The Calling of a Priest
A priest is someone who brings people to God.
What does a diocesan priest do?
He celebrates Mass everyday, visits the sick, schools, people in their homes and administers his parish, all of which make up the bulk of his week. His day is also supported by the Divine Office (the Prayer of the Church) made up of the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Prayer During the Day, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer.
Along with preparing sermons, talks or courses he also continues his education through his ministry by reading and studying. Every day can be different with funerals, weddings, baptisms, blessings, advice and meetings.
At the centre of the life of the priest is Christ whom he serves in everything he does. Some priests are called to specific ministries such as full time hospital, army or prison chaplaincy, while others are dedicated to teaching in schools or colleges.
The Qualities of a Priest
A Man of Joy
Pope St Paul VI said, “For joy cannot be dissociated from sharing. In God Himself, all is joy because all is giving.” – Gaudete in Domino, 1975.
The priest is called to share the joy of Bethlehem each and every day, because he has experienced and continues to receive this ‘giving’ of the Lord himself. The priest, like the shepherds and the Magi, sees the Lord not in the cave of his birth but at the altar and in prayer. His call is to share this joy with those whom he encounters, just like Jesus shared his light with others.
He brings this ‘giving’ God into schools, colleges, the places of abandonment and to those with the deepest of life’s questions. Like the loop of grace, so too with this joy, that is in giving, he receives happiness himself and in sharing, he harvests a return for the Lord.
His ministry is one of joy.
To many looking in, it’s hard to comprehend that of all ‘professions’, priests enjoy an extraordinarily high rate of satisfaction, indeed one of the highest of any profession. For the insider, the answer is simple, friendship with the Lord brings joy and it’s a joy to share that friendship with others.
A Preacher of the Word
“We wish to see Jesus” was the request that the Greeks made to the disciple Philip in St. John’s Gospel. It is the same request that people make of their priest, to see, hear and experience the Lord Jesus. In order to be a Preacher of the Word, the priest’s words must be those that reflect Christ the Word.
An intimate knowledge of the Scriptures, reading from great spiritual authors and the daily encounter with the Word of God through the readings of the day are essential.
As you preach, people should find the Lord in what you say. Your sermons should be professional, prepared and clear. The Word will always find a home in others through the ministry of preaching
A Man of Prayer
The priest must always have an inner watchfulness for God. This means that his whole ministry is a conversation of prayer.
The Lord in his travels and ministry always went away to pray; to be near his Father, and invited those closest to Him to share in that divine conversation, like Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration. In his life, the priest must have that same desire to be with the Lord. It’s from that relationship with God that his ministry flows, and indeed returns.
The celebration of Daily and Sunday Masses, Weddings, Funerals, school visits or being with the sick, have to come from that conversation of prayer. Being in front of the Blessed Sacrament in adoration, praying the Divine Office, the rosary, spiritual reading and simply bringing his day to the Lord, displays that he is a man of prayer who has set himself apart for the Lord, so that he can bring others to Him.
Another Christ
The Priest is nothing if he acts apart from Christ. To act in Jesus is to bring God to the deepest sadness or to the most joy-filled moments. To act in the person of the Lord in the Holy Mass means that the Blessed Eucharist becomes about Christ’s presence in the heart of a parish community.
Everything from vesture, to posture, to the words of Jesus spoken at the altar, “My Body, my Blood,” see the priest become an icon of the Son of God for others. As a spiritual father and a dispenser of the mysteries of the Lord, it is the essence of the priest to be another Christ.