Vocation Awareness Week with Fr. Ronaldo Mercado

A man prays the Rosary. (NTC/Ben Torres)

First in a series: Father Ronaldo Mercado, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Arlington. 

Q: How important is prayer to your life and work as a priest?

Prayer is very important, necessary, and essential in the life of the priest. Prayer is the lifeblood of the spiritual life of the priest and the guiding principle in the pastoral and decision-making aspect of the day-to-day activity of a pastor. Without prayer, a priest is undergoing a slow death, a spiritual and pastoral suicide. Prayer is the strength and grace of the priest-pastor to the challenging, rough life of the parish. Only by union with God in prayer can a priest truly be Christ to others.

Q: What is the best part of being a priest?

Two things: the ability to serve God’s people – being the presence of God / Christ to those sick, elderly, desperate, grieving people. At times there are no words to say, but to be present with them suffices.

The second is the ability to confer Christ's presence through the sacraments. All the seven sacraments impart grace and God's saving presence, especially the Holy Eucharist.

Please pray for young men discerning priesthood, that God will make His call heard, and that men will have the courage to say yes to Christ’s call to “Come, follow me.”

FIND THE NEXT IN THE SERIES HERE