Pope Benedict: priests need time to pray

Those who tend to think of their clergy role as a sort of souped-up social work have been given a quiet reproof by Pope Benedict.  Talking on how to be a good priest he affirmed the value he sees in celibacy - "truly making oneself available to the Lord in the fullness of one's being " .  But he also said "I know well how difficult it is today -- when a priest finds himself directing not only one easily managed parish but several parishes and pastoral units; when he must be available to give this or that counsel, and so forth -- how difficult it is to live such a life. I believe that in this situation it is important to have the courage to limit oneself and to be clear about deciding on priorities.  A fundamental priority of priestly life is to be with the Lord and thus to have time for prayer"  An hour a day is his prescription, to "continually enrich ourselves inwardly" as well as tending to parishioners and services (and jumble sales, obviously, though he didn't mention those specifically). 

Pp

Comments

[Rick Beekman]

Libby;
I agree Everyone in The Ministry Of God Should try to Pray One Hour a day. Jesus stated this in Matthew 26 v 40 & 41.

Regarding Celibacy; This maybe a Doctrine of the RCC However it was Never taught By Jesus or his Apostles.
Peter had a Wife...Jesus healed her Mother of an illness. (Read; Matthew 8 v 14 & 15).
Apostle Paul elected to stay single However he laid put the rules for The Married ministry. (I Timothy 3 v 1 to 13).
Finally Paul said "Forbidding to Marry" is a Doctrine of The Devil! (Read; I Timothy 4 v 1 to 5). Ancient Babylon Taught the same Doctrine...

[Geoffrey Smith]

It is a common misconception to think that St Peter was married when he met Our Lord, based on a misinterpretation of Matt. 8:14-15. He was in fact a widower. As the scripture records, his mother-in-law was healed by Jesus, and SHE BEGAN TO WAIT ON HIM. In accordance with the Jewish custom of the time, she would not have done this if there had been a younger woman present in the household.
1 Tim.4:1-5 is concerned with those heretics who taught that all human sexuality was a creation of the devil, and hence marriage had to be rejected by all true believers. This has never had anything to do with voluntary celibacy on the part of those seeking ordination to the priesthood. If such people object to being required to adopt a celibate way of life, no one is forcing them to become priests. If they want to join the club, they have to obey the rules. Mr Beekman obviously has a lot to learn about the teaching of the Catholic Church on the subject of chastity and celibacy, and its requirement for the priesthood.

[Rick Beekman]

It's for certain Geoffrey Smith is an RCC Apologist First..And Knowledgeable in The Scriptures Last.
Apostle Paul Elected Not To have a wife..Voluntarily not by acclimation
Paul Stated This; I Corinthians 7 v 7 to 9; "For Iwould that all men were even as myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God..one after this manner and another after that.
I say therefore to the unmarried and widows..it is good for them if they abide even as I (Un-Married).
But IF THEY CANNOT CONTAIN LET THEM MARRY. For it is better to marry then to burn (Go to Hell).
Paul was single by choice.
In I Timothy 3 V 1 to 13; Paul is addressing the established Church (Which was not the RCC contrary to what they say).

Paul tells us a "Bishop must be blameless THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE....."
In verse 11; "Even so MUST THEIR WIVES be grave not slanderers..Sober..Faitful in all things. Etc Etc.
What Paul Said in I Timothy 4 v 3; "FORBIDDING TO MARRY and Commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with Thanksgiving of them WHICH BELIEVE AND KNOW THE TRUTH".
RCC Teaches No Marriage for Priests Or Clergy Check
RCC teaches Abstaining from Meat During Lent and on Good Friday (Or they did years ago) Check.
And I Believe and Know The Truth..Check
And I Believe What Paul stated over RCC Dogma and Traditions...Double Check!!
Now Will Somebody Hand Our Good Friend a Big Bandage..He Shot himself in The foot once Again. And Oh While we are doing That Maybe he could use some HUMBLE PIE (Ala Mode?) while his foot is healing. I Love Ole Geoff anyway he is a goodly Adversary!!

[Geoffrey Smith]

"Sometimes, it is very hard to communicate with some people in this life". (Sir Alex Ferguson, talking about Tottingham Hotspur FC, apropos the Berbatov saga).
If you think Spurs are a bunch of nyaffs, Sir Alex, get your Bible out and take on our Ricky in a one-to-one. An exchange with Mr Beekman wiil leave you gladly paying out the 30 mill demanded by that London crowd.

[Geoffrey Smith]

A little less of the 'ole' and a lot more of the 'goodly', Rick, if you don't mind.
Still waiting to read what you have to say about 1 Tim. 4:1-5. Nothing to do with the Catholic Church's requirement of celibacy for her priests, right? Or the recommendation to abstain from meat on certain days? Never mind, Ricky, you'll get it right one day.

[Steve Grant]

Ah, how the deluded rant over their book of words. Rick - less of the caps please?

[Geoffrey Smith]

Mr Grant, Ricky uses a hand-held device with small keys for typing out his posts. It isn't easy to change from capitals to lower case, or vice versa, using such an instrument. Perhaps if you paid attention to his actual words, and studied them, you may derive some benefit from them, rather than berate them as a deluded rant.