Address by the Prelate, Valencia, 5-II-10, in ENGLISH
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Address by the Prelate, Valencia, 5-II-10, in ENGLISH
by alizaracelis » February 7th, 2010, 4:34 pm
Address delivered by Msgr. Javier Echevarría, Theological Dialogues, Valencia, 5 February 2010:
http://www.opusdei.es/art.php?p=37072
Msgr. Javier Echevarría delivered a paper, entitled “Priestly Identity, Priestly Sanctity”, at the Almudí Theological Dialogues, upon the invitation of the Archbishop of Valencia Msgr. Carlos Osoro.
5 February 2010
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It was with great joy, and with a desire to learn from everyone, that I accepted the invitation of Msgr. Carlos Osoro to offer some remarks to the priests of this Archdiocese, on the occasion of the Year of the Priest. If it always brings me joy to meet with my brothers in the priesthood, in this case there is the added fact that such a meeting brings me to Valencia, a place which St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer held very dear to his heart.
There are many reasons for the special affection that St Josemaría had for Valencia. It was here, in fact, that the first expansion of Opus Dei took place outside Madrid, where it had its birth on October 2, 1928. To this city the Founder of the Work travelled frequently, both before and after the conflict that was to chastise the country, in order to set down foundations for apostolic work; from here would come some of the first persons—both men and women—called by God to Opus Dei; here he preached many retreats—to seminarians as well as to priests—from even before 1939, in a bond of brotherly friendship with some exemplary priests.
Without attempting to give an exhaustive list, I should like to mention some of those great servants of the Church. In the first place, Archbishop Father Prudencio Melo y Alcalde, who frequently urged him to start a permanent apostolic work of Opus Dei in this Archdiocese; Father Antonio Rodilla, Vicar General and later Rector of the Seminary, who asked him to preach retreats to priests, seminarians, and university students; the Servant of God Father Eladio España, a priest of great repute as a confessor, who would send to St Josemaría many young people looking for a deeper formation in the faith and in the Christian life. I would also mention Father Joaquín Mestre, secretary to the Archbishop, Father Marcelino Olaechea, and a witness to the reputation for holiness which our Founder enjoyed even during his life. During the canonical process of beatification for the Founder of Opus Dei, Father Joaquín Mestre testified as to what Fr. Marcelino had repeatedly told him, up to the very end of his life: “If I die before Fr. Josemaría, say that I have always regarded him as a saintly priest.” St. Josemaria had bonds of friendship, likewise, with Father José María García Lahiguera and the beloved Father Miguel Roca. Toward Fr. José María he felt profound gratitude for fraternally welcoming him when he was faced with the “lack of understanding of the good”; toward Fr. Miguel, St. Josemaria showed fatherly affection and set him on a path leading to the priesthood.
These brief reminiscences provide the context for my present remarks, which are aimed at showing that a priest’s devotion, as derived from the knowledge we have of ourselves as alter Christus, ipse Christus, is a necessary condition for the efficacy of our ministry in the service of souls. We can take as our own the words which St Josemaría wrote in one of his books: “My God, I see that I shall never accept you as my Savior, unless I acknowledge you as my Model at the same time.”1
1. The Priesthood of Christ, the only and unique Priesthood of the New Covenant
From its introductory lines, the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis of the Second Vatican Council makes it clear that “the Lord Jesus ‘whom the Father has sent into the world’ (Jn 10:36) has made his whole Mystical Body a sharer in the anointing of the Spirit with which he himself is anointed” (cf. Mt 3: 16; Lk 4: 18; Acts 4: 27; 10: 38).2 This truth constitutes a basic teaching about the nature of the Church: the participation of all Christians in Christ’s anointing, and in his saving work, that is to say, in His Supreme Priesthood. Indeed, making use of the words of the First Letter of St Peter, the Council continues: “In Christ, all the faithful are made a holy and royal priesthood; they offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ, and they proclaim the perfections of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvelous light,” (cf. 1 Pt 2: 5-9). Therefore, there is no member who does not have a part in the mission of the whole Body; but each one ought to hallow Jesus in his heart, (cf. 1 Pt 3: 15) and in the spirit of prophecy bear witness to Jesus (cf. Apoc 19: 10).”3
The joy with which St Josemaría received this Conciliar teaching is very much alive in my memory, since, through his own priestly ministry, he had been broadcasting this marvelous reality for more than 35 years. And so I agree completely with those who would consider this holy priest a kind of precursor of the Council in this point of Christian doctrine, so central to the lay spirituality in the Church, as well as in other aspects of Christian doctrine contained in the documents of that Ecumenical Council, such as the universal call to holiness.4
The decree Presbyterorum Ordinis immediately adds that the Lord Himself “established ministers among his faithful to unite them together in one body in which, ‘not all the members have the same function’ (Rom 12:4). These ministers in the society of the faithful are able by the sacred power of orders to offer sacrifice and to forgive sins (cf. Council of Trent, session 23, chapter 1, canon 1: Denz. 1764 & 1771), and who could publicly carry out the Priestly office in Christ’s name, on behalf of men”.5 On this basis I would like to highlight certain consequences for our lives and our priestly mission.
