Pneumatic priesthood

On June 19 Pope Benedict inaugurates The Year of the Priesthood in order to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Curé of Ars, St John Mary Vianney. The date of its inauguration is itself prophetic. In fact it falls on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

Speaking on behalf of the Congregation for the Clergy in a letter of announcement of the Year for Priests, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo and Prefect of the said Congregation, stated that the intent of the Holy Father to dedicate this year for the ministerial priesthood is "to encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends". Our ministry as priests is an undeniable source of our holiness. Our priestly identity supersedes our professional identity. If the contrary happens we shall not only be betraying our vocation but the people of God would surely be led astray. Priestly holiness is a must not an option.

Two paramount hallmarks of priestly holiness are prayer and pastoral charity. In virtue of his pastoral calling, the priest must be a man of prayer. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, makes a priest capable of gifting his life for those entrusted to him. Such a reality was thoroughly and profoundly explained by Pope Benedict XVI on the "Good Shepherd" Sunday (IV Sunday of Easter) of this year, on the occasion of the consecration of 19 deacons to the priesthood for the diocese of Rome.

"A priest who prays a lot, and prays well, is progressively removed from himself and increasingly united to Jesus Good Shepherd and Servant of his brothers. In conformity with Him, the priest 'gives his life' for the sheep entrusted him. No one takes it from him: he offers it up himself, in union with Christ, who has the power to give his life and to take it not only for himself, but also for his friends, bound to Him through the Sacrament of Holy Ordination. Thus the same life of Christ, Lamb and Shepherd, is communicated to his flock, through consecrated ministers".

How a priest prays a lot and prays well? If a priest lets the Holy Spirit immerse him deeply into the Eucharistic celebration (and adoration), then a priest can really be aware of his high calling. The great Curé of Ars, St John Mary Vianney, gives us, priests, an exceptional advice: "All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man."

The Eucharistic sacrifice is the source and culmination of our priestly vocation. It bears abundant good fruit through our exercise of pastoral charity.

In his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, Pope John Paul II explains how a priestly eucharistic self is translated into pastoral action.

"This same pastoral charity is the dynamic inner principle capable of unifying the many different activities of the priest. In virtue of this pastoral charity the essential and permanent demand for unity between the priest's interior life and all his external actions and the obligations of the ministry can be properly fulfilled, a demand particularly urgent in a socio-cultural and ecclesial context strongly marked by complexity, fragmentation and dispersion.

Only by directing every moment and every one of his acts towards the fundamental choice to "give his life for the flock" can the priest guarantee this unity which is vital and indispensable for his harmony and spiritual balance.

The Council reminds us that "priests attain to the unity of their lives by uniting themselves with Christ whose food was to fulfill the will of him who sent him to do his work.... In this way, by assuming the role of the good shepherd they will find in the very exercise of pastoral charity the bond of priestly perfection which will unify their lives and activities." (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 23).

Prayer and pastoral charity make of us, ordained ministers, priests led by the Holy Spirit. May this year be for us, priests, a splendid opportunity to discover and be consolidated in these two foundational values which transform our priestly existence into a pneumatic priesthood.