Dear Brothers in the grace of the Priesthood,

As Holy Thursday draws near, the day on which each of us is invited to reflect once more with deep gratitude upon the priceless gift bestowed on us by Christ, I feel the need to speak to you, in order to make known to you the sincere affection and lively solicitude with which I follow, in my thoughts and in my prayers, your daily work in the service of the Lord’s flock.

On 23 February last, I had the joy of celebrating the Jubilee of the Redemption with a large number of priests who had come to Rome from all over the world. It was a very beautiful experience and one that filled my soul with profound emotion, the echo of which remains with me in undiminished intensity. Wishing in some way to share this experience of communion with all the "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor 4:1), I have thought of sending you the text of the Homily which I gave on that occasion.

May what I said then bring to each of you spiritual comfort, and renew in your hearts the resolve to persevere generously in your vocation as ministers of the merciful love of God. May you also be sustained by my blessing, which I send you with particular affection in Christ Jesus. 

From the Vatican, 7 March 1984

The Pope’s homily at the Jubilee Celebration for priests on 23 February J983 was published in the English edition of "L’Osservatore Romance on 5 March, page 6.

 To conclude the three-day Holy Year celebration by priests; the Holy Father Concelebrated Mass in St. Peters Basilica the evening of Thursday, 23 February, with fifteen cardinals, some eighty archbishops and bishops, and more than four thousand priests from all over the world. Also celebrating the clergy Jubilee were more than eighty permanent deacons. Following is the text of the Holy Father’s homily, translations of which were distributed to all the concelebrants before Mass.

1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Is 61 :1-2).

Dear brothers in the grace of the Sacrament of the Priesthood! A year ago I addressed to you the letter for Holy Thursday 1983, asking you to proclaim, together with myself and all the Bishops of the Church, the Year of the Redemption: the extraordinary Jubilee, the Year of the Lord’s favour.

Today I wish to thank you for what you have done in order to ensure that this Year, which recalls to us the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption, should really be "the year of the Lord’s favour", the Holy Year. At the same time, as I meet you at this concelebration, the climax of your Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, I wish to renew withyou and make still more vivid the awareness of the mystery of the Redemption, the living and lifegiving source of the sacramental priesthood in which each one of us shares.

In you who have gathered here, not only from Italy but also from other countries and continents, I see all priests: the entire presbyterate of the universal Church. And I address myself to all with the words of encouragement and exhortation of the Letter to the Ephesians: Brothers; "I... beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called". (Eph 4:1). We too—who have been called to serve others in the spiritual renewal of the Year of the Redemption, need to be renewed, through the grace of this Year, in our blessed vocation.

2. "I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, for ever". 

This verse of the Responsorial Psalm (88/89:1) of today’s Liturgy reminds us that we are in a special way "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor 4:1), that we are men of the divine economy of salvation, that we are conscious "instruments of grace, that is of the Holy Spirit’s action in the power of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection.

What is this divine economy, what is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ—the grace which it was his wish to link sacramentally to our priestly life and to our priestly service, even though it is performed by men who are so poor, so unworthy?

Grace, as the Psalm of today’s Liturgy proclaims, is a proof of the fidelity of God himself to that eternal Love with which he has loved creation, and in particular man, in his eternal Son. 

The Psalm says: "For your steadfast love was established for ever, your faithfulness is firm as the heavens. (Ps 88/89:2).

This faithfulness of his love—his merciful love—is also faithfulness to the Covenant that God made, from the beginning, with man, and which he renewed many times, even though man so many times was not faithful toit. 

Grace is thus a pure gift of Love, which only in Love itself, and in nothing else, finds its reason and motivation. 

The Psalm exalts the Covenant which God made with David, and at the same time, through its messianic content; it shows how that historical Covenant is only a stage and a foretelling of the perfect Covenant in Jesus Christ: "He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation’" (Ps 88/89:26).

Grace, as a gift, is the foundation of the elevation of man to the dignity of an adopted child of God in Christ, the Only-begotten Son.

"My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him and in my name shall his power be exalted" (Ps 88/89:24). Precisely this power that makes us become children of God, as is spoken of in the Prologue to Saint John’s Gospel—the entire salvific power—is conferred upon humanity in Christ, in the Redemption, in the Cross and Resurrection.

And we Christ’s servants—are its stewards.

The priest: the man of the economy of salvation.
The priest: the man formed by grace.
The priest: the steward of grace!

3. "I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, for ever".

Our vocation is precisely this. In this consists the specific nature, the originality of the priestly vocation.

The Holy Year celebration for priests from all parts of the world was held from 21 to 23 February and consisted of a series of events including meetings, addresses and various liturgical celebrations. The Holy Father visited the meeting being held in the Paul VI Hall the evening of Tuesday, 21 February, and addresses his fellow priests as follows:

Dearly beloved Confreres in the Priesthood!

It is with much intense happiness that I greet all of you, beloved priests, who have come here to Rome from every part of the world on the occasion of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption in order to pray together and to meditate on and give witness to the perpetual ecclesial and social value of your service.

In anticipation of being together with you at the altar during the planned Eucharistic celebrations I want to express to you my deep sentiments of affection and esteem, which I have not failed to manifest in the various letters addressed to each and every one of you in past years on the occasion of Holy Thursday.

Yes, I repeat: I love you intensely as brothers and fellow sharers in the priesthood of Christ. I know and admire the concern and apostolic dedication with which you daily give tangible witness in all the many initiatives of a pastoral character. This concern and dedication spring from the generosity of your heart, united to Christ’s.

I share your worries and anxieties for the numerous difficulties that in today’s society present themselves to your activity directed to spreading the Kingdom of God. And I am well aware of the personal problems that sometimes can cause you anguish or even cause moments of human discouragement.

Therefore I am close to you, constantly close, particularly with daily prayer, in order to carry out for you the mandate received in Peter from Christ: to "strengthen" the brothers (cf. Lk 22:32).

For this reason, I have ardently desired to meet during this year with a considerable representation of priests coming from all the nations.

And my greeting is extended with intense affection also to the permanent deacons who have joined this Jubilee.

During these three days you will examine the demands of your typical charism: this morning you reflected on the situation of the priest as a "redeemed man and minister of the Redemption". A little while ago you heard the requests that today’s laity make of priests. My hope is that this jubilee meeting, at the very centre of Christianity, will allow each one of you to have the joy of a renewed experience of Christ’s redeeming love in order to be able in turn to be more convinced witnesses of it in the midst of your brothers and sisters. May they meet in your eyes the glance of Christ who knows and understands: on your lips the word of Christ who enlightens and comforts; in your hands the power of Christ who touches and heals every wound of the soul.

The salvation of many brothers and sisters in the world today is linked to your pastoral care and your fidelity to the mission which Christ himself, through the Church, has entrusted to you. May this awareness sustain you at every moment of your life. The Pope is close to you with his prayer and his Blessing.

The Holy Father then proceeded to greet the priests in various languages. Following is what he said to the English-speaking priests:

Dear Brothers,

This is indeed a day of joy for all of us who share in the one priesthood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are assembled in his name to honour the Sacrament of Orders which he instituted in order to perpetuate his own pastoral mission in the World. At the same time we are gathered to celebrate the mystery of the Redemption as it affects our own lives and reveals to us our own identify. As priests, we live and work and die with Christ so that the mystery of his Redemption may effectively reach each man, woman and child on this earth. This vocation of ours is a call to holiness, a summons to be like Jesus, Priest and Victim. In his name I greet you all, dear brothers priests.