Our Priests & Religious

Christ calls certain members of His body, the Church, to a special way of following him–to the priesthood, or to the consecrated life as a “religious” man or woman. These ways of life reconsidered int he tradition of the Church as more “perfect “given their conformity to Christ’s own way of life and mission. According to Pope Benedict XVI,“ every priest is the go-between through which Christ himself loves others” (General. Audience, April 14,2010), and it is through the priest and his ministry that the Lord reaches, instructs, guards, and guides souls(General Audience, May 26,2010).St. John Paul II taught that through those called to the consecrated life, by their profession of the evangelical counsels, “the characteristic features of Jesus—the chaste, poor and obedient one—are made constantly "visible" in the midst of the world and the eyes of the faithful are directed towards the mystery of the Kingdom of God”(Vita Consecrata, no. 1).Thus, both priests and religious men and women, while receiving different calls, make Christ present to us, each in their own way. In these films from priests and religious men and women with whom Array of Hope has worked over the years, we encounter Jesus Christ, calling us, teaching us, and pointing us to the Kingdom “already at workin history, even as it awaits its full realization in heaven” (Vita Consecrata, no. 1).And we learn what it means to be called to follow Christ in a radical and total way.