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UST ends Week of Prayer for Priests with a challenge

MANILA, August 9, 2009—The UST Week of Prayer and Gratitude for Priests ended with a challenge for clergy to be true to their calling as “pastors after God’s heart who are burning with passion, compassion and service.”

The challenge was verbalized during the homily of the Msgr. Gary Formoso who presided the culmination mass.

“Priests should be rooted in the love of God and service. Ministry should not be separated from identity,”  Formoso said.

Spearheaded by the UST Theological Society the week of prayer ended on the feast day of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron of secular priests, on Aug. 4 with a prayer vigil followed by a solemn concelebrated mass at the UST chapel.

Formoso told the faithful that priests are “gifts from God to the people.“  With reference to the primacy of their vocation, he said that “as long as there are priests there is hope for the salvation of our soul.”

He encouraged the lay faithful to “take good care of their priests, and to campaign for vocation to the priesthood” as their commitment to the Church.

As a tribute to priests, each of mass concelebrants were given flowers while the choir was performing a Filipino song expressing the great role of Filipino priests   in faithfully carrying out the mission of the Church and guiding Filipinos to be true to their Christian identity as well as living out their Christian vocation with fortitude. 

(Vanessa Puno)