“Our Lord is hidden in the Blessed Sacrament waiting for us to come and visit him…See how good this is!…If he had appeared before us now in all his glory, we should not have dared to approach him; but he hides himself like one in prison, saying: “You do not see me, but that does not matter; ask me for all you want…”

— St. John Vianney.

“In addition to the Catholic belief that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist (cf Jn 6:53ff), the Church also teaches that Jesus Christ formed a New Covenant with His people through His own passion, death and resurrection. This paschal mystery is celebrated and renewed through the Eucharistic sacrifice: ‘For this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, to be poured out in behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins’ (Mt. 26:28).  In the First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reaffirms the integral place of the Eucharist in the New Covenant. Paul also gives us added insight into the relationship between the priesthood and the Lord’s Supper, stating: ‘Every time, then, you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes’ (1Cor 11-26). If the Lord’s Supper must be carried out ‘until he comes,’ then obviously there must be a lasting priesthood to carry out the commission given to the apostles at the Last Supper, lest Jesus’ command be ignored and the New Covenant be broken.”
— The Catholic Response, Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas

Dear friends, do we really have any idea of the extreme importance of the priesthood? We dare say that Satan does. This is evident in the attack on the priesthood that we see today. Beginning with the breakdown of the unity of Christians from the one, true Church, the devil was eventually able breakdown the unity of the family through the vast social acceptance of birth control and divorce. This produced the “me” generation. “It’s my body, my life, my choice”. Understanding of marriage as a lifelong covenant fell, bonds were broken and the family was torn apart. What a mess the family is in today!

Faithful families are the nesting ground for vocations to the priesthood. So, the numbers of young men who were taught to listen for the call of the priesthood fell. The devil, being the most wise of all warriors, must be so happy with his victories! His ultimate goal? We believe is the elimination of Jesus in the Eucharist. Eliminate the faith, eliminate the family, eliminate vocations, eliminate the priesthood, eliminate the Eucharist. No Eucharist, no bread of life, no cup of eternal salvation, no New Covenant.

“Do you know why our Lord persists in remaining day and night in our churches?…He stays there so that every time we want to go and see him, we may be able to find him.” – St. John Vianney

Dear Merciful God, through the intercession of St. John Vianney, protect the priesthood from further attack. Raise up an army of holy priests to bring your Divine Son Jesus to your people in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Help us to appreciate the seriousness of our need for the ministerial priesthood, and inspire us to pray for and appreciate our holy priests. Forgive us for the times we have not appreciated our priests, and help us to restore the true faith and the family in order to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life. May we always be able to find our dear Lord awaiting us, body, blood, soul and divinity in our Holy Catholic Churches. Praised be Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. Amen