Father Nathan St Gabriel | August 4, 2019
A Message from Father Nathan
“My dearest people who are all closer to my heart”
“The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you.” “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”. This is the spiritual wisdom of St. John Maria Vianney, the patron saint of all priests whose feast we are going to celebrate on the 4th of August.
John Vianney was born on May 8, 1786, in the french town of Dardilly to Matthiew Vianney and Marie Bulize. John became the parish priest, or Cure’, in Ars, France. He had no gift for learning. But he did have the gift of understanding what was in people’s hearts and minds. That made him a wonderful confessor! So people from all over France came to Ars and asked John to hear their confessions Sometimes he spent as many as 16 hours a day listening to people confess their sins. Through John, God’s mercy and love came to these people. He became internationally notable for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings.
Please allow me to share some of his spiritual wisdom about the priesthood “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy.”
“The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. When you see a priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“O, how great is the priest!… If he realized what he is, he would die.”
“If we have faith, we could see God hidden in the priest like a light behind glass, like wine mixed with water.
“Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption here on earth…what use would be a house filled with gold, where there is no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of His goods….Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest and they will end up worshipping beasts there. The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you.”
In conclusion, I wanted to end with saying of Pope Benedict XVI on the anniversary of the priesthood year: “To the Most Holy Virgin I entrust the Year for Priests. I ask her to awaken in the heart of every priest a generous and renewed commitment to the ideal of complete self-oblation to Christ and the Church which inspired the thoughts and actions of the saintly Cure’ de Ars.” Let us pray for all priests that we know bearing in our mind that they are the ones who are bringing Christ into our lives Please do pray for me that I may be ever faithful to the Lord and to His calling and be faithfull to our Holy Mother Catholic Church and above all to be an inspiring, committed holy shepherd to you all
With lots of love, ever at your service.
Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan
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Past Messages from Father Nathan
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | July 31, 2022
St. John Vianney feast day is celebrated annually on August 4th St. John Marie Vianney was a priest who Pope Pius X proposed as a model and patron saint of all the priests because of his extraordinary devotion and life. A life which he committed to the church ministry. St. John Marie Vianney was born on May 8, 1786 …
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | July 24, 2022
Mass is God’s Food for Our Soul, come and partake. I am glad and delighted to witness many coming back to the church in person, which is great! I am looking forward to witnessing all our people back at the church. I thought maybe it would be good to do a little catechism as my thankfulness.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | July 17, 2022
A second collection for the Parish Projects will be the last weekend of July. Some of you were proposing to me to have a second collection for the Parish Project that we are undertaking. There are very many of you already supporting it. I thank each one of you for your love and support. No matter how big or small…
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | July 10, 2022
Thank You for Your Continued Support of our church. I really want to thank each and everyone for your financial support. God bless you all! Thank you also to all those who are praying toward the completion of this project. Please continue to do so. I do understand that it’s a most trying of times now…
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | July , 2022 | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Overturning an unjust law “For nearly fifty years,” says the US Bishops’ statement, “America has enforced an unjust law that has permitted some to decide whether others can live or die; this policy has resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of preborn children, generations that were denied the right to even be born.”
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | June 29, 2022 | The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
The Feasts of Saints Peter and Paul, or the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, is a liturgical feast in honor of the martyrdom in Rome of these apostles – Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which will be observed on the 29th of June. The celebration is of ancient origin…