- Jesus, make me understand what you desire of us priests.
I have already told you: I desire you conscious of your vocation; I have chosen you with a special love and predilection; Iwant my priests conscious of their participation in my sacrifice,not symbolic but real. This demands union and fusion of theirsuffering with mine; not external formalism, but stupendous andtremendous reality: the holy Mass!
The priest should unite himself to Me in the offering of myselfto the Father. What kind of Mass is that of the priest who lacks thisconsciousness and conviction?
Reflect, my son, on the dignity, grandeur and power I havegiven to my priests: the power of changing bread and wine intomyself, into my Body, into my Blood and into my entire being. Intheir hands, each day the miracle of the Incarnation is repeated.
I have established them as depositaries and dispensers of thedivine fruits of the mystery of the Redemption. I have grantedthem the divine power of remitting or of retaining the sins of men.
As I did to my foster father, I have constituted them my guardiansupon earth, but what a difference there is for many, between thelove with which Saint Joseph protected Me, and their neglect of
Me in the tabernacle.
Son, I have entrusted to my priests the task of announcing myword, but in what manner do they act in this important task of thepriestly ministry? In general, the sterility that usually accompanies preaching.
I have entrusted to my priests the task of fighting against the dark forces of hell, but who is careful in doing it? Who casts out devils? To do this it is necessary to tend to sanctity; in like manner, to heal the sick, prayers and mortifications are necessary.
My son, I desire my priests to be holy, because they should sanctify; they should not trust in their ministry, in human means, as many of them do; they should not trust in creatures but in my merciful Heart and in the Immaculate Heart of my Mother.
Priests are my true ministers but, with the exception of a few,they are not aware of this quality; they are my accredited ambassadors for men, for families and for nations.
Jesus to Ottavio Michelini
Oct 1975