Mission of Priests

Note: This was a sharing that I gave to the Charismatic Prayer Group of SFX PJ

Before I begin, I would like to share with you a story. Once Pope John Paul II had an audience with 3 priests. His Holiness then asked each of them to introduce themselves.

The first priest said, “I have a PhD in Canon Law and I lecture at the Gregorian University.” The Pope however was not impressed. Then the second priest said, “I am the rector in a seminary”. Still, the pope was not impressed.

Finally, the third priest said, “Your Holiness, I am just a simple parish priest.” What do you think the pope did? He knelt in front of this priest and kissed his hand. And he said, “You have my respect and gratitude for you are the one who’s doing the real work of a priest”

You may think that this story undermines the role of a priest who is a lecturer or a rector. But this is not my intention. I’m sharing this story because it is relevant to the topic at hand.

Our topic is on the mission of priests but before we can even talk about the mission of priests, it would be helpful to first look at what a priest really is. Many of us have different views of what a priest should be. Knowing what a priest truly is will help us better understand their mission.

By his priestly ordination a priest receives the power to offer sacrifice (i.e. to celebrate the Eucharist), to forgive sins, to bless, to preach, to sanctify and to take care of souls.

Priests by sacred ordination and mission which they receive from the bishops are promoted to the service of Christ the Teacher, Priest and King. They share in his ministry, a ministry whereby the Church here on earth is unceasingly built up into the People of God, the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. God himself has promised, by the words of the prophet Jeremiah, "I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jer. 3:15).

In the words from the prophet Jeremiah, God promises his people that he will never leave them without shepherds to gather them together and guide them: "I will set shepherds over them [my sheep] who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed (Jer. 23.4).

In his apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Send You Shepherds), Pope John Paul II wrote, "Every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God" (Heb. 5:1).

The Letter to the Hebrews clearly affirms the "human character" of God's minister he comes from the human community and is at its service, imitating Jesus Christ "who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:1s)?.

God always calls his priests from specific human and ecclesial contexts, which inevitably influence them; and to these same contexts the priest is sent for the service of Christ's Gospel.

For the sake of this universal priesthood of the new covenant Jesus gathered disciples during his earthly mission (cf. Lk. 10:1-12), and with a specific and authoritative mandate he called and appointed the Twelve "to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (Mk. 3:14-15).

For this reason, already during his public ministry (cf. Mt. 16:18), and then most fully after his death and resurrection (cf. Mt. 28; Jn. 20; 21), Jesus had conferred on Peter and the Twelve entirely special powers with regard to the future community and the evangelisation of all peoples. After having called them to follow him, he kept them at his side and lived with them, imparting his teaching of salvation to them through word and example, and finally he sent them out to all mankind.

To enable them to carry out this mission Jesus confers upon the apostles, by a specific paschal outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the same messianic authority which he had received from the Father, conferred in its fullness in his resurrection: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt. 28:18-20).

On 7 December 1965, the Second Vatican Council issued a document entitled Presbyterium Ordinis i.e Decree on the Mission and Life of Priests. Among other things, it lists what the mission of priests is to be. They are: Priests as Ministers of God’s Word, Priests as Ministers of the Sacraments and the Eucharist and finally Priests as Ruler of God’s people.

Let us look at these missions separately. In the document Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation), issued on 18 November 1965, we find the importance of the Word.

“Therefore, all the clergy must hold fast to the Sacred Scriptures through diligent sacred reading and careful study, especially the priests of Christ and others, such as deacons and catechists who are legitimately active in the ministry of the word. This is to be done so that none of them will become "an empty preacher of the word of God outwardly, who is not a listener to it inwardly" since they must share the abundant wealth of the divine word with the faithful committed to them, especially in the sacred liturgy. "For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." Therefore, they should gladly put themselves in touch with the sacred text itself, whether it be through the liturgy, rich in the divine word, or through devotional reading, or through instructions suitable for the purpose and other aids which, in our time, with approval and active support of the shepherds of the Church, are commendably spread everywhere.” (DV 25)

