Reflections on the Priesthood (6)

By "Anne," A Lay Apostle

Our Lady said that we are giving her the greatest pleasure by illuminating the divine presence of her Son in each priestly vocation. Our Lady is devoted to each of her children but she pays special attention to the needs of God's beloved priests.

I see that each priest is different as each man is different. Their unique character is designed by God for the service He requires from them. God takes all of their attributes and, with the most gentle tap of a divine touch, sanctifies them.

If a priest desires holiness, he must turn inward, to Jesus Christ in his soul.

The flame of divine love burns steadily in each priest. The more a priest turns his eyes inward, to Christ, the greater the amount of God's love that can flow through him.

We are each this way, of course. The more we climb our mountain of holiness, the more effectively Christ can use us.

There is something different about the priesthood, though. The mark of Jesus Christ, or shall we call it the stamp of the First Priest, predisposes the man to becoming transformed into another Christ. In order to cooperate with this transformation, a priest has to desire to be like Christ. I do not believe that every man ordained necessarily possesses a passionate desire for this transformation. I believe that this desire can come and grow and become compelling as the priest comes to know Christ through his ministry or through his suffering and sacrifice, or indeed through whatever circumstances God allows for him. God Himself will fuel this desire for transformation, particularly when He is asked.

Transformation, by its nature, demands change. St. Paul speaks to this.

"It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20).

This is the goal. This transformation from one man, the priest, to another, Christ, requires that one of the two participants must change. Clearly, Jesus Christ who is God cannot change. It is not even possible. So it is the man who must change. The priest has to constantly reduce his will, making it smaller and smaller until it disappears altogether. You might say that this transformation is actually a process of reduction. The priest in his daily "yes" to Jesus cooperates with the shrinking of his human will. John the Baptist knew this.

"He must increase but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

Yes, the human will in each priest has to go where it does not match the divine will. It, self-will, must be jettisoned, sacrificed to the process of unity with Christ in service to the Father for the good of the Body of Christ and for God's greater glory. Only the will of the Father should remain for the man to be authentically Jesus Christ.

If this process, this transformation, were to rely on the priest, it would not even be worth embarking upon, so obviously impossible would it both appear and actually be. But this process relies on Jesus Christ.

For further information regarding the Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King, or to purchase Heaven Speaks booklets, please contact Direction for Our Times on the Web at www.directionforourtimes.com , or mail inquiries to the following address: 9000 West 81st St., Justice, IL  60458, U.S.A.