Year for Priests

"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?' (Pope Benedict XVI)

Priests in the Year for Priests

by Father Benoît de Baenst

On 19 June 2009, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the world day of prayer for the sanctification of priests, St. Peter’s basilica was the site of a special event. In the presence of the relics of the heart of the Curé of Ars, the Holy Father presided at solemn Vespers, which opened the Year of the Priest. The presence of the heart of a holy priest in the heart of the Church was not fortuitous. In fact this year celebrates the 150th anniversary of the return to the Father of the patron saint of parish priests, Jean-Marie Vianney. It was linked to this jubilee, that Pope Benedict XVI wanted this year of the priest entitled “Christ’s fidelity, the priest’s fidelity”. In proposing it, the Church desires to give priests special importance and attention. She wants to tell them how much she loves them, respects them, admires them, in short how much she is proud of them. And in truth, if some priests are a butt for the press and profoundly wound society, the remainder -  who are the immense majority (96%) - live their priesthood in faithfulness and devotion in a true spirit of pastoral charity. How can we not give glory to God for this? 

In honouring the ministerial priesthood, the Church also expresses her wish to help priests to live their vocation and their mission with joy and fervour, to be conscious of their own identity, and to feel good in the Church. She wants to offer a year to rediscover and understand more deeply the joy of priesthood, its beauty and grace, its importance and necessity, the value and work of pastoral ministry. In this way, the Holy Father hopes also to promote the “striving of priests towards perfection”. This year of the priest will therefore be overflowing with thanksgiving, concern, reflection, and prayer. It will also be an opportunity to “ask the Lord to give his Church the gift of numerous and holy priests”.
Already, the magnificent homilies of the Pope allow us to understand more fully what the priesthood is. Remembering his own ordination on the occasion of the Chrism Mass, he described it as a consecration in the truth. For him, the consecration of the priesthood signifies “being taken out of the world and given to God”. It consists in a double movement: leaving the world and being set apart for God, so as to be given by God to the world, to serve one’s brothers and sisters in the image of Jesus, who consecrated himself for his disciples. 

In commenting on the priestly prayer in the Gospel of John (Chapter 17), Benedict XVI also underlined that this consecration is effected by the truth. It is an immersion in the word of God, which is the truth. The importance for the priest of being seeped in the word of God flows from it. “Are we deeply engaged with this word to the point that it really leaves a mark on our lives and shapes our thinking? Or is it rather the case that our thinking is constantly being shaped by all the things that others say and do?” (Homily, Chrism Mass, 9 April 2009) This double question illustrated what it means to be taken out of the world. A permanent vigilance and purification are necessary.  More deeply still, Jesus affirms that the word is truth and he also tells us that he is the Truth itself. Thus, the priesthood is being plunged into that Truth, into Jesus. It is to participate in a new life, in his priesthood. To be a priest “is nothing more than a new and radical way of being united to Christ”. It is to enter into Christ’s gift of himself, to share his joy and his cross. It is then much more profound than a simple function. The priesthood, an undeserved grace, is in reality a sacramental and ontological configuration with Christ the Head, who consecrates himself for us.

If configuration with Christ the Pastor is a grace, it nonetheless involves many tasks. Among these is found, as a leitmotiv on the mouth and from the pen of the successor to Peter, prayer. Often when he receives priests, the Holy Father says: “Priests also ought to remember to pray”. He asks them to be always, in the school of the Blessed Virgin Mary, men of prayer. This last forms part of the process by which we are plunged into the truth, by which the priest learns to become the friend of Christ and to know him. To pray is thus a process, “a journey in personal communion with Christ”. It means remaining in Christ, in communion with the Church. From this derives, says the Pope, the effectiveness of ministry. Among the various prayers, the Holy Father emphasises that “the celebration of the Eucharist is the greatest and highest act of prayer”. It “constitutes the centre and source from which all other forms also receive their ‘sap’”. And in fact, it is the act of consecration of Christ himself.
Another task of the consecration that has its source in Christ in prayer is to translate it into life.  What Christ asks for, is true sanctification. This is based on renunciation, accepting the demanding character of truth and goodness in real love. Without being a year to correct priests, this is a real call to conversion, so as to be always more authentically what they are. They are invited to conform their way of life more and more with that of Christ. 

These ideas of the Holy Father are only the first fruits of a year that promises to be rich in grace. In the months to come there will be the possibility of deepening our theological and spiritual understanding of priestly identity, the pastoral mission will revive missionary impetus, and there will be the granting of plenary indulgences for the faithful and particularly for priests. The desire of the Church is that this year will be celebrated fully in the whole world, in the dioceses, in the parishes, and in each local community. More than that, it is hoped that a true programme for this special year will be established in each of these places. Congresses are being organized, lectures, and theological weeks. But, above all, as the thought of the Holy Father shows us, this particular year should be a year of prayer by priests, with priests and for priests.

The Curé of Ars

Jean-Marie Vianney died on 4 August 1859 at the age of 73. Twenty years after his beatification on 8 January 1905, he was canonised by Pope Pius XI and declared patron of all the parish priests in the universe on 23 April 1929. Ordained priest on 13 August 1815, he arrived at Ars three years later and stayed there until the end of his life, allowing himself to be profoundly seized by the mercy of God. This parish priest, who apparently was not a very intelligent man, only used the means of evangelisation that are available to every priest. Among these, prayer had a predominant place: it was constant. In fact, he understood that the conversion of his parish depended not so much on him but on God. To prayer he added a notable poverty and a particular love for the poor. This led him to create an orphanage in his parish for young orphan girls and two schools. Father Jean-Marie Vianney also gave a particular importance to the sacrament of reconciliation, knowing very well that the real fight between good and evil takes place in the human heart. Towards the end of his life he spent up to 17 hours a day in his confessional, without neglecting to teach catechism and celebrate Mass.