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THE PRIEST IS NOT ENOUGH

By: Fr. Tirso Gliponeo, SOLT

"After the Consecration, the good God is there as He is in Heaven. If man well understood this mystery, he would die of love. God spares us because of our weakness. A priest once, after the Consecration, had some little doubt whether his few words could have made Our Lord descend upon the Altar; at the same moment he saw the Host all red, and the corporal tinged with blood."             St. John Mary Vianney

The priest is always wrong... because he is not enough.
There is nothing more challenging, more controversial and lonesome life than being a priest.  A saying states that ‘priest is always wrong...' but when he dies, nobody really takes his place.  Too much has been expected from him.  The life of a Catholic priest has been the center of many controversies for the past 2000 years.  A good number of faithful have left the Catholic faith because of their miserable experiences with some of them.  Others were simply disappointed because of the way they live out their lives as priests.  Scandals, immorality, corruption, vanity, laxity and indifferentism have tainted the portal of priestly ministry.  Because of these, priesthood has been, in the word of Fr. Bernard Haring, imperiled.

On the other hand, nothing more noble, worthwhile, and fulfilling life than being a priest. The priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Order, acts in persona Christi Capitis (LG 10; 28; PO 2; 6.) In other words, the priest represents Christ on earth.  Thus, he acts in the person of Christ Himself.  It is indeed a great privilege to be given a sacred power for the service of the faithful.  A priest is chosen from among men to continue the work of redemption on earth. Cure of Ars has this to say: “If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love... The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”  This is what the document “The Priest and the Third Christian Millenium,” stresses when it says that Jesus called his Apostles and those who received the gift of priestly ordination, ‘friends'.  St. Francis of Assisi must have drew his inspiration from Christ, upon saying that he does not take time considering the sins or the unworthiness of a priest but the fact the he alone was the one who has given the power to consecrate the Body & Blood of Christ in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. This is truly the greatest and complete expression of the friendship that Christ offers to those whom he calls to become a priest.  In his book “the Hidden Treasure”, St. Leonard of Port Maurice states that, “the chiefest privilege of holy Mass is to have for priest God made man; and when you see the celebrant at the altar, know that his highest dignity consists in being the minister of that invisible and eternal Priest, our Redeemer Himself.” When Christ instituted the sacrament of Holy Order, he wants primarily that the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice be the center of priestly life and ministry.  Also, from this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength (cf. P.O. #2).  This is the very purpose for which the sacrament of Holy Order was instituted. It is a sad thing to note that some, if not many of our priests who are suppose to express deeper appreciation are the ones being criticized for their lack of love & devotion to the Holy Eucharist.  The faithful expect the priest to live what he is celebrating at the altar of God. Priest should have a clearest understanding of what he is doing at the altar, so that it can also be reproduced in his life.

In today's world, priestly ministry is under threat of being secularized and too ‘sacramentalized.' Some priests are far too concerned on projects that are material, economic, and administrative in nature.  They are so concerned with how the altar of the Church should be decorated or how the whole edifice be built rather than building the scattered and lost people of God.  Others are simply, busy preparing things for the coming fiestas or for the pastoral visit of their Ordinary with great pomp and revelry rather than faithfully attending to the spiritual needs of their parishioners.  A priest cannot just ignore the fact that what the faithful really need in the church is a spiritual leader and not just a social worker.  They are hungry for the living Word of God, which could only be taken fully in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.  In this new Millennium, one could somehow notice that the world is already filled with priests, but far too rarely do people find them zealously at work in the vineyard of the Lord.  They become more and more insensitive as their attention to the affairs of the world continues to grow.  With the development of modern science and technology, especially the coming of modern equipments in telecommunications, i.e., cellular phone, DVD's, radios, PC, Internet, etc., priestly ministry has been somehow affected. There is a growing neglect on the real and proper service that a priest should perform and act. There is the danger that priests are becoming children of this technological age, rather than remaining the humble children of God and Mary.  There are priests who could always find time justifying that almost everything they possess are but a necessity.  The worst thing that is happening today is that even the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist has been taken for granted by some ministers of the Eucharist.  The end of the celebration of the Mass seems to speak also of the end of the priest's contact with God and of his duty to the people.  Thus, oftentimes, he wants not to be disturbed when taking his siesta time or spending his “free time.”  Christ is usually being left out in the tabernacle unaware that Christ also wants to stay with him wherever he goes and whatever he does. Hence, what the world needs today is not a good number of priests but a few but holy priests.  Mother Teresa of Calcutta says: “Our people are so hungry for God, and they are beautiful and wonderful people. Knowing them makes you love them, and that what makes you want to help them. This is why I pray every day for God to give us holy priests.

It is indeed imperative that a priest should strive to build a lasting and more genuine friendship with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.  The words of Mother Teresa during the worldwide retreat for priests are pregnant with meaning: “You priests must have this friendship with Jesus, so that we can learn from you how to live a life of holiness. Even more than others, we religious need this lesson from you, for we cannot give to others something that we ourselves do not possess.” A priest must be holy. One cannot just ignore the fact that the gift of ordination demands personal sanctification.  All the actions that a priest performs in persona Christi, must likewise find fuller expression in the fervor of his prayer, charity, and the consistency of his life as priest who acts for the salvation of others.  To consider this, two things are needed: First, priest should be a man of prayer. “Only the pastor who prays will know how to teach others to pray and bring God's grace on those in his pastoral charge, thereby evincing conversions, more fervent resolution for life, priestly vocations and special consecration. Only the priest who has daily experience of the conversatio in coelis and whose life is motivated by friendship with Christ can make genuine advances towards authentic and renewed evangelization.” (PTCM). Therefore, it is only through prayer that genuine friendship could possibly happen between a priest and Christ.  That is why, a priest who does not anymore find time to kneel in ardent prayer also find his ministry burdensome. Secondly, a priest must be a man devoted to the Holy Eucharist.  Genuine friendship is fully realized in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, wherein Christ continuously offers himself for the sake of His children. Lastly, it is important to emphasize that although the Eucharist shapes or causes the holiness of a priest and of the whole Church, however, simply celebrating the Eucharist does not attain its desired holiness.  Rather, it is realized in becoming oneself a Eucharist. St. Paul exhorts his brothers to offer their living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God (cf. Rom. 12: 1).  “Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do” (Rom. 12: 2). The same exhortation is being addressed to priests in the world today.  

As minister of the Holy Eucharist, I am consoled by the truth that in every reception of His body & blood in the Eucharist, Christ continuously offers His friendship to me in spite of my weaknesses and failures. The gift of vocation that I have now is a concrete manifestation that indeed, God calls me in a very special way.  On the other hand, the challenge is far too great, so much so that I have to really examine myself more thoroughly and consciously with the help of the Holy Spirit.  This in turn, challenges me to become a man of prayer and a man devoted to the Holy Eucharist and Mary. I must always be aware that as a priest, people come to me not because of my degrees, i.e., masteral or doctoral degrees, not because of my good standing or even my ‘macho' image.  They come and appreciate what is in me mainly because they see in me the living image of Christ. They actively and consciously participate in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, because they see and experience in me that I am really living what I teach and preach in the Mass.  

Indeed, a priest is not enough... he should become himself a Eucharist: Blessed, Broken, and Shared.