Fathers Day wishes received. Kissing the hands of a priest… On behalf of all priests: Yikes!

The altar boy, forgetting his office, nevertheless brilliantly shows us what active participation is all about: Adoration of God, to our Heavenly Father, through, with and in Jesus, by the firey unity of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks for Happy Fathers Day wishes. I would like to share this one from an email. Just to say, whenever I get comments like this, or whenever someone uses the title “Father” with my name, it is an examination of conscience, and a chance for humble thanksgiving to the Lord, who alone perfectly manifests what fatherhood is all about:

Happy Father’s Day Father George!

Thank you for your generous sacrifice and for all that you do in the service of our Lord. Thank you for being a spiritual Father to me in every sense of the word. Thank you for your example, your kind words, your encouragement, and your humor. Thank you for your constant reminders to always look to Him – he who is so kind and…. AND so good! Happy Father’s Day! [...snip...] I’m sure you have seen this prayer before, but I offer it for you today. Gone are the days, it seems, when the faithful offered a kiss to the hands of their Priest. I think it’s a custom that needs to return and maybe bring back some of the reverence we once had for our Priests and who they represent. I remember the awe it inspired in me to see my own proud, strong Dad, offer such a kiss to our Parish priest. That gesture taught me a lot. I ask Our Lady to bring you comfort and peace today and every day. Have a wonderful day Father George!

Kissing the hands of a newly ordained priest during the first blessings

The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

We need them in life’s early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek it while tasting life’s woes.

When we come to this world we are sinful,
The greatest as well as the least.
And the hands that make us pure as angels
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness
Their dignity stands alone.

For there in the stillness of morning
Ere the sun has emerged from the east,
There God rests between the pure fingers
Of the beautiful hands of a priest.

When we are tempted and wander
To pathways of shame and sin
‘Tis the hand of a priest that absolve us.
Not once but again and again.

And when we are taking life’s partner
Other hands may prepare us a feast
But the hands that will bless and unite us,
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress,
What can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him who chose them to bless

When the death dews on our lids are falling,
May our courage and strength be increased
By seeing raised o’er us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.

Just to say: The first time my hands were kissed as a priest was immediately after my ordination, when giving first blessings. This practice still continues to this day.

The hands of a priest are consecrated, specially anointed. They anoint the sick, absolve sin, consecrated the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus at Holy Mass… Kissing the hands of a priest is an an incredibly humble manifestation of faith in the sacrament of Holy Orders, the office of the priesthood in that of the High Priesthood of Jesus, our God and Savior.

Are priests sinners? Also. No one has forgotten that. Kissing the hands of a priest is the most outrageous way to remind a priest to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy. I am always shocked and amazed and in thanksgiving for humble faith in the priesthood in the face of my own weakness when someone kisses my hands. Not so infrequent, actually. Yikes! and Yikes! again!