Let us begin by recalling that the priesthood wherever it is found in the Church is a participation in the one Priesthood of Jesus Christ, as the Letter to the Hebrews admirably explains. God in the “fullness of time” wanted to raise up a new priesthood that was to replace the Levitical priesthood. The latter was good and appropriate for the period in which it was established, but it was destined to disappear once it had fulfilled its task of preparing for the eternal and immutable Priesthood of Christ, a new Priesthood “according to the line of Melchisedech” (cf. Heb. 5: 6, 10; 6: 20; 7: 1-3, 11-17).
The author of the Letter sets out the reasons for the evident superiority of the priesthood of Melchisedech over that of the Levitical priesthood, even under the Old Law, and then he additionally explains the superiority of the Priesthood of Christ for reasons intrinsic to it ―namely, that it is perfect, indefectible, and eternal, and sealed by God through an oath. He concludes by underlining that only Christ could have incarnated such a Priesthood: “It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself” (Heb 7: 26-7).
To Christ the High Priesthood suitably belongs, for He was ―and He is, in æternum— since He is the Son of God, holy and without blemish. If the Letter adds the expression “separated from sinners”, this is not for the reason that he was distant from us men, His brothers ―for He came to seek out that which was lost (cf. Lk 15 ff.)―but rather because He lacked any blemish of sin (cf. Heb 4: 15). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews points out, on the other hand, that Christ “by one offering has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated” (Heb 10: 14), referring with this phrase to the one and only sacrifice that is truly redemptive, namely, that of the Cross.6
The words “has made perfect” render an expression which has deep theological significance, as it encompasses the ideas of “perfection,” “fullness,” “consecration,” and “sanctification.” The expression which corresponds to it in Hebrew was used both for the anointing of the priests under the Old Covenant, and for the consecration of the Temple. Moreover ―something highly relevant in this context―it is the “last word” that Jesus pronounced from the Cross: “It is accomplished” (Jn 19: 30).
What the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews in fact wishes to tell us is that Christ fulfilled a sacrifice which is of such efficacy ―so boundless― that those who participate in it with sincerity of heart when it is offered on the altar can attain perfection, holiness of life, the forgiveness of sins, a clean conscience, and entrance into the intimate life of God. On account of the offering made by Christ, the Supreme and Eternal Priest (here it is fitting to say again what St Josemaría said once in a Good Friday homily) “The abyss of malice which sin opens wide has been bridged by his infinite charity. God did not abandon men. His plans foresaw that the sacrifices of the old law would be insufficient to repair our faults and re-establish the unity which had been lost. A man who was God would have to offer himself up. To help us grasp in some measure this unfathomable mystery, we might imagine the Blessed Trinity taking counsel together in its uninterrupted intimate relationship of infinite love. As a result of its eternal decision, the only-begotten Son of God the Father takes on our human condition and bears the burden of our wretchedness and sorrows, to end up sewn with nails to a piece of wood.”7 But He conquers through His Resurrection, and so the homily concludes with these hope-filled words: “Only thus will we earn the name of conquerors: for the risen Christ will conquer in us, and death will be changed into life.”8
2. The dimensions of priestly ministry
The state of an ordained priest is marked by a profoundly Christological dimension, insofar as priestly life needs to be entirely a reflection of the holiness, authority and unbounded self-giving of Christ. To this the ecclesiological dimension is inseparably joined, in accordance with which all priestly work needs to be directed to the service of the People of God, to the sanctification of every human being. That is why when the question was raised, “What is the identity of a priest?”, St. Josemaria would reply in a way that left no room for doubt, with a profound faith, “It is that of Christ, who wants to perpetuate His Priesthood ―the only and only Priesthood― through His ministers.”9
a) The Christological dimension of the Priestly ministry
Since the Priesthood of ordained priests flows directly from the Priesthood of Christ, a priest’s ministry in the Church ought to be in an intimate and immediate relation to that Priesthood: “For Christ therefore we are ambassadors; God as it were exhorting by us” (2 Cor 5: 20). The Conciliar decree underlines this with the following words: “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” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 1). The Lord makes use of His priests in order to make His presence living in the Church, according to His promise: “and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Mt 28: 20).
In this sense, it turns out very significant that, in his first meeting with the clergy in Rome on 13 May 2005, Benedict XVI pointed out very clearly that “ it is indispensable to return continually to the root of our priesthood. This root, as we well know is a singular root, Our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Roman Pontiff adds: “But this Jesus has nothing that belongs to Him: everything is totally from the Father and for the Father”. Thus the Pope drew a consequence for each one of us: “This is likewise the true nature of our Priesthood. In reality, that which constitutes our ministry cannot be the product of our personal abilities”. The Holy Father brought this point down to concrete resolutions: “We have not been sent to announce ourselves or our own personal opinions, but rather the Mystery of Christ (…). Our mission does not consist in saying many words, but in being an echo and spokesman for the one ‘Word’, who is the Word of God made flesh for our salvation”.
