It is hard to believe that in a couple of weeks I will have already been a priest for 6 months. The time has flown by. Nevertheless, in some sense it almost feels as if I have always been a priest. As I look back at these last few months, I am filled with gratitude. I still have to ask the Lord, “Who am I to be your priest and serve your people?” Ultimately, I know that it is all bound up in the mystery God’s plan. So while I continue to recognize my unworthiness, I can do nothing but give thanks and praise to God for the immense gift of the priesthood and ask him to draw me more deeply into its mystery. It was such a gift to be able to spend my first Christmas as a priest here at Holy Spirit. I am grateful for all the cards, gifts, and kindnesses I received. I am grateful for the support of all of you and, in a particular way, for the parish staff. I am even grateful for those of you with whom I have, perhaps, never spoken. For the greatest gift to me this Christmas was to be your priest; to offer the Holy Sacrifice, to hear confessions, to pray and to preach among you and for you. However well I have, or have not, gotten to know you, know that I am praying for you, and that this, to me, is a great gift. Who am I to be a priest? I don’t know. But I do know that God knows; and I know that there are many other young men with a vocation to this life who also might be asking the same question. Trust in God.
Fr. Venner