Catholic Mission In Canada

          Here at the Catholic Missions In Canada headquarters, it is hard for us not to think of the many exemplary priests at our many mission parishes and outposts, now and in the recent past, when we see Pope Benedict XVI’s recent letter to priests for the coming Year of the Priest:         

“How can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as ‘friends of Christ,’ whom He has called by name, chosen and sent?” 

We have become very much aware of the devotion and heroic works of service of our priests, and their steadfastness in ministry through many kinds of deprivation, poverty, setbacks, disappointments, and especially combat with the elements as they have gone about their duties. Our magazine and our newsletters and other publications over the years have drawn attention to some of these lives of fidelity and dedication, and to their imitation of Christ. 

          It is not inappropriate for us to have our minds alerted by the Holy Father to the life and example of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney. The pope chose the 150^th anniversary of his death to begin this year for priests, and he places the saintly “Curé of Ars” before the faithful as a worthy example of a vocation for the people in imitation of Christ, who Himself gave His all for the salvation of the world. 

          Like St. John Vianney (as he is known in the English-speaking world), some of our mission priests have been sent to locations where the practice of the faith is non-existent, and the religious spirit of the people is moribund, as it was in the town of Ars-en-Dombes, France, in 1817. Some of our clergy have gone to forbidding places under obedience, some have gone to missions with even fewer people than the 250 living in Ars, and some have not been welcomed on their arrival. 

          Without singling out any individual missionaries, our fields of evangelization have been covered by many religious congregations whose priests have sacrificed their lives to bring the saving Presence of Christ to others, and diocesan priests from east to west and through the north, who have also dedicated themselves to the Good News and the sacraments of eternal life.  

          Pope Benedict hopes that this Year of the Priest will be a positive and uplifting time, as he says: 

“…a joyful and renewed realisation of the greatness of God’s gift, embodied in the splendid example of generous pastors, religious afire with love for God and for souls, and insightful, patient spiritual guides.”  

[August 15, 2009]