Pope reminds priests of their ordination, importance of prayer

Published: 2006-04-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Priests can be heroically active, but if they are not men of prayer they cannot be real friends of Jesus able to share his saving love with others, Pope Benedict XVI said. Celebrating the chrism Mass April 13 and leading more than 1,000 priests and bishops in renewing the promises made at their ordinations, Pope Benedict said, "The nucleus of the priesthood is to be friends of Jesus Christ. Only in that way can we truly speak 'in the person of Christ.'" The pope asked the priests and bishops to remember their ordination day, particularly the moment when a bishop laid hands on their heads and then anointed their hands with oil. The human hand, he said, is the symbol of a person's ability to act, to create and possess. Through the imposition of the bishop's hands, Jesus transmits his "divine touch," claiming the new priest for himself, the pope said.

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