What do you do all day?

I think it's easy for people to get the impression that a priest's job is done after Mass in the morning. The Mass is the point of contact between people and their priest. On one hand, this shows how important the liturgy is for the Body of Christ and how significant the homily at Sunday Mass is.

On the other hand, I've experienced a whole different aspect of this as a priest. My day to day experience is the "extraordinary" parts of the Church's life. I get to visit parishioners in the hospital everyday and usually anoint someone during those visits. I hear confessions every week. There are baptisms, weddings and funerals at the parish on a regular basis.

My point is that being a priest gives you a real sense of the ongoing life of the Church. You get to see how the sacraments work in the lives of the people.

It is really a privilege.