The Sacred Heart of Jesus & the call to priestly holiness

The World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests is marked each year on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On Friday evening we also marked the ordination of Deacon Peter An to the priesthood.    

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus invites all believers to look with the gaze of faith "on him whom they have pierced" (Jn 19: 37). In his last encyclical letter Dilexit Nos, “He loved us” (Rom. 8:37), Pope Francis offered a renewed reflection on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. It is through the symbol of the heart revealed in scripture and deepened through the Church’s teaching tradition that the devotional life of prayer invites us to rediscover the living sign of the invincible love of God as the inexhaustible source of grace which we receive through the sacraments and the ministry of the priest.

The one who is called by God and chosen by the Church, accepts in humility to receive the sacrament of orders, which conforms him to Christ and to the Church in serving the People of God as a priest in persona Christi capitis [in the person of Christ the Head].Through a life of service and ministry in the priesthood, he is called to develop a heart sacramentally marked by the grace of ordination, one that expresses itself in pastoral charity and selfless service, reflecting the love of Christ. This enduring mark of grace, sets the priest apart for service, in preaching the Word, the celebration of the Sacraments, and in the pastoral care of all people. The priest is called to encounter Christ in daily prayer, to know and love him by choosing the way of the Cross, which must be the source of his self-sacrificing love. 

The priesthood continues God’s salvation whose source flows from the Heart of Jesus Christ. As a sacred minister the priest is empowered to carry out this mission because, chosen by God, he lives with Christ and for Christ. If in a priest’s life this focus is lost then there is the risk that the entire basis of his pastoral activity can collapse into excess activism or fragmentation and thus, he loses the ultimate meaning or purpose of his pastoral service which is found in Christ’s loving gaze. It is those who have learned "to stay with Christ" who are truly ready to be "sent out to preach" authoritatively by him (cf. Mk 3: 14). The divine mystery of a priest’s convincing proclamation of Christ through his life and ministry is sustained through his passionate love for Christ. This is ultimately demonstrated in times of trial, of generous service and in the sacrifices that he makes on a daily basis.
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A priest knows from experience that “to remain in his love” is a daily challenge to grow in holiness. It is not based totally on our efforts but rather in allowing Christ to act in us, by making his attitudes, his thoughts and his behaviour our own. The mark of holiness for every priest is the extent to which Christ’s presence is in each of them, such that they strive to model their lives on him, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. ​

In the ordination ceremony there is the anointing of the hands of a priest with sacred chrism with the following instruction from the bishop: “May the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God”. He then receives in his consecrated hands the paten holding the bread and the chalice containing the wine for the celebration of the Eucharist with the following exhortation from the bishop: “Receive the oblation of the holy people to be offered to God. Understand what you will do, imitate what you handle and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s Cross.” As outlined in the ordination rite, the holiness of a priest’s life and the sanctification of his ministry is found in his being conformed to the mystery of the Lord’s Cross and in a priestly heart that truly radiates the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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I invite you to pray for the priests who are currently serving in our diocese, for the retired priests who have offered many years of dedicated service, and for Father Peter An, that the love of the Sacred Heart of Christ may always be reflected through a life of faithful priestly ministry.  

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Photography by Bandi Szakony for the Diocese of Calgary. More photos from the Ordination

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Written by Most Reverend William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

June 29, 2025