To shatter the myth, you should know that priests don’t just work for two hours on Sundays. They do more than that. Much more. But what do priests actually do the other six days of the week?

Priests do a variety of things. They preside at worship services, preach, teach, counsel, write, and pray. They celebrate communion, baptize, and preside at weddings and funerals. Above all priests are leaders. They lead communities striving to live out the Christian faith.

But parish ministry isn’t the only way to serve God as a priest. Priests are also hospital and military chaplains, social workers and administrators, teachers and counselors.

In the priesthood, no two days are alike. Like life itself, the work of a priest is challenging, stimulating, exciting, and fulfilling. Priests are intimately involved in people’s lives, in moments of joy and sorrow, in times of celebration and mourning. The priesthood is not a regular 9:00 to 5:00 job with weekends off. It is a full life, but most of the time a flexible one. It is demanding work but to those who are called to it, tremendously satisfying at the same time.