Dear Bros and Sis, Even before coming into the renewal; I used to maintain a fairly good relation with old priests and nuns. Maybe bcos I was very close to my grandmother and never got to meet my grandpas. And one thing I used to do after the conversation is to kneel down and ask them to pray a blessing over me. And when they pray I make a silent prayer to myself - "Lord I claim the power of all the masses said by this father so that I will receive your mercy and blessings." Going by this rule - Old priest means more masses which in turn means more blessings :-))). Often this happens; after my confession after the priest absolves the sin (in a rich Latin language). I know a lot of such old priests most of them Jesuits bcos we(Dad, brother and myself) were always closely attached to the Jesuit institutions. Let me share my experiences however with 3 priests - old and rich in spirituality.
First, is a Jesuit priest from Mangalore - retired Department Head of Literature, St Josephs College Trichy. I woke him up in the middle of the night during one of my tough days and begged for confession. A relation which went on from strength to strength for the past 4 years. This man was a real source of knowledge on any given subject. Often we meet up and talk for an hour atleast once in 2 weeks. He was the person who was to a large extent responsible in helping me to appreciate the value of the Catholic Church - its powerful and time tested doctrines. He sniffed somehow that me and my brother was inclined towards the renewal movement; of which he was not so much impressed. He forced both of us to get the book on "Catechism of the Catholic Church". A decision we will never regret. Each time he used to ask me in rich Oxford accent - "Did you get that black book ? " and while discussing the Gospel passages - "Know your gospel; Boy!". He was not gifted with rich gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit but defenitely he was blessed with the wisdom, understanding and most of all HUMILITY from the Holy Spirit. Second is an old parish priest. I used to visit him once in a while, again for confession. I would like to remember one of those days when after the confession I requested him to pray over me. He laid the Holy Vestment (the holy cloth which runs over their shoulders)on my head and placed a crucifix over it. And he made a powerful prayer over me. I felt some birds flying off my head as he was praying :-) And then he blessed me with Holy Water. It was an amazing and powerful experience. The third is Fr. C J Varkey whom some of you might be knowing as the persons behind Nirmala Retreat Center at Koluthuvayal, Calicut. He is God's gift for me and also for many people. A visit to his house was almost as though I went into a land of spiritual warfare. A man powerful with the gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit. All throughout the praying over, he was drawing crosses in my forehead. At the end of which I was healed of a long problem of throat ailment. I was able to learn many things from this humble priest and most of all the protection one will receive by the prayers to Mother Mary. I also realised the power of all those old(and sometimes forgotten ?) catholic prayers to St. Michael, St. George, Guardian Angel, "Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary" so as to defeat the enemy. Let us always remember that a priest in the Eucharistic Celebration through the sacrament of Holy Orders represents Christ Himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. Let us also understand that they are also Human beings attacked by sin and who needs our constant prayers and support. "This presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even sin. The power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way. While this guarantee extends to the sacraments, so that even the minister's sin cannot impede the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the apostolic fruitfulness of the Church. " (Catechism of the Catholic Church). Prayers Sanju Joseph Bang!!lore. ________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================