This is why the Word of God is very important in the life of Christians. This is why we have the readings from the Bible at every Mass. The readings are God’s word to us, planting itself in the bedrock of our souls, nourishing us as we walk on the road that ultimately leads to God. This is emphasised by St Peter in his letter. He writes, “Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves so that you can experience the genuine love of brothers, love each other intensely from the heart, for your new birth was not from any perishable seed but from imperishable seed, the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Pt 1: 22 – 23)

Every priest has the obligation to proclaim the Gospel and preach the Word of God to all the faithful. In order that it might more effectively move men's minds, the word of God ought not to be explained in a general and abstract way, but rather by applying the lasting truth of the Gospel to the particular circumstances of life.

It is through the saving word the spark of faith is lit in the hearts of unbelievers, and fed in the hearts of the faithful. This is the way that the congregation of faithful is started and grows, just as St Paul, in his letter to the Romans describes: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).

Sacraments are, as Fr Simon always puts it, outward sign of inward grace. The word sacrament is a direct translation of the Latin word sacramentum and the Greek word mysterion. This is because each sacrament is a mystery, which can never be fully understood. It is only by faith that we can accept it into our hearts. And priests are ministers of these sacraments.

All the Sacraments affect our personal relationship to God and to one another. The Holy Spirit works through the Sacraments. He leads us to Christ who unites us with the Father. By participating in the Sacraments, we grow closer to God and to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is why every priest, regardless of his other duties, must celebrate the sacraments. No matter how busy a priest is, he cannot deny anyone who is in need of the sacraments, especially confession and anointing of the sick. And most importantly, he cannot deny the faithful the sacrifice of the Mass.

The Mass, or the Eucharist, is, according to Vatican II, “the source and summit of a Christian life”. It is established by Christ himself, during the Last Supper, to give us his flesh to nourish our souls. As we can see in John’s Gospel chapter 6 verse 51, Jesus says "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Confession gives one a wonderful sense of freedom and peace from the burden of sin. Sorrow, affliction, and a desire for conversion follow the remorse of sin in those with a contrite heart. For the Anointing of the Sick, the ecclesial effect of this sacrament is incorporation into the healing Body of Christ, with a spiritual healing of the soul, and at times healing of the body. The sacramental grace helps us to accept sickness as a purifying cross sent by God, and the grace even to accept death if that is God's will.

All the reasons stated make it more important for a priest not to ignore those who are truly in need of the sacraments. As Jesus and his apostles went round to heal the sick and forgive sins, so should every priest imitate this very action of Christ and his apostles. For this is what Christ has handed down to his apostles.

Exercising the office of Christ, the Shepherd and Head, and according to their share of his authority, priests, in the name of the bishop, gather the family of God together as a brotherhood enlivened by one spirit. Through Christ they lead them in the Holy Spirit to God the Father. For the exercise of this ministry, as for the other priestly duties, spiritual power is conferred upon them for the building up of the Church.

In building up of the Church, priests must treat all with exceptional kindness in imitation of the Lord. They should act toward men, not as seeking to please them, but in accord with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. They should teach them and admonish them as beloved sons, according to the words of the St Paul: "Be urgent in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine" (2 Tim 4:2)

In building the Christian community, priests are never to put themselves at the service of some human faction of ideology, but, as heralds of the Gospel and shepherds of the Church, they are to spend themselves for the spiritual growth of the Body of Christ.

Priests, therefore, ought to acknowledge and foster the ministries, offices and roles of the lay faithful that find their foundation in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, and indeed, for a good many of them, in the Sacrament of Matrimony. When necessary, priests can entrust to the lay faithful, certain offices and roles, connected with their pastoral ministry.

God promises the Church not just any sort of shepherds, but shepherds "after his own heart." And God's "heart" has revealed itself to us fully in the heart of Christ the good shepherd. Christ's heart continues today to have compassion for the multitudes and to give them the bread of truth, the bread of love, the bread of life. And this is what the mission of priests is to be; to be Christ to everyone.

To conclude, I would like to quote from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 20 verse 28, “"Now be solicitous for yourselves and for the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as bishops to pasture the Church of God, which He purchased with his own blood."