As you have certainly heard, and as I mentioned before, our beloved Holy Father, Benedict XVI, has dedicated the year between June 19, 2009 and June 19, 2010, to understand, promote and rediscover the priesthood. Why do we have priests? Do we need them? What is their role? These are all questions that we will be pondering over the next twelve months. I believe that all of us, laypeople and priests, need to refocus on the meaning of the priesthood and its role in God’s plan of salvation, with the help of our Pope. Let’s read to his words, as he walks us through the mystery of the Sacramental Priesthood:
“It is the shepherd’s task to feed and tend his flock and take it to the right pastures. Grazing the flock means taking care that the sheep find the right nourishment, that their hunger is satisfied and their thirst quenched. …. Making God’s word ever present and new and thereby giving nourishment to people is the task of the righteous Pastor. And he must also know how to resist the enemies, the wolves. He must go first, point out the way, preserve the unity of the flock. St. Peter, in his discourse to priests, highlights another very important thing. It is not enough to speak. Pastors must make themselves “examples to the flock”. (5:3) When it is lived, the word of God is brought from the past into the present. It is marvellous to see how in saints the word of God becomes a word addressed to our time. In such figures as Francis and then again, as Padre Pio and many others, Christ truly became a contemporary of their generation, he emerged from the past to enter the present. This is what being a Pastor means a model for the flock: living the word now, in the great community of holy Church.”
“… the lack of care for souls, the impoverishment of the inner man, not only destroys the individual but threatens the destiny of humanity overall. Without the healing of souls, without the healing of man from within there can be no salvation for humanity. To our surprise, St Peter describes the true ailment of souls as ignorance, that is, not knowing God. Those who are not acquainted with God, or at least do not seek him sincerely, are left outside true life (1 Pt 1:14). Yet another word from the Letter could be useful to understand better the formula “salvation of souls”. “Purify your souls by obedience to the truth” (cf. 1:22). It is obedience to the truth that purifies the soul and it is coexistence with falsehood that pollutes it. Obedience to the truth begins with the small truths of daily life that can often be demanding and painful. This obedience then extends to obedience without reservations before the Truth itself that is Christ. This obedience not only purifies us but above all also frees us for service to Christ and thus for the salvation of the world, which nevertheless always begins with the obedient purification of one’s own soul through the truth. We may point out the way towards the truth only if by obedience and patience we let ourselves be purified by the truth.“ As I read these words, directed to me and all my brother priests, I would be daunted by a task that is beyond a small human being, unless I firmly rely on two things: the grace that Jesus promised us when he called us to shepherd His flock, and the constant prayers of the flock. Please, pray for all priests!
