If you know anyone with experience, he may not yet be well-stocked on stoles and chasubles in the various colors. Those are very expensive to buy, all out of proportion to the cost of the materials. This is because making vestments well is a separate skill from other forms of garment-making, and not one that many have. Stoles in particular are trickier to do well than they look like they would be. Still, if you know someone with experience in making them, it may only take a request and the offer to buy the materials. It is a very satisfying pasttime, but not a particularly cheap one, so sometimes a request for a particular recipient and money for the materials is all it takes.
Other than that, think “Really bright and well-educated Catholic bachelor with little storage space, no time and even less money.” If he’s in a religious order, think the same, only with lots of roommates who may feel entirely free to help themselves to his stuff. Which is to say, if it is at all useful to anyone except him, it may not be “his stuff.” In that case, you might want to find out what type of gifts will be for him alone and which will be for his whole community, and plan accordingly. If it is anything he’ll need to share, give enough to share.
Some priests like gift certificates for favorite pasttimes, like eating out, golf, and the like. A great many of them have a weakness for books and music, as well; in that case, consider a card that can be used online. He is likely to want titles that your local book merchant doesn’t have, so if you favor them, ask if they do special orders on gift cards.
A certificate for a sports massage is another idea, and one a priest is perhaps less likely to splurge on for himself than the others. He also does not have a wife to buy casual clothing, athletic wear, or a nice coat that looks good on him, nor the time or money to do get these himself, so clothing may not be the boring gift it looks like on the surface.
If he doesn’t have relatives nearby to supply this sort of thing, you might also consider goodies like homemade jam or home-smoked salmon, or homemade bread every first Saturday for a year, if you have an idea of what he likes along those lines. Food is like art, though. Never gift it if you don’t know the recipient’s tastes.
