The book consists of the introductory lecture that Carmelite brother Wilfrid Stinissen (1927-2013) gave at Pilgrim's meeting of priests and pastors on March 28, 2007.
From the book:
To stand in God's service is a crushing task. If a priest knows what he is doing, or what God is doing through him, he cannot help but feel small. Who can bear such a responsibility without saying like Peter: “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinner.”? A priest must constantly live in something that is too big for him, something that he fails to live up to. He cannot help but feel the enormous gap between the greatness he has to bear witness to and the pitiful way in which he actually bears witness. How can one proclaim something that is infinite? One wants to say like Jeremiah: "No, Lord, my God, I am not fit to speak." You feel that you are constantly betraying reality, that you are belittling the message. But the Lord answers inexorably: "Go where I send you and say what I command you!"
Every day the priest experiences that he lives far below the demands placed on him. When we pray at mass: "Lord, have mercy", and "Lord, I am not worthy", there is no one who can pray these words with such conviction as the priest. And therefore there is at least one thing that is easy in the life of a priest or pastor: to show mercy when he forgives sins in the name of Jesus, because no one has experienced greater mercy than him.
Wire bound & unopened
Number of pages: 32
Release year: 2007