Page:The Eternal Priesthood (4th ed).djvu/173

Rh let him strive to be what he is called. For if cleros in Greek is lot in Latin, clerics are, therefore, so called either because they are of the lot of the Lord, or because the Lord is their lot—that is, the portion of clerics. He, therefore, who is either himself the portion of the Lord, or has the Lord for his portion, ought so to live that he may both himself possess the Lord, and be possessed by the Lord. He who possesses the Lord, and says, with the prophet, 'The Lord is my portion,' can have nothing besides the Lord; for if he have anything besides the Lord, the Lord will not be his portion—pars ejus non erit Dominus."

"God spoke with Abraham as a man speaketh with his friend." Our Lord said: I call you not servants, but friends. The priest's friend is his Divine Master. And His friendship is enough. But it is enough only to those who rest on it alone. It cannot be mingled with lower friendships. It must reign in us as on a throne. Our Lord has promised to be "with us all days, even unto the consummation of the world." And He has ordained a way of personal presence, "above the order and conditions of nature," in which He is always with us. The priest's friend is Jesus in the most Holy Sacra-