As a consequence, to fulfill oneself as Priest means to be fully united to Christ, identifying oneself with Him in the Priestly Ministry and in his entire conduct. It means being transparent, so that the faithful may see the Master, the Redeemer, so that the faithful are not drawn to fix their gaze on the person of the Priest. Toward this end, I find most significant an event that happened in this region of Valencia. It is narrated by one of the first women of Opus Dei, Encarnación Ortega, whose process of beatification is in progress. She attended the first Retreat preached by St Josemaría for female university students in Alacuás, where the Operarias Doctrineras [‘Workers of Doctrine’] had a Retreat house.
Encarnita, then a young lady of 21 years, had gone those days to that Retreat, moved by the desire ―or perhaps a curiosity― to know the author of The Way, a book that had caused a profound impact on her. After the death of St Josemaría, she wrote a testimony, in which she explains how she was impressed with the figure of this Priest, even before she heard him preach. She writes: “His recollection, full of naturalness, his genuflections before the Tabernacle, and his way of presenting before us the introductory prayer of the meditation--encouraging us to be aware that the Lord was among us, and that He was looking upon us and listening to us--made me instantly forget my own desire to hear a great orator, and it was changed into the need to listen to God and to be generous with Him”.
St Josemaría’s advice was entirely congruent with that behavior: “It seems to me that what is being asked of us Priests is the humility to learn not to be ‘in fashion’, but rather to truly be servants of the servants of God ―calling to mind that cry of the Baptist illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Jn 3: 30); ‘He must increase and I must decrease’―, so that ordinary Christians, the laity, may make Christ present in all areas of society.”
b) Ecclesiological dimension
Let us return to the Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 5: At first it pauses and reflects on the Levitical priesthood, and yet certain lineaments of that priesthood turn out to have perennial significance: “for every High Priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins. Who can have compassion on them that are ignorant and that err: because he himself also is compassed with infirmity; And therefore he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest: but he that said unto him: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place: Thou art a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech” (Heb. 5: 1-6).
These words trace out and describe the mission that belongs to the priest in the Church, in harmony with his being and his living in Christ. The priestly ministry is marked by its profoundly ecclesial character. The presbyter, “chosen from among men” by divine vocation, which is effected in the reception of the sacrament of Orders, becomes “in favor of men”: ordered to the good of all of humanity; not toward an earthly good ―although it does not ignore temporal reality, but this is not what defines its mission― but rather “to what refers to God”. As St Paul would explain in writing to Timothy: the Priest is “a man of God” (1 Tim 6: 11). As St Josemaría would repeat throughout his life, paraphrasing the Apostle: we ought to preach Christ, Christ crucified, who is the Love of Heaven for every creature.
In the meeting with the Roman clergy which I mentioned earlier, Benedict XVI highlighted that, “in having its root in Christ, the Priesthood is, by its very nature, in the Church and for the Church (…). It has a constitutive relationship with the body of Christ, in His double and inseparable dimension of Eucharist and Church, of Eucharistic body and of Ecclesial body. Thus, our ministry is amoris officium (St Augustine, In Ioann. ev. tract. 123, 5): it is the office of the good shepherd, who gives his life for his sheep (cf. Jn. 10: 14-15)”, and he carries this out joyfully, aware of that marvelous reality, since each one is ‘Priest forever’, today, now and forever.
In the homily of a Mass of priestly ordinations, the Pope was insisting on this duty to be “good shepherd” in the likeness of the Good Shepherd who is Christ: he expressed “the three fundamental affirmations of Jesus regarding the good shepherd”. The first is that the shepherd gives his life for his sheep. “We ought to give our life, from day to day,” the Holy Father explained. “I ought to learn, day after day, that I do not have possession of my life for my own sake. Day after day I ought to learn to detach myself from myself, to be at the Lord’s disposal for whatever He might need me at each moment, even though other things might seem to me more attractive and more important.”
The second affirmation is that the good Shepherd knows his sheep and his sheep know Him (cf. Jn. 10: 14-15). “This implies, before anything else, acting in profound relation with Christ, and through Him, with the Father, as an indispensable condition for truly understanding persons and for accompanying them in their needs and their questions (…). It has to be a knowledge with the heart of Jesus, a knowledge that is oriented toward Him, a knowledge that does not link the person to me, but one that leads the person toward Jesus, thus making him free and open.”
The third characteristic is: “In addition, I have other sheep who are not in this sheepfold; even those I have to attract; they shall hear my voice, and there shall be only one sheepfold, only one shepherd” (Jn 10: 16). The Pope concludes: “Obviously, a Priest, a shepherd of souls, ought to occupy himself above all with those who believe and live with the Church (…). Nevertheless, as the Lord says, we also ought to go out anew ‘to the highways and byways’ (Lk 14: 23) to bring God’s invitation to His banquet even to those who, up to now, have not heard about Him or have not been interiorly touched by Him”.
In this context, some very meaningful words of St Josemaría occur to me, when he wished to clarify the mistaken notion of those who “think that Christians want to see, in the Priest, one more man. No, this is not true. In the Priest ―he would say―, they want to admire the virtues proper to any Christian, and even to an honest man: understanding, justice, life of work ―priestly work, in this case―, charity, learning, delicateness in dealings. But along with these, the faithful wish to see stand out in him the Priestly character.”
