Pope Benedict XVI: the Specific Task of Priests to Sanctify

Next month we will see the culminating moment of the "Year for Priests" (June 2009 - June 2010) as priests from all over the world flock to Rome to listen to the Holy Father, pray together, and take part in the final celebrations.  Throughout this year I have listened to Pope Benedict speak on numerous occasions about the priesthood.  Whenever I read his works or listen to him speak I understand with ever greater admiration what a master he is in weaving together the profound truths and mysteries of our faith with the keenest of insight and a love which is so simple and pure.  After meeting him in person on several occasions I have come to realize that all of these qualities which are made visible in his teachings, theological works and homilies are a communication of the simple and pure love he has for Jesus Christ and His Church.

So with no further ado I turn your attention to a few excerpts from Pope Benedict's catechesis given during this week's General Audience (May 5, 2010). These comments revolve around one of the three specific tasks which belong to priests, namely, to sanctify men (the other two specific tasks of priests are "teaching" and "governing").

"...Today I would like to reflect briefly with you on the second task the priest has, that of sanctifying men, above all through the sacraments and the worship of the Church. Here first of all we must ask ourselves: what does the word "saint" mean? The answer is: "Saint" is the specific quality of God's being, that is, absolute truth, goodness, love, beauty -- pure light. Hence, to sanctify a person means to put him in contact with God, with his being light, truth, pure love. It is obvious that this contact transforms the person. In ancient times there was this firm conviction: No one can see God without dying right away. The force of truth and light is too great! If man touches this absolute current, he does not survive. Moreover, there was also this conviction: Without a minimum contact with God, man cannot live. Truth, goodness, love are fundamental conditions of his being. The question is: How can man find this contact with God, which is fundamental, without dying, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the divine being? The faith of the Church tells us that God himself creates this contact, which transforms us little by little into true images of God.

Thus we return again to the task of the priest to "sanctify." No man on his own, by his own strength, can put another in contact with God. An essential part of the grace of priesthood is the gift, the task to create this contact. This is done in the proclamation of the Word of God, in which He comes to meet us. It is done in a particularly profound way in the sacraments. Immersion in the Paschal Mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ happens in baptism, is reinforced in confirmation and in reconciliation, is nourished in the Eucharist, the sacrament that builds the Church as People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit (cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation 'Pastores Gregis,' No. 32).

Hence, it is Christ himself who makes us saints, namely, who attracts us to the sphere of God. But as an act of his infinite mercy he calls some to "be" with him (cf. Mark 3:14) and to be converted, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, despite human poverty, into participants in his own priesthood, ministers of this sanctification, dispensers of his mysteries, "bridges" of the encounter with him, of his mediation between God and men and between men and God (cf. po, 5)...

As I reminded in the Holy Chrism Mass of this year: "At the centre of the Church’s worship is the notion of 'sacrament.' This means that it is not primarily we who act, but God comes first to meet us through his action, he looks upon us and he leads us to himself. (...) God touches us through material things (...) that he takes up into his service, making them instruments of the encounter between us and himself" (Holy Chrism Mass, April 1, 2010). The truth according to which in the sacrament "it is not we men who do something" also affects, and must affect, the priestly awareness: Every presbyter knows well that he is a necessary instrument of the salvific action of God, but always as an instrument. This awareness must make one humble and generous in the administration of the sacraments, in respect of the canonical norms, but also in the profound conviction that one's mission is that of making all men, united to Christ, able to offer themselves to God as a living and holy host agreeable to him (cf. Romans 12:1)...

Dear priests, live the liturgy and worship with joy and love: It is action that the Risen One carries out through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, with us and for us. I would like to renew the invitation I recently made to "return to the confessional as a place in which to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but also as a place in which 'to dwell' more often, so that the faithful may find compassion, advice and comfort, feel that they are loved and understood by God and experience the presence of Divine Mercy beside the Real Presence in the Eucharist" (Address to the Apostolic Penitentiary, March 11, 2010). And I would also like to invite each priest to celebrate and live the Eucharist with intensity, which is at the heart of the task of sanctifying; it is Jesus who wants to be with us, to live in us, to give himself to us, to show us the infinite mercy and tenderness of God; it is the only Sacrifice of love of Christ that makes itself present, is realized among us and reaches the throne of grace, the presence of God, embraces humanity and unites us to him (cf. Address to the Clergy of Rome, February 18, 2010)...

Dear friends, be conscious of the great gift that priests are for the Church and for the world; through their ministry, the Lord continues saving men, making himself present, sanctifying. Know how to thank God, and above all be close to your priests with your prayer and support, especially in difficulties, so that they will be increasingly shepherds according to the heart of God. Thank you.

