JACKSON HEIGHTS — Father Jose Diaz remembers many nights growing up when he would walk into his mother’s bedroom and see her with her head bowed in prayer.
“I would walk into her bedroom randomly at night, and she would be clinging to her rosaries in her hand,” he recalled. “She’s been a woman of prayer my whole life.”
His mother, Raisa Diaz, a parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Church, is still a woman of prayer. And now she is encouraging others to pray — specifically, to pray for priests.
Diaz has formed a new ministry at her church whose members gather once a month to pray to God to watch over priests and help them in their lives.
Her enthusiasm for the power of prayer and her eagerness to help priests has drawn a great deal of interest in the ministry among Blessed Sacrament parishioners. On average, 30 people participate in the meetings, which began earlier this year.
“If you are a priest, your life is all about love and sacrifice,” explained Diaz. “Our ministry is all about love for our priests.”
At the meetings, members pray for priests to have the strength to perform their duties. Following the prayers, Diaz offers a reflection on some aspect of a priest’s life.
While the group meets monthly, Diaz encourages members to pray each day and has organized the prayers according to different topics.
On Mondays, they pray for deceased priests in purgatory. Tuesdays are devoted to praying for elderly, retired priests. Praying for priestly vocations is done on Wednesdays. On Thursdays, the ministry members pray for the sanctification of priests. “And then on Friday, we pray for priests who are suffering in body and soul,” she said.
Diaz said she believes that God spoke to her and instructed her to start the ministry.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do this. I asked God. And then I started writing down the needs of priests — all the priests who are suffering, who have temptation, who need help,” she explained.
So, she approached her pastor, Father Rick Beuther, with the idea of starting a prayer ministry devoted to priests. He readily agreed that it was a great idea.
“Priests need prayers too. What happens in the real world also happens to priests. Priests can be weak in addictions, or critical errors, or lack of patience,” he said. “Prayers help. Prayers change people.”
The lives of priests and the struggles they endure is gaining attention.
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According to the 2025 National Study of Catholic Priests conducted by the Catholic Project at the Catholic University of America, 44% of diocesan priests in the U.S. report experiencing some degree of burnout, and 7% report serious burnout.
The study also found that loneliness is common, though the levels vary depending on the age of the priest. Loneliness is especially common among priests ordained after the year 2000. In that group, 45% reported feeling lonely.
Of the priests ordained between 1980 and 1999, 34% reported suffering from loneliness. Among older priests, those ordained before 1980, 27% were lonely.
According to Father Beuther, Diaz is the perfect person to lead the ministry.
“Raisa’s son is a priest, one of the best priests in our diocese. And so, she understands as a mother what priests go through,” he explained.
Father Diaz, who is the pastor of Mary’s Nativity-St. Ann’s Parish in Flushing, said he isn’t surprised that his mother is leading a ministry focused on helping priests.
“Her prayers always helped me,” he said. “This ministry is reflective not only of her support for my vocation, but also her love of the church, for the priesthood and for the Eucharist.”
For his mother, the ministry is something she feels God is calling her to do.
“I always told my son to listen to Jesus and do what he wishes,” she said. “I must do that too.”