Later on, he would explain more specifically what is implicit in these affirmations: “They expect the Priest to pray, to not refuse to administer the Sacraments, to be ready to receive everyone without making himself ‘the boss’ or ‘militant of human factions’, whatever form this might take (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 6); someone who puts all his love and devotion into the celebration of the Holy Mass, who sits in the confessional, who consoles the sick and the infirm, who imparts doctrine through catechesis to children and to adults, who preaches the Word of God and not whatever human knowledge which ―although he would know this perfectly well― would not be the knowledge that saves and that leads to eternal life; someone who exercises counsel and charity with those in need.”
These considerations permit us to go into the third part of our exposition.
3. Some constants belonging to the Priestly life:
In speaking of the ministry of priests, the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis recalls for us some primordial functions, in relation to the tria munera Christi, the ministry of the word, that of the sacraments, and that of governing the People of God.
a) The ministry of the word
The Christian community, says the Conciliar document, “are joined together primarily by the word of the living God. And rightfully they expect this from their priests. Since no one can be saved who does not first believe; Priests, as co-workers with their bishops, have the primary duty of proclaiming the Gospel of God” (no. 4). There exists, therefore, an inescapable duty to transmit the “word of God”, so that the faith might reach all men of all races and conditions. Its foundation lies in the command of Jesus to the Apostles and to those who were to continue his mission in time: “Announce the Gospel, the ‘good news’ of the Kingdom that has been restored with His coming. With clear lights, the Apostle of the gentiles had thus understood it, when he said “For if I preach the Gospel, it is no glory to me, for a necessity lieth upon me: for woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.” (1 Cor 9: 16).
This is not the moment to be occupied with how to carry out the ministry of the word, a task which ―according to the circumstances of persons, place and time― can be presented in many and varied forms, among which the homily takes principal place. But I find it of interest to say that the Priest, as having been sent by Jesus Christ to announce the Gospel message, ought to foster in a lively way that “holy restlessness” of bringing to all souls the faith and love of God, especially as givingmeaning and direction to human life, highlighting eternal happiness, and always making use of the abundance of truth and with a language that is effective and attractive.
I was referring earlier to St Josemaría’s reputation as a good preacher, even in the 1940s, as can be seen from the fact that many Bishops were calling on him to preach Retreats to their Priests in their dioceses. In line with this, Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo would recount a comment by Fr. Manuel Castro, who was to be the Archbishop of Burgos. When he was yet Bishop of Segovia, he attended a Retreat for the clergy, and, at the end of it, he felt obliged to say some words of gratitude to the preacher. Among other things, he said: “Don Josemaría always hurts; sometimes with a sword of Toledo blade, at other times with a hand grenade.”
It seems to me that this comment illustrates very well the “holy restlessness” that every Priest ought to awaken with his preaching in the souls of the faithful. It is not the fruit of eloquence or of human science ―although he ought to cultivate these―, but rather the work of the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete makes use of the interior life and of the preparation of Priests in order to produce salutary reactions in souls.
Allow me to return to that Retreat of Alacuás, to which I referred earlier. The protagonist of the account narrates that, on hearing the words of the Founder of Opus Dei, she experienced a profound supernatural disquiet. She realized that the Lord was inviting her to give Him her entire life in the midst of the world; but her first reaction was that of defending herself, of wanted to drown that voice that resounded within her through the words of the Priest. Then a day came when, preaching about the Passion of our Lord, St Josemaría invited the attendees to consider the scenes as being very much present, something very personal: “All this He has suffered for you. You, at least, since you don’t want to do what He is asking of you, should have the courage to look at the Tabernacle and to tell Him: This thing You’re asking me to do: I don’t want it.”
The outcome of that interior fight became apparent. That woman wanted to carry the Work as well, and along with other young women, she constituted the first established nucleus of women of Opus Dei, which was still forming at that time. Precisely on this coming 14th of February, there shall have passed 80 years since that day when the Lord put that passion in the soul of St Josemaría. Thus I dare ask you for prayers so that this leavenof sanctity continue to be efficacious in the life of Christians.
We can extract a lesson from these events. So that the voice of Christ who speaks in the Church resound faithfully in our ears, the Priest has to exert every effort to grow constantly in intimacy with God. For this reason, he ought to dedicate the necessary time to the meditation on the word of God, and prepare his preaching with exquisite care, in different ways. The transmission of the word of God demands, as St Josemaría would point out, “interior life: we have to speak to the others about holy things, ‘ex abundantia enim cordis, os loquitur’ (Mt 12: 34), out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And along with interior life, study (…). Study, doctrine which we incorporate into our very lives: only in that way will we know how to give to others, in the best way, adjusting ourselves to their needs and circumstances, with the gift of tongues.”
b) The ministry of the sacraments
We were recalling that Vatican II explains the institution of the priestly ministry, saying that the Lord “constituted certain ministers who, in company with the faithful, would have the sacred power of Orders, to offer the sacrifice and to forgive sins”.