(Translation by Zenit)

You can read the entire Wednesday Audience catechesis here on Zenit - in about 3 or 4 days you will be able to find the translation on the Vatican website as well.

(Photo of Pope Benedict courtesy of Br. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)

The Fifth Sunday of Easter: A New Commandment

Click Here for the Sunday Mass Readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C):

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." (Jn 13:34)

It seems hard to believe that it's been 2 weeks since my last post.  People have pointed that out to me recently, so I have taken the hint that it's time to get back to it.  April proved to be quite a busy month for me.  Most of my time over the last 2 months has been consumed by work stemming from a doctoral seminar, and all the reading/research/writing which it involves.  And this past week my time was spent confined to bed after wrenching the muscles in my lower back.  Okay, enough excuses...on to the important stuff!

Every time I hear the above quote proclaimed during Mass, or come across it in my own reading, I come to a deeper appreciation of its significance.  The above verse comes from the Gospel of John (13:34) which we hear in today's Gospel reading, but this new commandment is repeated again in John 15:12, which is the version I am most accustomed to hearing and using: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you."  I become more and more convinced as I reflect on this phrase that whole of the Gospel message of Christ is encompassed within it.  It is like the mustard seed which Jesus speaks about in the Gospel.

We know that Jesus summarized the 10 Commandments from the Old Testament when a Pharisee approached Him and asked what commandment in the law was the greatest:  "He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.'" (Mt 22:37-40)  Nowadays people shorten this quote even further and summarize the 10 Commandments by talking about "the love of God and the love of neighbor."  This is helpful when you want to be concise, but one must not forget how we are to love: with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and as we love ourselves.  This is one of the principal reasons I think Jesus' "new commandment" is so rich - by looking to Jesus we can see how we are to love God and others: "love one another as I have loved you."

In a way this is a new commandment, but in another way it summarizes the two greatest commandments.  And this is the second reason I am so drawn to this last commandment of Christ.  If we are to truly understand how we are to love others as God desires us to, we must move beyond looking to Jesus only as a concept or a role model.  We must open ourselves to recognize that He is truly with us, and ask Him to love us, to open us to receive His love; to permit Him to love us; to seek out His love with all our heart, and soul, and mind!  If we are to love as God wants us to, we must first experience and be transformed by His love, for we must love one another with the love of God - the love that comes from God; the love that we must first receive from God; the love that gives meaning, hope, light, and life to our life - "love one another as I have loved you."  This is why St. John the Evangelist can say later on in his life that "whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love," (1 Jn 4:8) and also, "in this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us...." (1 Jn 4:10)

The "movement" in discipleship of Jesus does not begin within us and move outward to others.  Discipleship truly begins when we open ourselves to receive the love of God first.  The love to which we are called as Christians begins and abides in God, and it moves out from Him to us when we spend time with Him, when we dialogue with Him in prayer, when we draw close to Him either through baptism, or confession, or the Eucharist, and when we ask Him to reveal His love to us.  By experiencing and receiving His love we are transformed into the image of Christ, we become Christian - this is a continual process; it is the beginning of discipleship.  From the richness of God's love that we have received we are then able to begin loving others with the love of God - "love one another as I have loved you."  This saves us from that mentality which reduces Christianity to a set of rules and regulations that must be obeyed, and that we must rely on our own power to live by those rules - in other words, a "Christianity" which begins and ends not with Christ, but with the "ego". For one who views Christianity in that light it is most perplexing and vexing to the mind to bear such a self-contrived burden and at the same time experience the fragility and inconsistency of our own existence (having pulled a muscle in my lower back human fragility is fresh on my mind!).

To be honest, I could keep writing for hours on this new commandment of Christ, but I think it might be best to conclude with one last point, and that touches upon the context in which Jesus gave His disciples this last commandment: the eve of His passion and death.  Jesus suffered.  The love of God requires sacrifice - it requires us to die to anything within us that is not from God, or anything that will not be found in the Kingdom of God (pride, anger, greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, envy, etc.).  Being a disciple of Christ requires a lot of work on our part, as we hear in today's first reading, "it is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)  But underneath this work is the invisible power of God that comes to us when we are open to His love.  He strengthens us in this work of interior purification, and helps us break free from the many forms of selfish love present in our life.  At first it feels like we are dying - and we are! - but new life breaks through during this process, and we begin experiencing the resurrection of Christ in our own life - a new life which has its hardships, but they are now sustained, lightened, and transformed by the love, peace, and joy of Christ.  And here I end...for now.  God bless you and may you have a blessed week.

(Photo of "Christ and St. John at the Eucharist" courtesy of Br. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)

UPDATE: If you would like to read Pope Benedict's homily for this Sunday you can read it here on Zenit.  It is always encouraging as a priest when you find out later that your reflections on the Word of God were similar to the Holy Father's. :-)