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The Mystery of Being a Priest Msgr. Charles Pope • June 23, 2015 • Each year I concelebrate with hundreds of other priests in the ordination Mass of new priests. I find such Masses deeply spiritual. I have no role other than to quietly concelebrate, so the readings and the rites move me deeply. As I sit quietly, I ponder the mystery of my own priesthood. When I was growing up, there was little to indicate that I would ever become a priest. I was not a particularly spiritual child (at least not after age 7). I did not “play Mass.” In...

Sweet Hour of Prayer! Or Not? How do You Experience Prayer? By: Msgr. Charles PopeHow do you think of prayer? Is it another thing you “have to do” among many other things on your list? Or is prayer a time when you refrain from doing? Is prayer a requirement you regret or a rest you relish? What is prayer for you?The danger in answering questions like these is that we may answer them the way we think they “should” be answered rather than in an honest way. Many struggle with prayer and experience it with a lot of negativity: boredom,...

May You Sleep the Sleep of the Just: A Short Meditation on the Burden that Sin Brings By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere’s an old expression, seldom used today although I remember the old folks used it sometimes when I was young, “May you sleep the sleep of the just.” When my Great Aunt Polly used it, she meant simply, “May you sleep well.” But more richly and historically, the phrase speaks to a serenity that comes from having a quiet conscience, a conscience that is untroubled by the burden of unconfessed and unrepentant sin. A serene and clean conscience is an...

The High Price of the Faith, and Gratitude That Someone Paid That Price By: Msgr. Charles Pope I wonder if many of us have considered the true cost of the faith that has been delivered to us. We so easily complain if the Church is not air-conditioned, or the P.A. system is poor, or the service too long.But have you or I ever really considered the difficulties endured by those who went before us and labored to hand down the faith to us? Every time you read the Creed, consider that martyrs died for the truths we so easily declare.This Sunday, at the...