psalm 19: proclaimers of god's word - 16th week friday

Today we reflect on psalm 19.  It is a hymn in praise of God's word.  "The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple."  As future priests we should imbibe the same love for God's word as the psalmist does in this psalm.  We are proclaimers of God's word.  This is our first task as priests.  And so what should we do.  First, as proclaimers of God's word we should know how to read it in public, we should how to proclaim it well in a clear manner so that it can be heard well and it can be understood.  We should know how to make use of the microphone, how to project our voice, how to pronounce the words.
Second, we should have a love for God's word shown in our interest to study it.  I have taught the bible as an introduction for many years now and from that subject you can already see who will become a priest and who will not, based on his interest in God's word.  Why should one become a priest if he is not even interested in knowing and studying God's word.

And lastly, you need to pray with God's word – listen to it as it is proclaimed, listen to its explanation in the homily, read the commentaries you can find in the bible diary for example.  Memorize short passages so that you can bring it with you the whole day and pray over it, meditate over it throughout the day.  The word of God must be familiar to you, it should be the love of our life.