“This is my body … This is my blood … for you.” These words which the priest pronounces every time he celebrates the Eucharist are done so in obedience to Jesus, who instructed his disciples at the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The faithful celebration of the Eucharist throughout history, and the continual pronouncing of these words, allow Jesus to continue to be present to his church sacramentally in the Eucharist.
Those words, which the priest is privileged to pronounce in the context of the eucharistic celebration, on a personal spiritual level, must become the priest’s own words.
That is to say, our very life, our vocation, is to give of ourselves, Christ-like, to the church. We exist for the church, to give her life.
Every priest does that in an imperfect way. We give of ourselves, in small and great ways, for the life of the Church. Jesus gave himself in a perfect offering to the Father, and brought the church to life through the pouring out of blood and water from his side as he died on the cross. Those of us who are called to the ordained priesthood participate in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, and our ministry is to make Jesus’ mission of reconciliation present in every age and place.
It is, I believe, in this context that St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, whom we honor and acknowledge in this year for priests, exclaimed in his 19th century piety, “After God, the priest is everything! … Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is.” St. John Vianney recognized how important the priest was for the continuation of Jesus’ mission.
In the first several years of my priesthood, I made it a point to save all the “thank you” cards I received from parishioners for various occasions. I placed them together in a scrap book. Whenever I was feeling under appreciated, or whenever I was having a bad day, I would take the scrap book and read through the notes from parishioners and others to whom I had ministered as a priest. It was in this practice that I realized quite poignantly that Christ was working through my meager attempts to show compassion, to bring healing, to preach the truth of the Gospel, etc. Particularly in sacramental moments — in the celebration of the Eucharist, in baptizing children, in hearing confessions, in anointing the sick, in presiding at weddings — it was truly Jesus who gave himself, who baptized, who absolved, healed and united in love. But he did it through my ministry. As St. John Chrysostom once said, “the priest lends his hands and voice to Christ.” It is important that we also lend our hearts and minds — indeed our very lives!
Those of us called to the priesthood are called not because we are worthy, not because we are smarter than others, or holier. We are called because God is merciful to us, and because in his mysterious plan he seeks to work through our ministry. Most of the time, we priests are sharply aware of our own shortcomings. And yet, God calls us. And yet, we are able to allow Christ’s love, truth and mercy to work through our ministry. As St. Paul exclaimed, “in weakness power reaches perfection.” (2 Cor 12:9)
In this Year for Priests, we priests are challenged to grow in perfection, through the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. We rely on the prayers of the church in this year, on the prayers of our parishioners, and those to whom we minister. The sins and crimes of a few priests in recent times have hurt all of us in the church. Only God’s love and compassion can heal those wounds, yet we participate in that healing through our prayers, compassion and love.
This Year for Priests is an occasion for us priests to grow in holiness, and to bring holiness to the people that the Lord has entrusted to us.
Each Catholic in the archdiocese, through prayers, through life example, through cooperation and support, can become an irreplaceable source of help for our sanctification. Each lay faithful, with his or her own life, with the offering of spiritual gifts and suffering, can decisively influence the generation with the grace we priests need to be saints and to help the holiness of the entire church.
That is why the pope spares no words in reminding us all of the decisive importance of the priesthood for the life of our church.
He does not say it to encourage a mistaken and undeserved appreciation of those of us who have received the gift of the ministerial priesthood, but to remind us that, as St. John Mary Vianney said, “a good pastor, a pastor after the heart of God, is the greatest treasure that the good God can give to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy.”
When thanking God for the immense gift of the priesthood in the life of our church, Archbishop Gomez and I ask the members of our church in San Antonio to pray, offer and give testimony in order that all our parishes and ministries may be blessed by priests modeled “after the heart of God.”
Let us spiritually “adopt,” with our prayers and sacrifices, the priests and seminarians of our archdiocese, and let us put them in the hands of our Holy Mother, in order that this Year for Priests may conclude fruitfully in favor of our local and universal church.