The sanctifying mission of clergy is, thus, principally manifested in the celebration of two sacraments: the Eucharist and Penance. On the altar, the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary is made present,the fount of life in the Church; while in sacramental Confession,auricular and secret, there takes place that great encounter between Christ and each soul, for the forgiveness of his sins. The celebration of these two sacraments, St Josemaría would explain, “is of such critical importance in the mission of the Priest, that everything else ought to revolve around it. His other priestly tasks, preaching and instruction in the faith, will have no foundation, if they weren’t to be directed toward teaching people to deal with Christ, to find themselves with Him in the loving tribunal which is Penance and in the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary at Holy Mass.”
Therefore, the many holy Priests of the Church ―they are so no less today― have made the Holy Sacrifice present on a daily basis, and have tried to dedicate the best hours of their day to the celebration of the sacrament of Penance, as was very patent in the life of the Curé of Ars. We cannot forget that this holy patron of confessors, even though the storms of revolution of his time had tried to eliminate all vestige of religious practice, “tried with all means possible, in his preaching and with his persuasive advice, to get his parishioners to re-discover the meaning and beauty of sacramental Penance, showing it as a most intimate demand of Eucharistic presence.”
As regards the Eucharistic sacrifice, I find it opportune, in this context, to re-read those other words of Benedict XVI: “In the Eucharistic mystery, Christ gives Himself anew, and precisely in the Eucharist we learn the love of Christ and, as a consequence, the love of the Church. Thus, I repeat with you, beloved brothers in the Priesthood, those unforgettable words of John Paul II: “The Holy Mass is, in an absolute sense, the center of my life and of my entire day”. And each one of us can repeat these words as if they were ours: “The Holy Mass is, in an absolute sense, the center of my life and of my entire day”.
Yes, the Holy Mass ought to be for all of us the “center and root of our interior life” as St Josemaría would repeat to all the faithful. But it is necessary to carry out an intense work of catechesis, of formation and guidance in what refers to sacramental life, through our example and our word. Along with this, we have to take exquisite care of the house of God and of the liturgical art that enriches it, so that everything can go on with maximum dignity and so that there be a dignified cult to Our Lord. “His house”, the Scriptures warn us, ought to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Mk 11: 17).
We priests have to likewise take very good care of the Eucharistic cult outside of Mass, in our dealings with our Lord in the Tabernacle. There comes to mind another event in the life of the Founder of Opus Dei, which sheds a lot of light on this point. It happened in 1974, toward the end of his earthly life, during a long pastoral trip to various South American countries. One day, they showed St Josemaría some slides of Peru; among others, there was one in which the effects of a ‘huaico’ were quite visible [a natural disaster, causing an avalanche, typical of the Andean countries], which buried a village. Only the upper part of the Church’s bell tower was left visible. When they were told that our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in that little Church, and that there was no way for them to have taken the Hosts out before the avalanche happened, had a deep impact on St Josemaría. The thought of that Tabernacle buried underneath meters of rubble, in which our Lord was left alone, left him unable to sleep that night: he spent it in vigil, accompanying the Most Blessed Sacrament with that desire, making a lot of acts of love and Spiritual Communions.
c) Governing the people of God
Priests have also been given the ministry of governing the People of God, participating in the authority of Christ, Head and Shepherd. It is a spiritual power, conferred upon them for the building up of souls (cf. 2 Cor. 10: 8; 13: 10). In this task ―Vatican Council II reminds us― Priests “must treat all with exceptional kindness in imitation of the Lord. They should act toward men, not as seeking to please them (cf. Gal. 1: 10) but in accord with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. They should teach them and admonish them as beloved sons (cf. 1 Cor. 4: 14) according to the words of the Apostle: "Be urgent in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine" (2 Tim 4:2).
This charity-filled behavior, which ought to accompany the life of Priests, is manifested in many and varied aspects. I recall here only a few: not to seek one’s own interests, but those of Jesus Christ (cf. Philip 2: 21); imitating Christ, who has “not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20: 28); sincerely recognizing and promoting the role that belongs to each Christian in the mission of the Church; having a maximum respect for the just freedom that everyone has in human society; seconding the noble aspirations that arise in the Christian community; examining with the help of grace the diverse charisms, recognizing them with joy when they are from God and fostering them with care, especially those that move people toward a loftier spiritual life. I affirm it in sum with the words of Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 9: “Priests have been placed in the midst of the laity to lead them to the unity of charity, ‘loving one another with fraternal love, eager to give one another precedence’ (Rom 12:10). (…) They are united by a special solicitude with those who have fallen away from the use of the sacraments, or perhaps even from the faith. Indeed, as good shepherds, they should not cease from going out to them.”
4. The primacy of grace in the Priestly life
As I come to the final part of this lecture, I would like to read some words of the Pope in another meeting with Priests, this time in the Diocese of Albano. “The time we set aside for prayer is not time taken from our pastoral responsibility but is precisely pastoral "work"; it is also praying for others. In the "Common of Pastors", one reads as a typical feature of the good Pastor that multum oravit pro fratribus. This is proper to the Pastor, that he should be a man of prayer, that he should come before the Lord praying for others, even replacing others who perhaps do not know how to pray, do not want to pray or do not make the time to pray. Thus, it is obvious that this dialogue with God is pastoral work!”
