A Priest Forvever...

I just finished this book last week. I could NOT put it down and I wept like a little girl as I read about such love for TRUTH, TRADITION and ORTHODOXY from one so young, so full of dreams and seeing his dream come true. We are sometimes guilty of "impugning" the young as 'rebellious' or just not 'into the Church' and many are, (as was I) but when you come across a shining example of one "touched by Grace" as Fr. Gene, you have to believe and have trust and HOPE for all young adults as they come of age in this secularized, and evermore hedonistic society, with all the lures and trappings and different tantalizing paths to take, which in the end lead only to death and destruction of souls.

This young man, with such a tremendous faith and courage will lift you higher toward God, toward Our Lady and will grip your heart so that you, too, can face your trials, temptations and tribulations in this life with resolve, and fortitude. You may not FEEL these virtues in you all of the time, and might even experience desolation and no "divine consolation" which could last moments or days or weeks or years (i.e. Mother Teresa and countless Saints) However, when the Lord is Lord of your virtues, they won't be hollow or shallow and they won't be something you conjure up. They will rise up from a deep place, your heart of hearts, where God dwells inside you. Where only you and He meet and converse and listen. He'll make sure that when you've given him your ALL, your ALL will be enough (no matter how puny your all will seem to you) and your ALL will be Christ, shining bright on others, to lift them up, even in the shadow of death and through the valley of abundant tears.

A MUST MUST READ.
susie

This is the true history of Eugene Hamilton: a young man who dreamed of becoming a priest; a young man stricken with terminal cancer as his life was just beginning; a young man who, because of his exceptional spirituality, would receive special dispensation to be ordained early, who would become a priest just hours before he died.

This book is about the sacramental and the sacred, and how these transcendent realities become clear before human eyes in a story full of experiences familiar to all of us: high school proms and college speeches, medical tests and hospital visits, dreams denied and dreams come true.

Gene Hamilton was a son, a brother, a student, a deacon, and finally, a priest when he died in early 1997 at age twenty-five. This book is about what made Gene different and about the presence and action of God as He accomplishes His inscrutable will using the ordinary events of life. It is also a book about the meaning and purpose of the priesthood today.

About the Author:

Internationally known lecturer and retreat master Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., is professor of pastoral psychology at St. Joseph's Seminary in New York. The director for the Office of Spiritual Development of the Archdiocese of New York, he is also a founding member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. A prolific author and regular guest on EWTN, he founded Trinity Retreat, a center for prayer and study for the clergy.