Weekly THIS AND THAT for February 7, 2010: How I See the Priesthood

This and That:
How I See the Priesthood


Most know that Pope Benedict XVI has declared June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010 a “Year for Priests.”
I have been looking for an opportunity to share some thoughts on priesthood. Last week I began a series of “This and That’s” with one priest’s testimony in this “Year of Priests.” My thoughts, this week and perhaps two additional weeks over the next month, will focus on “Our Catholic Theology of Priesthood,” “My Experience As a Priest,” “The Current Situation of the Priesthood,” and “Living Priesthood in the Church after the Second Vatican Council of the 1960’s.”

Our Catholic understanding is that the Sacrament of Holy Orders, like the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, confers what is called a “Sacramental Character” on the one ordained.
This “character’ is an indelible, spiritual mark. It is a change, a transformation of the person that happens not through our human effort, but rather through the action of God. Our Catholic understanding is that this “character” of Holy Orders is lasting, enduring, or permanent. That is why we always say that, “Once a priest, always a priest,” even if the one ordained is no longer functioning as such.

The effect or “character” of Holy Orders conforms the priest to Christ in a special way.
The Second Vatican Council and recent Popes have said that Holy Orders conforms a priest to Christ to preach the Word, celebrate the sacraments, and serve God’s people.

First, the priest is to preach the Word in the person of Christ.
To do this, he himself, as a person, must be immersed in God’s Word. The Scripture is to be central to a priest’s personal spirituality and prayer. We are to allow the Word little by little to have a leavening effect on us as persons, on our own humanity and our own faith journey. Only if we do this will we be able to relate the Word of God authentically to the rest of God’s people. We need to relate the Word of God to real life as it is today and to be sensitive to where people are in their own life journey.

Next, the priest is to celebrate Sacraments.
Jesus came to sanctify, that is, he came to make us holy, to make us God-like persons. He left us the Sacraments, with the Eucharist as paramount, as avenues to the grace or life and presence of God. Therefore, celebrating the Eucharist and other Sacraments is central to priesthood. The priest, acting in the person of Christ himself, must do this not as a prayer to be recited or a ritual to be performed, or an obligation to be fulfilled. Rather, he must lead Sacraments in the Spirit of Jesus himself, aware of God’s presence and action that is going on here, moved by the Spirit, and opening others to the Spirit’s presence and action.

Finally, the priest is to serve God’s People.
We have traditionally expressed this role of service with the image of a shepherd. The idea here is that the priest is to be a leader, a spiritual leader, a servant leader. In fact, this service dimension is to characterize all he does as a priest. Service requires sensitivity, respect, compassion, and selflessness. In this regard, I feel very strongly that a priest must see himself as one with others, with all of God’s people and he must never forget that. Holy Orders marks the priest as someone special and for a special role in the Church or faith community. However, this “specialness” does not make the priest above or apart from others. On the contrary, the priest, like Jesus the Good Shepherd, is to be fully part of and with God’s People. He must see himself that way – not better than another, not above another. This is crucial is a priest is to be a servant leader. Because there have been and are some problems with embracing this outlook, and because this point is so crucial, I will return to it again later in these reflections.

In this Year of Priests, I ask each of you to pray for me and for all priests that we may mirror the saving presence of Jesus in our ministry to you, our beloved people.

Fondly,
Father Nicholas