And he further adds, referring to the Sacrifice of the Altar and to the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours: “the Church gives us, imposes upon us - but always like a good Mother - the obligation to make free time for God with the two practices that constitute a part of our duties: the celebration of Holy Mass and the recitation of the Breviary. However, rather than reciting it, this means putting it into practice by listening to the word which the Lord offers us in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is essential to interiorize this word, to be attentive to what the Lord is saying to me with this word, to listen, then, to the comments of the Fathers of the Church or also of the Council in the Second Reading of the Office of Readings, and to pray with this great invocation, the Psalms, by which we are inserted into the prayer of all the ages. (…) I would say that this time dedicated to the Liturgy of the Hours is precious time.”
Priestly piety consists in a solid and profound dealing with God the Father through Jesus Christ in union with the Holy Spirit, nourished by the sources which are the Word of God and the Most Holy Eucharist, and animated by a tender devotion to the Virgin, Mother of the Most High Priest and Queen of Apostles. St Paul understood it well when, in the Letter to Timothy, he wrote: “…train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.” (1 Tim 4: 7-10).
Certainly, for this piety to flourish, interior peace is needed, “For God is not the God of dissension, but of peace” (1 Cor 14: 33). This peace that is admirably offered by the grace of the sacrament of Penance and which proceeds, on the one hand, from a holy struggle to avoid what the Apostle calls “works of the flesh” (Gal 5: 19), and on the other hand, from the exquisite care given to cultivating the fruits which, according to St Paul himself, the Holy Spirit makes germinate in us: “Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, continence” (Gal 5: 22-23).
In order to live priestly piety, there is a definite need to strengthen one’s faith, hope, and love, putting all of one’s trust in God, with true filial devotion, because we are truly sons of His in Christ Jesus, a joyful truth which ought to guide us continually. Whatever event--we should think in this wa-- happens out of the goodness of God, even when it pains us at the human level--even if we don’t understand it-- we know that God permits it for the good, so He may draw a greater good.
The Second Vatican Council asked us to live our ministry “in a holy way and with enthusiasm, with humility and fortitude, in accord with the image of the High and Eternal Priest, Pastor and Bishop of our souls.” To do this, we need a strong unity of life, as St Josemaría would characteristically express it. He loved to repeat, in one form or another, that “there is only one life, made of flesh and of spirit, and that is what will have to be ―in soul and body― holy and filled with God”. Applying these words to our priestly existence, I would say that we are talking about seeking growth in our love for God and for neighbor through the very exercise, everyday, of our ministry, at times in humble and hidden tasks, which are always transformed by grace into a joyful path of sanctity and of service to others.
I conclude with some other words of the Founder of Opus Dei, who so loyally incarnated the figure of the High and Eternal Priest. He would say: “The Priest, if he has a true priestly spirit, if he is a man of interior life, can never feel alone. No one can have a heart that is so much in love as he! He is a man of Love, the representative between men and Love made Man. He lives by Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ. This is a divine reality which moves me deep within, whenever on a daily basis, lifting up and having in my hands the Chalice and the Sacred Host, I repeat slowly, savoring them, these words of the Canon: Per Ipsum, et cum Ipso et in Ipso... Through Him, with Him, in Him, for Him and for souls, I live. I live on His love and for His love, despite my personal miseries. And despite those miseries, or perhaps because of them, my Love is a love that is renewed each day.”
Let us ask Holy Mary, Mother of Fair Love, Mother of Priests, to obtain for us these affections from the Trinity.
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For the original address in Spanish, along with Footnotes/References, click here:
http://www.opusdei.es/art.php?p=37072
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http://www.opusdei.es/art.php?p=37072
Msgr. Javier Echevarría delivered a paper, entitled “Priestly Identity, Priestly Sanctity”, at the Almudí Theological Dialogues, upon the invitation of the Archbishop of Valencia Msgr. Carlos Osoro.
5 February 2010
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It was with great joy, and with a desire to learn from everyone, that I accepted the invitation of Msgr. Carlos Osoro to offer some remarks to the priests of this Archdiocese, on the occasion of the Year of the Priest. If it always brings me joy to meet with my brothers in the priesthood, in this case there is the added fact that such a meeting brings me to Valencia, a place which St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer held very dear to his heart.
There are many reasons for the special affection that St Josemaría had for Valencia. It was here, in fact, that the first expansion of Opus Dei took place outside Madrid, where it had its birth on October 2, 1928. To this city the Founder of the Work travelled frequently, both before and after the conflict that was to chastise the country, in order to set down foundations for apostolic work; from here would come some of the first persons—both men and women—called by God to Opus Dei; here he preached many retreats—to seminarians as well as to priests—from even before 1939, in a bond of brotherly friendship with some exemplary priests.
