Priesthood

The Catholic Church exists only where there are priests whose priesthood goes back to Christ’s words to His Apostles at the Last Supper, “Do this in commemoration of Me.”

A True Priest Must Love Christ Crucified

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. I would like to share with you the single most important lesson I have learned in my half-century in the priesthood. What is that lesson? In one sentence, I have learned with St. Paul that there is nothing in life worth living for except to know Jesus Christ and […]

Blessed Virgin in the Life of a Priest

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Jesus Christ instituted the priesthood at the Last Supper when He told the Apostles, “Do this in commemoration of me.” He was, of course, referring to what He Himself had just done by changing bread and wine into His own living body and blood. God became man in order […]

The Holy Eucharist and Holiness in Priests

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. No one familiar with the present age has any doubt that the Church has been going through a grave crisis for over a century. Some consider it the gravest in the Church’s history and certainly its impact on the Church and her institutions has been drastic in the extreme. […]

The Holy Eucharist and a Holy Priesthood

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. It must sound pious to associate the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood. But this is not piety. It is necessity. Without the priest there would not be a Eucharist and without the Eucharist, the priesthood would not be holy. Our present focus, however, is on the necessity of […]

Respect for the Priesthood

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Christ instituted the sacrament of the priesthood for three reasons, three fundamental reasons. The first reason is so that the Holy Eucharist would be possible. We need the Priesthood in order to have the Holy Eucharist: the Sacrifice sacrament of the Mass; the Communion sacrament of Holy Communion; and […]

The Catholic Priest in the Modern World: A Living Martyr for His Faith in the Priesthood

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. You may rightly wonder at the title of this chapter. When I asked what I should speak on, I was told, “The Priesthood.” So I took the liberty of choosing the full title that I just gave you: “The Catholic Priest in the Modern World: A Living Martyr for […]

What is a Catholic Priest?

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. What is a Catholic priest? He is a man ordained by Christ to continue the Savior’s work of Redemption until the end of time. He is therefore a person specially chosen to proclaim the Gospel of salvation and lead the faithful to their final destiny. But he is mainly […]

What is the Catholic Priesthood?

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The subject of our present conference is what is the Catholic Priesthood. Not too many years ago it would have been less important to ask the question what is the Catholic Priesthood. It would have been less important because anyone familiar with the Catholic Church not even though not […]

The Necessity of the Catholic Priesthood

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Our present conference is on the necessity of the Catholic priesthood. Implicit in everything that Father Gerald Fitzgerald thought, wrote and did was his deep conviction that the Catholic priesthood is absolutely and I mean absolutely necessary. Necessary to carry on the work of Christ’s redemption, necessary not just […]

Deacon

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Deacon, from the Greek διάκονος; diakonos (servant), is a member of a lower branch of the Christian ministry, below the priest (or presbyter) and bishop. The institution of the diaconate is traced to the laying on of hands described in the Acts of the Apostles (6:1-6). Answering to complaints […]

The Eucharist and the Priesthood

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The priesthood in the Catholic Church is identified with many things. The priest can be pastor, teacher, counselor, writer, administrator, or social worker; but the main reason he has been ordained is because of the Eucharist. So true is this that if we would specify the heart of the […]

Monsignor Sawher, A Great Soul

By Father John A. Hardon, S.J. The sudden death of Monsignor Sawher was a great grace to the Archdiocese of Detroit. Monsignor Sawher was a close friend whom I came to know very personally since I came to live in Detroit about nine years ago. My simplest description of Monsignor Sawher is to say that […]

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