Signs of Hope in the Priesthood

“Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). With these words from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Pope Francis opened the Jubilee Year of Hope, inviting the Church and the world to embark on a spiritual journey grounded in trust. He explains, “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring” (Bull of Indiction, Spes Non Confundit [=SNC], 1).

At the same time, he acknowledges, “uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt” (ibid.). Yet, he emphasizes that “in addition to finding hope in God’s grace, we are also called to discover hope in the signs of the time that the Lord gives us” (ibid.)  He urges us, “to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence” (ibid., 7).

It is no coincidence, then, that the Christian symbol of hope is the anchor. As the Pope points out, the anchor “helps us to recognize the stability and security that is ours amid the troubled waters of this life” (ibid., 25). This is the kind of hope that “makes us rise above our trials and difficulties, and inspires us to keep pressing forward, never losing sight of the grandeur of the heavenly goal to which we are called” (ibid.).

Discovering the signs of Hope

Above all, we are reminded that true hope is born of love—rooted in the love that flows from the pierced Heart of Jesus on the Cross (ibid., 3). As members of the Crusade for Priests we are being called to discover new “signs of hope” in the times in which we are living. These signs can renew and deepen the fervor with which we pray and offer sacrifices for the sanctification of priests.

The opening of the Holy Door by Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024, marking the official beginning of the Jubilee Year of Hope, stands as a powerful sign of hope. An estimated thirty-two million pilgrims are expected to journey to Rome during this Holy Year—an extraordinary testament to the enduring faith and hope of Catholics around the world. Their willingness to invest time, effort, and resources—often traveling thousands of miles—to receive the Jubilee Indulgence speaks volumes. It reflects not only their personal devotion, but also a broader spiritual commitment: a desire to pray, to make sacrifices, and to contribute to the sanctification of the world, including the priesthood.

The second sign of hope can be seen in the growing zeal and dedication of newly ordained priests in our country. A closer look at the largest survey of American Catholic priests in the past fifty years reveals a significant and encouraging shift in how priests understand their vocation. Compared to many older clergy, younger priests are far more likely to describe themselves as theologically orthodox or conservative. In fact, more than half of the priests ordained since 2020 identify as traditional or conservative. Most notably, none of the priests ordained after 2020 described themselves as “very progressive.”

This marks a dramatic change from the past, since between 1965 and 1969, 68% of newly ordained priests considered themselves “progressive” or “very progressive.” Today, that number has “dwindled to almost zero” (NCR Newsletter, November 9, 2023).

Spiritual renewal

The renewed zeal, devotion, and orthodoxy among newly ordained priests can be seen not only as an answer to the long-standing prayers and sacrifices of the members of the Crusade for Priests, but also as a strong sign of hope that holy, faithful priests will continue to be ordained in the years to come.

The third sign of hope is the Eucharistic Revival celebrated across the United States last year. One of the most inspiring moments was when 60,000 Catholics—many of them bishops, priests and seminarians—from across the country came together as pilgrims, filling the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. For an entire week, they participated in Masses, prayer, and adoration before the exposed Blessed Sacrament during the National Eucharistic Congress—an extraordinary expression of faith and devotion.

The Eucharistic revival in the US

To get a more complete idea of what took place last year during the Eucharistic Revival, though, we should be aware too that the Eucharistic Congress itself that was held last July, was preceded by four separate Eucharistic pilgrimages that were made on foot from four different locations in the US, namely, Minnesota in the North, Texas in the South, Maryland in the East, and California in the West. This vast pilgrimage involved sixty-eight dioceses, a hundred thousand participants, and covered sixty-five hundred miles. A Eucharistic procession of this size and scope has never been done before in the history of the Church.

To make this happen, our country was crisscrossed from four different directions with priests carrying the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance followed by several Eucharistic adorers. Many parts of the country that had never experienced the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist were exposed to the healing rays of His love shining forth from the Blessed Sacrament. This unique and magnificent procession brought—and surely will continue to bring—many graces to our nation which, hopefully, will have enduring and transformative effects on the spiritual life in the US, especially priests.

Last year’s Eucharistic pilgrimage, therefore, is doubly important. First, because it is a witness to the faith of American Catholic priests in the Blessed Sacrament to the non-Catholics that they passed by on their pilgrimage. Second, because it is a witness to the pilgrims themselves who were inspired by the faith of their fellow pilgrims. This unique pilgrimage, therefore, cannot but strengthen and deepen the faith of millions in the reality of the Blessed Sacrament, and the hope of seeing our Eucharistic Lord face-to-face in the heavenly Jerusalem.

As Bishop Cozens, the organizer of the Eucharistic Revival for the Bishop’s Conference stated, it is hoped that just like the first Pentecost led to Christianity’s spread throughout the Roman Empire, so too in a similar way, it is hoped that the Holy Spirit can act through the National Eucharistic Revival to start a fire of divine love that will engulf the nation.

The Jubilee Year of Hope, the devotion of newly ordained priests, and the Eucharistic Revival are all strong signs of hope. Signs that God is indeed working in the world and in our nation. Signs, however, that cannot continue to bear fruit without prayer and sacrifice.

The call for prayer and offering our sufferings

Pope Benedict, specifically points out in his Encyclical Letter on Hope, Saved in Hope, (Spe Salvi =SS), that the “first essential setting for learning about hope is prayer.  … When no one listens to us, God still listens to us. When we can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, we can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help us deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond our human capacity to hope, He can help us” (SS, 32).

To pray properly, though, does not mean that, “we have to step outside of history and withdraw into our own private corner of happiness” On the contrary, “It is important for us to know that we can always continue to hope, even if in our own life, or the historical period in which we are living, there seems to be nothing left to hope for…. It is only this kind of hope, then, that can give us the courage to act and persevere” (SS, 35).

Our sufferings and trials, then, should not be a cause for questioning the wisdom and the goodness of God, but rather of strengthening and deepening our hope. For suffering can be transformed into a powerful act of intercession for priests. The importance of offering up the little aches and pains that we experience in our daily lives for the sanctification of priests cannot be overestimated. Because if we accept them as coming from the hand of God, we can turn them into heavenly gold. For this reason, Bishop Fulton Sheen often lamented that, “the greatest tragedy in the world is wasted pain.”

The need for patience and endurance

We need to pray for the virtue of patience that we have the light and strength to act in that way. Pope Francis insisted that “we learn to pray frequently for the grace of patience, which is both the daughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation. …  This interplay of hope and patience makes us see clearly that the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus” (SNC, 4-5). 

But all of this raises the question: how can we offer our pains and sufferings to the Lord for the sanctification of priests? Pope Benedict offers us a helpful explanation. He tells us that we can offer something up by “inserting the little annoyances [that we experience in daily life] into Christ’s great ‘com-passion’ so that they can become part of the treasury of the compassion needed by the human race” (SS 40). In this way ”even the small inconveniences [that occur regularly] can acquire meaning and contribute to the economy of human love” (ibid.)—and we might add—to the sanctification of the priesthood as well.

In communion with the Holy Angels

Now this is where our devotion to the Angels comes in, especially our Guardian Angel. For how can we begin to lose hope, if we believe truly that God has given—not only ourselves—but also every priest, a Guardian Angel that constantly watches over us, protects us from dangers both physical and spiritual, and above all loves and guides us all the days of our life, so that we can enter into and enjoy the happiness of Heaven for all eternity?

And so, let us ask Mary, Our Lady of Hope to deepen and strengthen our hope, and the hope of all the priests in the world, for never has it ever been known that anyone who has fled to her protection, sought her intercession, or implored her help was ever left unaided.

~Fr. Matthew Hincks, ORC