Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, has written a short and succinct letter to all the priests. In it, he reminds the priests that their vocation and the work they do are not their own work, but a gift from God. In fact, the priest himself is a gift from God, the archbishop writes, and his inherent dignity (bestowed upon him by the Holy Spirit) must be clearly recognisable in the entire person of the priest: his appearance, his actions, his behaviour, his entire existence.
It’s a message that not only impacts the priest, but everyone who interacts with him. In recognising what the priest is, we are led to an appropriate sense of the greater context: the faith, the Church, the sacraments.
The official English translation has been published by Zenit and I took that as the basis for my translation.
In Caelo et in Terra 