A priest's heart, a heart of fire, Guy Gilbert

"Why did I enter the seminary? This question was asked of me quickly. Too quickly. I only knew it after some time. I was discovering the Gospel, our seminarian's bedside book. The verse from Saint John "God is love" resonated within me, not in a dazzling, but gentle way. "God loves me, beyond everything" as He does for all beings. It was a discovery to be explored further, of course. It became a certainty over the years."

For 45 years, Guy Gilbert has exercised his priestly ministry with the same commitment, the same certainty: Christ called him to turn to the excluded, the broken of life, those who suffer from not being loved. His experience, rich in encounters and complex situations to resolve, irrigates this work in which he wanted to question the role and mission of the priest in our society.

What is vocation? How can one discern the call? What do the three promises of a priest mean: obedience, poverty, chastity? How does a priest live the sacraments he transmits to his faithful? What is his relationship with lay people? With his hierarchy in the Church? How does he live his sexual life based on abstinence? What about pedophilia among some priests? What is the priest's relationship to other religions? To the dazzling evolutions of modern society? To the doctrine of the Church? How does a priest live his solitude?

Guy Gilbert answers these and many other questions by giving vivid examples and enlightening anecdotes. The "vagabond of love", as he calls himself, shares his joys and torments, the liturgy that nourishes him, his happiness to be there for the smallest, the strength that prayer gives him, the fullness of being, following Christ and his apostles, simply a priest, today.

A priest-educator for 45 years, he who proclaims that "the street is his church" daily helps dozens of young people in distress. The Bergerie de Faucon, which he restored in Provence, welcomes them and offers them the chance of a new life thanks to competent supervision. Guy Gilbert is the author of about thirty books. His latest works are "Learn to Forgive" and "Struggle and Love, Where You Are!"