling and are tempted to abandon it, who struggle with their sins and imperfections, who are burdened with loneliness, who feel unappreciated or unloved. Thank you for all our priests, dear Jesus! Bless them and keep them happy in your service. Let them know how greatly you love them. Be their lasting peace and their sure refuge. Heal their brokenness, strengthen their resolve, enlighten their darkness and renew their faith in you. They are yours, all yours, and I entrust them with gratitude and joy to you, O Jesus, our High and Eternal Priest. Amem.

The Eucharist must not prevent us from considering the other sacrament which was instituted on Holy Thursday: Holy Orders. "Do this in remembrance of me." "Do this, as often as you drink [the cup], in remembrance of me."

The twelve apostles are the first twelve priests… Now they are ordained, the first members of an innumerable family. Holiness entered the world with Christ. The Church is holy and what matters to us the wretchedness of individuals, their falls, their betrayals? "The great glory of the Church," writes Jacques Maritain, "is to be holy with sinning members." Until the end of the world, the hands of a few chosen men will never cease to lift up "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"… The grace of Holy Thursday will be transmitted unto the end of time, unto the last of the priests who will celebrate the last Mass in a shattered universe. Holy Thursday created these men; a mark was stamped on them; a sign was given to them… Such is the immense stream of grace which has its source in the first priestly ordination of this sacred Thursday.

from Holy Thursday: An Intimate Remembrance, by Francois Mauriac