VATICAN CITY, MARCH 11, 2011 (www.Zenit.org).- The priesthood is not a profession, to be engaged in part-time, but a full-time and perpetual vocation, says Benedict XVI.  The Pope affirmed this on Thursday in a traditional meeting with priests of the Diocese of Rome held annually at the beginning of Lent, Vatican Radio reported.

"One is not a priest for part of the time; we are so with our whole soul, with our whole heart," he said. The Pontiff added that "this being with Christ and being an ambassador of Christ, this being for others is a mission that penetrates our being and must penetrate ever more the totality of our being."

The Holy Father gave an in-depth lectio divina inspired by chapter 20 of the Acts of the Apostles, in which St. Paul speaks to the elders of Ephesus.  http://www.zenit.org/article-31999?l=english

Contact Fr. Brian Welter, Vocation Director
 312-534-8298
bwelter@archchicago.org
www.ChicagoPriest.com