Year of the Priests: 19 June 2009 - June 2010

Earlier this June, Pope Benedict XVI declared the next 12 months as the "Year of the Priests".

Looking back now - as an almost middle aged Catholic, I see how I have been blessed by the presence of so many priests - both those who have been there fleetingly and those whom I have had the opportunity to work with for some 15 years when I was a much younger adult.

I remember one time when I was about 11, came our French MEP priest to our house and asked my father to send me to join the altar servers group in the parish. That simple act started my own journey as an active Catholic, first as an altar boy, then later as youth group member and so on.....

I also have had the privilege to be a part of their lives, see them struggle with their vocation and calling, enjoy their successes and witness their pain to a certain extent, their dedication to their ministry and - learn from them. I owe much to these exceptional men. For these reasons and more, I thought I'd run a series of posts dedicated to them over the next 12 months, both from a personal experience and others gathered from the world wide web.

And so, as to begin this rather hopeful task, I start with the end - of one priest's life:

Brave Catholic Army chaplain dies from injuries suffered in Iraq

I wasn't aware of Fr. Tim Vakoc, parish priest turned army chaplain, or the injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb attack while returning from Mass in Mosul, Iraq in 2004 until I read about his death on Sunday, 21st June 2009 at age 49. He was just a year older than me. Sometimes, it seems that only during deaths and in obituaries, we come to learn of such ordinary lives lived rather extraordinarily.

May his story inspire us and others, whether we may be priests or ordinary laypersons - to go the distance, in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. May the words of Fr. Tim echo in our ears and hearts: “The safest place for me to be is in the center of God’s will, and if that is in the line of fire, that is where I will be.”

It would be good too, if we take time today to:

• Remember all priests who have died, especially those who have walked with us and through our lives and made it that little bit better.

• Visit Catholic Doors for more letters of appreciations of Catholic priests in action.

• Read why Pope Benedict XVI created the Year for Priests.