Father Lorenzo has been with us only a short time, but we already love him as a father, and it is hard to see him go. We wish that we could hold on to him, but it is not possible; when he was ordained a priest, he vowed obedience to Christ, in the person of the Archbishop, and it is the Archbishop who is now sending him to do evangelization work with the Neocatechumenal Way, so we say, along with Father Lorenzo: “Your will be done, Lord Jesus. You have plans for our priest, you have new places for him to go in Your service.”
What is it about a priest that we become so attached, so quickly to him? It is not because priests are “better” than other people, and it is not because they are holier (although they should be). The best answer that we see Jesus in the priest and we remember Jeremiah’s words: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart” (Jer. 3:15). We remember these words with gratitude, we hear them with joy, because we are comforted by God’s promise. The Lord knows that we get discouraged, lonely, and fearful even when we believe in His promises. We can’t see God, and we so desperately need to see His presence among us. That’s why He comforted us, and promised us, his people, that he will never leave us without shepherds to gather us together, to keep us safe, and guide us: “I will set shepherds over them [my sheep] who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed.” (Jer 23:4). That’s why the Church says that the priest, when he performs his priestly duties, acts “In the Person of Christ the Head.”
Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation I will Give You Shepherds writes: “Without priests the Church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of Christ: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’ (Mt. 28:19) and ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ (Lk. 22:19; cf. 1 Cor. 11.24), that is, an obedience to the command to announce the Gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of His Body and the shedding of His Blood for the life of the world.” That’s why we love our priests. Because, as unworthy as they are, they bring Christ’s Sacraments to the world; because they “act in the person of Christ” as they forgive sins, celebrate the Holy Mass, and are with God’s people at the most joyful and the most sorrowful moments of their lives. The priesthood is a great gift to both the Church and to the man who is called to be a priest. That’s why we love our priests, and that’s why we will miss Father Lorenzo. He has been a gift to us, and he will be a gift wherever he goes. Praised be the Lord, the giver of all gifts, and may He continue to bless Holy Trinity and the entire Church with more vocations to the sacramental priesthood!
