All posts by Arthur Joseph

Mission Statement

But nothing contributes so much to the triumph of my Immaculate Heart as a priestly heart which suffers. In you, my sons, it is Jesus who continues His Mission of purification. Only His Blood can wash away all the evil, all the hatred and all the sin of the world.

 

The Apostle Saint Paul in chapter 6 of his Letter to the Ephesians, verses 10-17 urges us to: ..draw your strength from the Lord and from His mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with the flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers, of this present darkness, with evil spirits in the heavens.

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

It is common knowledge among many priests that in the latter part of the 19th century saints like St. John Bosco, and holy servants of God such as Pope Leo XIII, became aware in their hearts of a pending, and seemingly unprecedented, period of diabolical assault against the Church. Thus, it is commonly held, Pope Leo ordered the prayers to St. Michael to be said at the foot of the altar after Holy Mass.

Then came the events of the 20th century, the wars, revolutions, social upheavals, the Second Vatican Council and a worldwide crisis of faith, culture, distortion of authentic freedom [ which is fundamentally not a matter of social policy, law or philosophy but the gift of the Father to His children ] and seemingly innumerable assaults on the dignity of, and truth about, the human person through sexual deviation, abortion, increases in addictions and a widespread loss of faith in God, other and self.

As regards the Priesthood of Jesus Christ to which we ordained men are configured by the Holy Spirit, neither before ordination nor during our priestly lives are we spared the impact of historical life around us nor have we been without our own sin.

The impact has been an immense weariness and broken-heartedness for many priests and much confusion, scandal and disheartedness among Christ’s Faithful Lay People.

Thus it came to my heart and that of family and friends to construct and maintain this web site HOPE FOR PRIESTS.

Our mission is just that simple, to give hope!

The quotation from St. Paul has been chosen as a comforting reminder for us that actual reality is invisible to the naked eye – we live and serve in the world but are not to be of the world.

Therefore there will always be a dimension of participation in all the loneliness and suffering of Christ – but also of His joy – in the nitty-gritty living out of our priestly vocation.

The six aspects of protective clothing, of armor, St. Paul mentions in verses 14ff. above factually means being clothed with Christ – and this is our great protection knowing we are protected by, and cooperating with, that Divine protection. This should give us hope.

Girdled with truth, covered with the protective vest of righteousness, shoes on in readiness to follow Christ our peace and spread the Gospel, armed with the shield of faith [ and priestly sin is always a crisis of faith in its origin ] wearing the helmet of salvation, our Baptism, we do battle using the sword, the Holy Spirit Himself.

Spiritual warfare is part of our daily lives but Christ is already victorious and so we do not have to ‘win’, we need only, with the heart of a child, participate in the fullness of His life!

Keeping in mind that Holy Mother the Church alone determines the authenticity of apparitions, messages, interior locutions, etc., this quotation from the book TO THE PRIESTS OUR LADY’S BELOVED SONS, is not intended to presume any future decision of the Church, but simply shared as something to console priests and give us hope, to note that we can be fairly confident the sentiment contained in the quotation bespeaks the tender heart of a mother – and for us priests in a particular way Mary IS our Mother:

But nothing contributes so much to the triumph of my

Immaculate Heart as a priestly heart which suffers.

In you, my sons, it is Jesus who continues His mission

of purification. Only His Blood can wash away all the

evil, all the hatred and all the sin of the world.

Each day when we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we advance this purification of the world by His Blood and once we have celebrated Holy Mass the world, all our brothers and sisters, we ourselves, have more hope! This then is our simple mission through this web site, and our daily prayer especially during Holy Mass and the Holy Rosary, to bring HOPE FOR PRIESTS.

WELCOME TO OUR UPDATED SITE

This first day of December 2010 in Advent, thanks to the tireless work of our friends Philip and John, with the support of their families, the new look here is sharper and adding items to the site is much easier.

New items and continuing essays will be posted more frequently.

We count on your continued support and prayer and do keep Philip, John, all families and priests in your prayer.

Thank-you.

May the peace and love of Jesus fill your hearts.

Fr. Joseph