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Prayer to Jesus the Good Shepherd for Bishops and Priests

O Jesus, Good Shepherd, you are the perfect image and fulfillment of God’s ancient promise to His people Israel: “I shall give you shepherds after my own heart” (Jer. 3:15). We praise and thank God for you, dear Jesus, for in you, His Only Begotten Son, we have found that true shepherd after His own heart. You have patiently taught us the Truth about God, led us on the Way to God, and given us the Life that is God. By your death on the cross you gave yourself to us—sinful that we are—in order to save us from the clutches of sin and death, and to open for us the path to the fullness of life. By your resurrection, you raise us up, creating us anew, giving us a new spirit, making us God’s children.

O Jesus, most compassionate shepherd, ever loving and true, we come to you to pray in a special way for your priest and anointed shepherd, ____________________. We ask you to bless him with your sustaining and healing presence, to inspire him with your love, to enlighten and guide him always with your wisdom, and to uphold him with your courage and strength. With the zeal that comes from the Holy Spirit, keep him constantly true to his calling, ardent in his priestly life and ministry, ever humble and faithful, patient and obedient, gentle and kind. Provide him with true friends, brothers and sisters from among the faithful to support him both in joy and in sorrow and in his effort to respond adequately to the challenges of his noble vocation and life of total commitment to you and your people. May he find true joy and happiness in his priestly life here on earth, discover in his preaching of your name and your kingdom “the pearl of great price,” attain fulfillment in the selfless service and complete dedication he makes of himself to your Church. Make him holy, Lord. Make him prayerful and reflective. Do not allow him to go astray or be discouraged in moments of great trial and tribulation, but rather, keep him always faithful and true to you. O Good Shepherd, bless ____________ ____________, your priest-shepherd, and help him to remain always a shepherd after your own heart. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory to the Father…

This prayer is composed by Msgr. Jesus Romulo C. Rañada for the Good Shepherd National Shrine Movement.

My Commitment

I, ___________________________________________, commit myself to pray daily for ________________________________________, a priest of Jesus Christ, anointed by him to serve his flock as a shepherd—with a heart like his own—ever faithful to God and his people.

In making this commitment I realize the importance of praying for priests, for their sanctification and well-being, for their sake and for the sake of the Church. I also realize that though seemingly small, this daily prayer I make for this particular priest is nonetheless significant and serves as my own personal contribution and love offering towards making the Church of Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, truly One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic forever.