Those Mysterious Priests / Fulton J. Sheen

“A priest is mysterious, because he lives in two worlds. He is at his best when he leads ‘a double life,’ at once both human and divine.” In this penetrating book written some five years before his death, Sheen explores this duality inherent in the vocation of the modern-day priest: his need, like that of Christ, to feel the holiness of God that binds him to the Father; and at the same time his need to become a victim, like Christ, for the world’s sins, assuming its guilt and poverty in union with the Lord. In these pages he covers a wide range of topics including what it means to be both priest and victim; the priest’s role in continuing the incarnation, the passion and the resurrection of Christ; the need for a sense of humor in the priest who must be in the world but not of it; frustration in the priesthood; Mary as the mother of all priests and model of the lonely, obedient and chaste priest; the indispensable role of the Holy Hour in the spiritual growth and happiness of the priest. Sheen proves himself to be a truly prophetic voice for the twenty-first century. Written with the liveliness, wit and spiritual insight that continue to endear Sheen to millions, Those Mysterious Priests emphasizes the sense of oblation and spirituality that is such an essential part of any effective priesthood in the world today.

 Role model and ideal of many priests, the Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) established himself long ago as the foremost spokesman for the Catholic Church in America and one of its most prolific writers. The last few years of his life were dedicated to preaching retreats to priests and promoting the daily Holy Hour of adoration as the key to their own sanctification and effectiveness in the priesthood. This work is a veritable treasure of wisdom and insight into the nature and practice of the priesthood as also exemplified in the life of the author himself, whose cause for canonization has been introduced in Rome.