Priesthood is not designed to provide us with a comfortable livelihood.

Priesthood is not a reward for any achievement of ours.

It is a service.

Our Lord said that he came not to be served but to serve. (Mark 10:45)

It is a lifetime of entering into the Holy of Holies, to worship God, to give him praise, to offer prayer for and on behalf of the whole Church.

It is a lifetime spent washing the feet of others – being involved in the daily concerns of your parishioners, helping them when they turn to you in their needs, suffering with them when they suffer, rejoicing with them when they rejoice.

Cardinal Basil Hume