The growing visibility of the laity in Church affairs may also be contributing to the fading of respect for the priesthood, for thriving lay apostolates seem to make the priesthood less important. In many ways this is the age of the laity and there is much that is good about that. I am often astonished at the sometimes heroic ways that people with families and jobs serve the Church both directly and indirectly through various apostolates. Some of them undoubtedly do much more good for the Church than some priests. Vatican II drew greater attention to the role of the laity in the Church and the call of all Christians to become holy. And, again, I am often staggered by how many are attempting to take great responsibility for advancing the Kingdom of God and for advancing in holiness. But the priesthood is not just about doing good; it is about being a sacramental sign and being available to perform the sacraments. It has its own distinctive merit far beyond being an opportunity for "doing good."

In spite of scandals and in spite of the laity gaining great prominence in the Church, we really must not fail to cultivate a reverence for priests. To answer the call to the priesthood is to do such an extraordinary thing. How can one be so bold as to think one can act in persona Christi? How can one believe that one is capable of living the life of self-giving demanded of a priest? How can one be willing to give up so much? Yet, over the years I have learned that those who have true religious vocations often do not think of themselves as giving up a great deal. They truly have very self-giving hearts and believe they are gaining a great deal in the sense of gaining the opportunity to serve. They surely do not feel themselves worthy of such an exalted vocation but trust the Lord to give them the graces to do what He has called them to do.

There is an odd thing about the difference in the vocations of marriage and the priesthood. Those who enter marriage often have their sights on how much they are going to receive — love, sex, companionship, support, family, etc. Certainly they are eager to give and often think that their chief motivation is the opportunity to give. Still they largely think the giving will be easy because their love is so strong. Although they certainly do receive much that they had hoped, they usually learn that marriage requires much more giving than they had anticipated. Those who become priests give up much in order to give more and find that they receive more than they ever could have anticipated.

The happiness of many priests suggests to me how much they have received — and conversely, how much indeed they have given. I delight in elderly priests who seem to me almost translucent — they have a glow of holiness about them that seems the result of the successful chastisement of the passions and successful transition of the self into instrument of the Holy Spirit. (Elderly nuns, mothers, and fathers also often seem to emit that same selfless glow.)

Priests perhaps better than most achieve what many thinkers have deemed the impossible: a real blend of the contemplative and active lives. Their prayer life and their active life truly complement each other. Priests are required to spend considerable time in prayer each day — they all are to say the Mass; some are committed to reciting the office daily and those truly devoted to their priesthood spend significant amount of time in front of the Blessed Sacrament each day. Most priests I know do a rather tremendous amount of reading of Catholic journals and books. Such constitutes a considerable commitment to contemplative activity. They are also incredibly active; they spend hours each day organizing, counseling, administering the sacraments and attending to the needs of others. Those who are extroverted are re quired to participate in activities more amenable to the introverted and those who are introverted are required to participate in activities more amenable to the extroverted. Priests get thoroughly "stretched" as current slang would have it. Tremen dously.

I personally am immensely grateful for the role that priests have paid in my life; I am grateful that they make daily Mass available to me, that so many of them work hard to produce meaningful homilies (and we hear marvelous ones regularly at the Uni versity of Dallas), that they have been available for the sacraments and spiritual direction and friendship. I think the "availability" of priests is one of their most attractive and effective characteristics. They do not have spouses and children to run home to; they are at the disposal of the needy who turn to them. They are concerned to hear our deepest concerns and to give us what help and guidance they can. The collar of the priesthood is virtually an invitation for people to share their most intimate thoughts. People expect priests to be brilliant in answering their questions, wise in giving advice both spiritual and practical, sensitive in responding to controversy, inexhaustible in attending meetings. Indeed, it is astonishing how often they are successful in meeting these demands. That they do is surely a testimony to grace, both the supernatural grace that accompanies the office and the individual grace that adorns many of those who answer the call to the priesthood.

While Hallmark might be eager to set aside a separate day to honor priests for the commercial gain, it may not be necessary to have a "Pastor’s Day" to get the work done (though it might be good). I suspect this issue of Dossier will come out soon after Father’s Day. Perhaps we should include our favorite priest among those we honor on Father’s Day. Such a small gesture might help fortify some wonderful priest in his challenging vocation and might help us appreciate how blessed we are.