Love and Trust
Love and Trust
In order to be a successful priest, there must be a bond of love and trust between you and your people, or your spiritual children.
They love you because you labor for their sake, giving all your time, all your strength, and all your effort for their spiritual edification.
They love you because they see in you beautiful virtues that they admire, and because they see in you the living example that God has set before them.
They also love you because of your effective prayers on their behalf. You are the door that leads them to God, and you are the golden censer from which holy prayers ascend like the fragrance of incense, and from which God receives a pleasing aroma and answers all their requests.
They love you as a father who cares for them, and as a shepherd who tends them in green pastures beside the waters of rest, and who gently and diligently seeks the one who has gone astray.
They love your meekness and kindness, and your gentle manner that does not embarrass others when correcting a fault. They love your humility, which descends to the level of everyone, smiles in encouragement, and does not attack.
They love you deeply because you are the object of their trust.
And they trust you completely because you are the object of their love.
They trust every word you say as though it came from the mouth of God. They receive every word of teaching or advice you give, feeling that it contains all truth and sincerity, and that your words will surely lead them to what is good.
They trust that their secrets are kept securely with you.
Therefore, they tell you every secret with confidence. They tell you everything—things they cannot tell anyone else.
They also trust that they are a deposit entrusted into your hands, for which you will give an account before God, and that you are completely faithful in caring for this trust.
They trust your heart and your mind, your faith and holiness, your priesthood and your closeness to God, your sincerity, your love for them, and your concern for them.
Because of their trust in you and their love for you, they place their lives in your hands and feel safe and secure by your side.
You are expected to preserve this love and this trust. For if you lose them, you lose all your influence as a priest.
Preserve your relationship with the people, and let this relationship continually grow.
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