Without attempting to give an exhaustive list, I should like to mention some of those great servants of the Church. In the first place, Archbishop Father Prudencio Melo y Alcalde, who frequently urged him to start a permanent apostolic work of Opus Dei in this Archdiocese; Father Antonio Rodilla, Vicar General and later Rector of the Seminary, who asked him to preach retreats to priests, seminarians, and university students; the Servant of God Father Eladio España, a priest of great repute as a confessor, who would send to St Josemaría many young people looking for a deeper formation in the faith and in the Christian life. I would also mention Father Joaquín Mestre, secretary to the Archbishop, Father Marcelino Olaechea, and a witness to the reputation for holiness which our Founder enjoyed even during his life. During the canonical process of beatification for the Founder of Opus Dei, Father Joaquín Mestre testified as to what Fr. Marcelino had repeatedly told him, up to the very end of his life: “If I die before Fr. Josemaría, say that I have always regarded him as a saintly priest.” St. Josemaria had bonds of friendship, likewise, with Father José María García Lahiguera and the beloved Father Miguel Roca. Toward Fr. José María he felt profound gratitude for fraternally welcoming him when he was faced with the “lack of understanding of the good”; toward Fr. Miguel, St. Josemaria showed fatherly affection and set him on a path leading to the priesthood.
These brief reminiscences provide the context for my present remarks, which are aimed at showing that a priest’s devotion, as derived from the knowledge we have of ourselves as alter Christus, ipse Christus, is a necessary condition for the efficacy of our ministry in the service of souls. We can take as our own the words which St Josemaría wrote in one of his books: “My God, I see that I shall never accept you as my Savior, unless I acknowledge you as my Model at the same time.”1
1. The Priesthood of Christ, the only and unique Priesthood of the New Covenant
From its introductory lines, the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis of the Second Vatican Council makes it clear that “the Lord Jesus ‘whom the Father has sent into the world’ (Jn 10:36) has made his whole Mystical Body a sharer in the anointing of the Spirit with which he himself is anointed” (cf. Mt 3: 16; Lk 4: 18; Acts 4: 27; 10: 38).2 This truth constitutes a basic teaching about the nature of the Church: the participation of all Christians in Christ’s anointing, and in his saving work, that is to say, in His Supreme Priesthood. Indeed, making use of the words of the First Letter of St Peter, the Council continues: “In Christ, all the faithful are made a holy and royal priesthood; they offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ, and they proclaim the perfections of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvelous light,” (cf. 1 Pt 2: 5-9). Therefore, there is no member who does not have a part in the mission of the whole Body; but each one ought to hallow Jesus in his heart, (cf. 1 Pt 3: 15) and in the spirit of prophecy bear witness to Jesus (cf. Apoc 19: 10).”3
The joy with which St Josemaría received this Conciliar teaching is very much alive in my memory, since, through his own priestly ministry, he had been broadcasting this marvelous reality for more than 35 years. And so I agree completely with those who would consider this holy priest a kind of precursor of the Council in this point of Christian doctrine, so central to the lay spirituality in the Church, as well as in other aspects of Christian doctrine contained in the documents of that Ecumenical Council, such as the universal call to holiness.4
The decree Presbyterorum Ordinis immediately adds that the Lord Himself “established ministers among his faithful to unite them together in one body in which, ‘not all the members have the same function’ (Rom 12:4). These ministers in the society of the faithful are able by the sacred power of orders to offer sacrifice and to forgive sins (cf. Council of Trent, session 23, chapter 1, canon 1: Denz. 1764 & 1771), and who could publicly carry out the Priestly office in Christ’s name, on behalf of men”.5 On this basis I would like to highlight certain consequences for our lives and our priestly mission.
Let us begin by recalling that the priesthood wherever it is found in the Church is a participation in the one Priesthood of Jesus Christ, as the Letter to the Hebrews admirably explains. God in the “fullness of time” wanted to raise up a new priesthood that was to replace the Levitical priesthood. The latter was good and appropriate for the period in which it was established, but it was destined to disappear once it had fulfilled its task of preparing for the eternal and immutable Priesthood of Christ, a new Priesthood “according to the line of Melchisedech” (cf. Heb. 5: 6, 10; 6: 20; 7: 1-3, 11-17).
The author of the Letter sets out the reasons for the evident superiority of the priesthood of Melchisedech over that of the Levitical priesthood, even under the Old Law, and then he additionally explains the superiority of the Priesthood of Christ for reasons intrinsic to it ―namely, that it is perfect, indefectible, and eternal, and sealed by God through an oath. He concludes by underlining that only Christ could have incarnated such a Priesthood: “It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself” (Heb 7: 26-7).
To Christ the High Priesthood suitably belongs, for He was ―and He is, in æternum— since He is the Son of God, holy and without blemish. If the Letter adds the expression “separated from sinners”, this is not for the reason that he was distant from us men, His brothers ―for He came to seek out that which was lost (cf. Lk 15 ff.)―but rather because He lacked any blemish of sin (cf. Heb 4: 15). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews points out, on the other hand, that Christ “by one offering has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated” (Heb 10: 14), referring with this phrase to the one and only sacrifice that is truly redemptive, namely, that of the Cross.6
The words “has made perfect” render an expression which has deep theological significance, as it encompasses the ideas of “perfection,” “fullness,” “consecration,” and “sanctification.” The expression which corresponds to it in Hebrew was used both for the anointing of the priests under the Old Covenant, and for the consecration of the Temple. Moreover ―something highly relevant in this context―it is the “last word” that Jesus pronounced from the Cross: “It is accomplished” (Jn 19: 30).
