VATICAN - Ave Maria: Mgr Luciano Alimandi -
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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Year of the Priesthood inaugurated by Pope Benedict XVI is a great occasion of grace, above all for those of us who are priests, to rediscover and to reflect on our vocation as servants of the Lord. "You did not choose me. I chose you" (Jn 15, 16), Jesus tells his first apostles - and his apostles of every epoch -, that the call to the priesthood comes from his own Heart, rather than an initiative of man, it is an initiative of God.
The origin of every authentic vocation is to be found only in Him: " The Lord called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. " (Is 49, 1). We know, the principal reason for which we are called, we can find always and only in the Word of Jesus. He called us and revealed his Will for us. Saint Paul summaries the Will of God in this way, valid for every Christian, and therefore even more so for every priest who task is to care for the souls entrusted to him: "this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1Tm 4, 3).
A priest should never forget that the goal of his call is precisely holiness. How in fact could we become friends of Jesus without imitating his virtues, starting from the central virtues of his Heart? "Learn from me for I an meek and humble of heart " (Mt 11, 29). How many Gospel passages underline Jesus' ardent desire for his disciples to reach holiness! "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect " (Mt 5, 48). If the deepest reason for the call to the priesthood is holiness, then it is imperative for every sacred minister to tend daily towards conversion of life.
Priestly holiness, like all holiness of life, must be 'won' day after day despite human frailty and limits.
The way of conversion must never be interrupted because if it is, the spiritual energy of the priest falls dangerously low almost to the point of collapse: and we lack the strength to carry on. "Carry on" means first of all, continuing the battle against our own egoism, sacrificing "self" and my many interests which lead me far from the interests of God. The Gospel places as one essential condition for 'following' Jesus precisely self denial: "If anyone would be my disciple let him take up his cross and follow me " (Mk 8, 34). The greatest spiritual battle for the priest is to forget self, and to put Jesus before all else. " But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.' " (Lk 10, 41-42). The only thing necessary for the priest is Jesus. If we truly wish to imitate Him, the
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Lord will never leave us he will never let us lose his precious grace.
No one can rob a soul of intimacy with Jesus! Only the soul can if it neglects the life of communion with God, nourished by the sacraments and the Word meditated and lived, accompanied by an authentic life of prayer and charity. Friendship with Jesus is the primary aim of the call to the priesthood, on it everything else depends: " You are my friends if you do what I command you... I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father." (Jn 15, 14ss). If in the place of the words of Jesus we put our own, if we place our interests before his divine interests, if we aim for goals not inspired by Him, but by the world, then we are no longer his 'friends', we betray his friendship. The ministerial priesthood cannot be deformed, it is the individual minister who loses "taste" (cfr. Mt. 5, 13) and the irradiation of that wonderful 'friendship' which Jesus offers when he calls his apostles to 'be with him' (Mk 3, 14). We can say that we learn to be what we are supposed to be, that is priests, only if we 'stay with Jesus'. "Remain in my love" (Jn 15, 9), this is what Jesus asks of his apostles, the first and all the others. "Remain" is a verb which refers to the mystery of the Eucharist: He remains with us in the Eucharist, so that we may remain in Him!
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The Holy Father, Benedict XVI has made the Jesus' call to friendship on of the pillars of his Magisterium. How often has he reminded priests that everything depends on intimacy with God. Without an authentic prayer life culminating in Holy Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, there can be no priestly holiness or true apostolic fecundity. Only if the branch remains united with the vine can it bear fruit, otherwise it will become dry wood (cfr. Jn 15, 4ss). Pope Benedict XVI indicates to sacred ministers precisely the Eucharistic logic as a model for thought and life: "Only from union with Jesus can you draw that spiritual fruitfulness which generates hope in your pastoral ministry. St Leo the Great recalls that "our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ aspires to nothing other than to become what we receive" (Sermo 12, De Passione 3, 7, PL 54). If this is true for every Christian it is especially true for us priests. To become the Eucharist! May precisely this be our constant desire and commitment, so that the offering of the Body and Blood of the Lord which we make on the altar may be accompanied by the sacrifice of our existence. Every day, we draw from the Body and Blood of the Lord that free, pure love which makes us worthy ministers of Christ and witnesses to his joy. This is what the faithful expect of the priest: that is, the example of an authentic devotion to the Eucharist; they like to see him spend long periods of silence and adoration before Jesus as was the practice of the Holy Curé d'Ars, whom we shall remember in a special way during the upcoming Year for Priests." (Benedict XVI, homily solemnity of Corpus Christi, 11 June 2009).
Who more than the Blessed Virgin Mary, "Woman of the Eucharist" and Mother of Priests, can teach us this Eucharistic logic: how to lose self in order to receive Him; Who more than Mary can help us go ahead on the path of "expropriation" from ourselves so that "Christ may live in us" (cfr. Gal 2, 20)!
(Agenzia Fides 24/6/2009; righe 68, parole 1.063)
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"May the Lord grant all your prayers!" (Psalm 20)
Deacon John
http://www.google.com/profiles/deaconjohn1987
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