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How important is prayer in the daily life of a priest?
Prayer is of vital importance to a priest’s life. Like charging a mobile phone, it is the crucial, slow, background intake of divine energy that fuels his work and activity.
At the heart of any priest’s ministry must be a living relationship with Christ, so that the priest sees as Christ sees and loves as he loves. Pope Francis said: “It took the disciples time to really ‘become Christ’ to others so this is not a given at ordination. For this to happen, the priest needs to continue to grow in union with Christ through prayer and intimacy”.
Prayer is like a deep well from which a priest draws what Christ calls “living water” (John 4:14). Without it, he would dry up and eventually wither spiritually. He would literally run out of energy or inspiration.