Father Michael Rennier,  a former Anglican who is now a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, shares some of his impressions of how the Catholic priesthood is lived today — and the resulting feelings among some priests of isolation, anxiety, stress and burnout.
From Crisis magazine:
It’s an odd complaint to say that priests suffer from isolation. After all, we are literally surrounded by people all the time, typically parishioners who like us very much and treat us better than we deserve. The problem isn’t the parishioners; mine are delightful and I’m sure other priests would say the same about theirs. It’s the expectations that form the context of our relationship. I don’t blame the parishioners themselves for this; I’m far more suspicious of the way that priests are formed for their vocation and the way the laity have been taught to interact with their priests. Here’s what I mean: there is a specific understanding of a priest that forces him into the roles of problem-solver, counselor, advisor, CEO, and charismatic leader.
This is wrong-headed.
…If a successful priest is defined by these functional roles, however, he will quickly find the task to be overwhelming. Every interaction with a parishioner would be marked by what the priest can offer, what he can give, or how he can solve problems. Priests are often made anxious over the question of what more we can do, what we can do better, or what we may have done wrong. This is why many men are happy to be active priests but hesitant to become pastors.
Here’s where I’ll get personal. Yes, I’m a married man and have a family to share the burden, but even I—a man who could not be happier to be a priest or more thrilled to have discovered my vocation—have moments when I’ve been caught breathless with the crushing realization I may never retire. It isn’t that I object to saying Mass or providing the sacraments. I hope to offer daily Mass until my dying day, but seeing no end in sight to the administrative task of running a parish is apparently a growing and common concern among the clergy. In fact, it’s cited as a major factor in the rising rate of suicide among Irish priests.
Read more. 

My comments:

Every way of life can be difficult and cause for suffering. If we as priests are not prepared to deal with suffering and uniting it with Christ crucified and risen, we will find our suffering intolerable and meaningless.

Ascetic practices for clergy and laity have been terribly relaxed in the Church since about 1966. Think about the stricter Lenten fasts, more fast days during the year and every Friday abstinence. These are all gone except for a few occasions during Lent.

Our churches at one time were built not to be too comfortable, hard pews, kneelers that often did not have pads, and a lot of kneeling during Mass, especially the EF's Low Mass. It was all penance oriented. We didn't expect to be comfortable at Mass.

But the biggest problem today is the lack of vocations that our post-Vatican II liturgy and way of life has fomented and the culture has exacerbated. I'm not sure how to turn this around as our bishops seem completely deaf, mute and blind to what has diminished young men from considering the priesthood based upon a feminized liturgy.

Let me conclude with rectory life.

Up until rather recently, I would say maybe the 90's in this country, every rectory had a full time housekeeper and cook.

When I was first ordained and for about the first 12 or so years, I lived in rectories with housekeepers. They prepared breakfast, lunch and supper.

I looked forward to what was prepared for me and sitting with the pastor and other priests. We were expected to eat in the rectory when food was prepared. If we wanted to eat out when a meal was prepared, we were responsible for the cost of it, not the parish. If there was no cook, of course, the parish paid the tab as a part of our room and board.

When I was a seminarian in 1978 at St. Joseph Church in Macon, Fr. John Cuddy had housekeepers that prepared meals 7 days a week, although Sunday's meal was at noon or so. There were five priests living in the rectory and I made the six person. Fr. Cuddy invited other priests in Macon to join us for supper during the week.

It was great to eat with other priests, to share conversations in a private setting and to support each other in our ministries and discuss things in the parish and life in general.

When I was vocation director in the late 80's or 90's I discovered that priests in Macon, including Fr. Cuddy were not eating together any longer, each one doing his own thing and eating his own food. Most were opting for fast food, a terrible thing to eat on a regular basis and quite unhealthy.

I was shocked.

But that is what is the norm today. No more housekeepers in the majority of our parishes. Prior to Vatican II even priests who lived alone had a cook to provide meals, usually healthy meals.

We need a rule of life for diocesan priests and bishops need to be pro-active in encouraging budgets for housekeeper and regular meals cooked at home and praying the Liturgy of the Hours together either in the morning or evening or both.