What Do Priests Do?
February 2, 2025
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today and Forever ~
Last weekend in Parish Family 45’s bulletin, newly ordained priest, Fr. Kyle Rink, wrote a column on what he does with his time. I’ve asked him if I can run it as part of my pastor’s column this weekend and he has agreed. It is attached on the other side of this pastor’s column.
I liked Fr. Kyle’s article because he sees the priesthood with fresh eyes, being a priest for only seven months; a foal coming out of the barn and experiencing the air, the sky, the grass, the pasture, the herd for the first time. In short, he sees the obvious that us seasoned priests don’t notice anymore. With that said, I want to add a couple of things that us priest do that Fr. Kyle doesn’t mention. Before I do that though, I want to say how grateful I am to Almighty God for this awesome vocation, and to you for your amazing support.
The priesthood is a sharing in the one, high priesthood of Jesus Christ. By its nature, priests offer sacrifice. Without sacrifice given to God, the human race would die. Creation owes its creator and sustainer sacrifice in the form of worship. From Adam leaving the Garden of Eden, to Noah getting off the boat, to Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and John the Baptist, to the priesthood today, humanity has continually offered sacrifice to God. Since Jesus Christ offered Himself in sacrifice on Calvary, priests have been offering that sacrifice through the worship of God in the Mass. This is a great honor for all priests. Every priest will remember his first Mass. I remember the first time my classmates and I started practicing saying the Mass in the seminary. After about the first two minutes of practice, we collectively stopped and stared at one another, sharing that we all had goosebumps. The power to call down God—body, blood, soul and divinity—through our hands at Mass is an incredibly special superpower.
Another thing that I am eternally grateful for as a priest, is the sacrifice that my life has become for the Lord and His people. If the primary responsibility of the priest is to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, then a close second is for the priest to be a sacrifice given to God. I have learned through twenty plus years as a priest, that for all the struggles and pain that have come from my life as a priest (and seminarian!), I am doing tremendous good for God and you because of those sacrifices. To offer my life as a living sacrifice to God is a tremendous honor. To be another Christ isn’t something that any priest has ever deserved. While I am still a horrible failure in the saint department, I can look to all the good I’ve done for God’s Glory and the salvation of souls through my sacrifices. This brings tears to my eyes as I write this. What an honor.
Now to those things I want to add to Fr. Kyle’s list of what priests do when they aren’t saying Mass on Sunday.
Prayer: I try to have a holy hour every day and most days I do. Priests are obligated to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, a set of prayers to be prayed at various times of the day from crawling out of bed in the morning, to just before lights out at night. The Liturgy of the Hours interspersed throughout the day adds up to at least 40 minutes. When I factor in daily Mass, rosary, petitions, devotions, etc., I spend about two hours per day in prayer and worship. That’s at least 14 hours a week, a part time job.
Worship: I just mentioned the Mass in the previous part on prayer, but properly speaking the Mass is worship. When we gather for Mass, we are gathering to worship God (adoring, honoring, praising, and giving of ourselves). While this has much to do with prayer, properly speaking, worship is its own category. Besides the time I spend at Mass seven days a week, there is the head space and time that goes into making sure that nineteen Masses per week, between three communities, go off without a hitch. We have staff and hundreds of volunteers per week that make that possible, yet it is something that in one way or another is always on my mind and gobbling up time.
Administration: Priests weren’t ordained for this but there is no getting around it. A terrific amount of focus and time is spent on administration and decision making. From the big stuff to the myriad little stuff, I’m at my desk four or five days a week for hours. Modern parishes are little businesses, with staff, budgets, computers/internet, extensive calendaring, programing and more. Most pastors don’t like this part of our vocation, and even more are terrible at it, so it’s one more sacrifice to offer up in gratitude for this wonderful vocation.
May Almighty God Bless You,
Father Thomas Nathe
Fr. Kyle Rink
Parish Family 45 – Bulletin – January 19, 2025
What does a priest do the other 6 days of the week?
When I was first discerning priesthood, my dad - in his typical humorous fashion - stated “that sounds like a great career choice, you only have to work one day a week!”
Obviously, this isn’t true, but it does bring up a good question: what does a priest do besides celebrate Mass daily, hear confessions, and anoint the sick? Well, over the past 6 months, I have discovered many answers to this question. While the full answer would require several pages, I’d like to share just a few that encapsulate priestly ministry.
Teaching: This is one of the three “offices” of a priest, as we are obligated to share the knowledge we’ve gained from our years of study. Teaching takes on many forms, whether in a formal OCIA classroom, the Catholic schools, or in unconventional settings such as answering people’s questions after Mass. Thankfully, we are blessed here with many great lay catechists who take on the bulk of formal teaching, but we as priests are obligated by our office to ensure that catechetical formation is offered for the people of the parish. (can. 776, Code of Canon Law.)
Study: If you want to teach, you need to prepare! A notable amount of time goes into preparing homilies, creating lessons, and preparing to make leadership decisions.
Counseling: While we aren’t licensed counselors, I’m amazed at how many times a week I am approached by people working through difficulties in life who desire the guidance of a priest. (Even non-Catholics sometimes reach out to us for this purpose!)
Meetings: Yes, even priests are subject to these… Priests (and especially pastors) need to be in-touch with what is happening at the parish, so meetings with staff, finance councils, liturgy commissions, and many more are part of the job.
Share life: One of my favorite responsibilities as a vicar is to build relationships with people in the parish. This looks like anything from greeting families for 15 mins at school drop-off, to taking groups on spiritual trips, to simply dinner with parishioners. If we want to be good “shepherds,” it's important to know what people are going through. In that way, we start to “smell like the sheep” as Pope Francis has emphasized.
“Other duties as assigned”: This is every employer’s favorite job description! Over the past 6 months as a priest, there have been numerous moments where I’ve found myself doing totally unexpected things - such as picking potatoes with 7th graders, talk about God with a homeless woman on Mill Plain Blvd, or drive to an emergency call at 1 am - and think, “how did I end up here?” And then I thank God that I did.
(Again, there is much more to the life of the priest, but this at least gives a snapshot of what happens Monday through Saturday in the life of a Diocesan priest.)
- Fr. Kyle Rink
