Be courageous shepherds

Sean Patrick Cardinal O'Malley O.F.M. Cap.

Function: Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Title:

Birthdate: Jun 29, 1944	Country: USA

Elevated: Mar 24, 2006	More information: www.catholic-hierarchy.org, www.cardinalseansblog.org

Send a text about this cardinal »

View all articles about this cardinal »

Be courageous shepherds
Apr 27, 2006
Calling on the priests of the archdiocese to renew their dedication to their people with the greatest commitment they can muster, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston encouraged the men to be true fathers and shepherds.

BOSTON, Mass. (Catholic Online, 4/12/2006) – Preaching his homily at the annual Chrism Mass at the Holy Cross Cathedral here, Cardinal O’Malley addressed his comments to his priests present at the Mass and present via Boston Catholic Television. He reminded the priests to be like Christ as Jesus showed the disciples the face of the father through his life.

"The Catholic priest is to make Jesus visible as he reveals the father to us. What an awesome responsibility,” the priest said.

Cardinal O’Malley called his priests to be people of courage. He defined courage not as what one sees as television in violence, but as being gentle and strong.

"We cannot be shepherds as long as comfort is our concern," he reminded them, adding that "we will find that courage through a prayer life and priestly fraternity."

Citing what he calls the toxic culture of the day, Cardinal O’Malley called the men to live that courageous life of priest to serve their spiritual family, the parish.

"Our priests give birth to us spiritually through baptism. They nourish us with the word of life and the Eucharist," he said, reminding the faithful that priests make many sacrifices for their people out of love.

This is the third Chrism Mass for Cardinal O’Malley as archbishop of Boston and the first as cardinal.

32 READERS ONLINE

INDEX

back to the first page

printer-friendly

CARDINALS

in alphabetical order

ARTICLES