What the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews in fact wishes to tell us is that Christ fulfilled a sacrifice which is of such efficacy ―so boundless― that those who participate in it with sincerity of heart when it is offered on the altar can attain perfection, holiness of life, the forgiveness of sins, a clean conscience, and entrance into the intimate life of God. On account of the offering made by Christ, the Supreme and Eternal Priest (here it is fitting to say again what St Josemaría said once in a Good Friday homily) “The abyss of malice which sin opens wide has been bridged by his infinite charity. God did not abandon men. His plans foresaw that the sacrifices of the old law would be insufficient to repair our faults and re-establish the unity which had been lost. A man who was God would have to offer himself up. To help us grasp in some measure this unfathomable mystery, we might imagine the Blessed Trinity taking counsel together in its uninterrupted intimate relationship of infinite love. As a result of its eternal decision, the only-begotten Son of God the Father takes on our human condition and bears the burden of our wretchedness and sorrows, to end up sewn with nails to a piece of wood.”7 But He conquers through His Resurrection, and so the homily concludes with these hope-filled words: “Only thus will we earn the name of conquerors: for the risen Christ will conquer in us, and death will be changed into life.”8
2. The dimensions of priestly ministry
The state of an ordained priest is marked by a profoundly Christological dimension, insofar as priestly life needs to be entirely a reflection of the holiness, authority and unbounded self-giving of Christ. To this the ecclesiological dimension is inseparably joined, in accordance with which all priestly work needs to be directed to the service of the People of God, to the sanctification of every human being. That is why when the question was raised, “What is the identity of a priest?”, St. Josemaria would reply in a way that left no room for doubt, with a profound faith, “It is that of Christ, who wants to perpetuate His Priesthood ―the only and only Priesthood― through His ministers.”9
a) The Christological dimension of the Priestly ministry
Since the Priesthood of ordained priests flows directly from the Priesthood of Christ, a priest’s ministry in the Church ought to be in an intimate and immediate relation to that Priesthood: “For Christ therefore we are ambassadors; God as it were exhorting by us” (2 Cor 5: 20). The Conciliar decree underlines this with the following words: “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” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 1). The Lord makes use of His priests in order to make His presence living in the Church, according to His promise: “and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Mt 28: 20).
In this sense, it turns out very significant that, in his first meeting with the clergy in Rome on 13 May 2005, Benedict XVI pointed out very clearly that “ it is indispensable to return continually to the root of our priesthood. This root, as we well know is a singular root, Our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Roman Pontiff adds: “But this Jesus has nothing that belongs to Him: everything is totally from the Father and for the Father”. Thus the Pope drew a consequence for each one of us: “This is likewise the true nature of our Priesthood. In reality, that which constitutes our ministry cannot be the product of our personal abilities”. The Holy Father brought this point down to concrete resolutions: “We have not been sent to announce ourselves or our own personal opinions, but rather the Mystery of Christ (…). Our mission does not consist in saying many words, but in being an echo and spokesman for the one ‘Word’, who is the Word of God made flesh for our salvation”.
As a consequence, to fulfill oneself as Priest means to be fully united to Christ, identifying oneself with Him in the Priestly Ministry and in his entire conduct. It means being transparent, so that the faithful may see the Master, the Redeemer, so that the faithful are not drawn to fix their gaze on the person of the Priest. Toward this end, I find most significant an event that happened in this region of Valencia. It is narrated by one of the first women of Opus Dei, Encarnación Ortega, whose process of beatification is in progress. She attended the first Retreat preached by St Josemaría for female university students in Alacuás, where the Operarias Doctrineras [‘Workers of Doctrine’] had a Retreat house.
Encarnita, then a young lady of 21 years, had gone those days to that Retreat, moved by the desire ―or perhaps a curiosity― to know the author of The Way, a book that had caused a profound impact on her. After the death of St Josemaría, she wrote a testimony, in which she explains how she was impressed with the figure of this Priest, even before she heard him preach. She writes: “His recollection, full of naturalness, his genuflections before the Tabernacle, and his way of presenting before us the introductory prayer of the meditation--encouraging us to be aware that the Lord was among us, and that He was looking upon us and listening to us--made me instantly forget my own desire to hear a great orator, and it was changed into the need to listen to God and to be generous with Him”.
St Josemaría’s advice was entirely congruent with that behavior: “It seems to me that what is being asked of us Priests is the humility to learn not to be ‘in fashion’, but rather to truly be servants of the servants of God ―calling to mind that cry of the Baptist illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Jn 3: 30); ‘He must increase and I must decrease’―, so that ordinary Christians, the laity, may make Christ present in all areas of society.”
b) Ecclesiological dimension
Let us return to the Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 5: At first it pauses and reflects on the Levitical priesthood, and yet certain lineaments of that priesthood turn out to have perennial significance: “for every High Priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins. Who can have compassion on them that are ignorant and that err: because he himself also is compassed with infirmity; And therefore he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest: but he that said unto him: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place: Thou art a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech” (Heb. 5: 1-6).
These words trace out and describe the mission that belongs to the priest in the Church, in harmony with his being and his living in Christ. The priestly ministry is marked by its profoundly ecclesial character. The presbyter, “chosen from among men” by divine vocation, which is effected in the reception of the sacrament of Orders, becomes “in favor of men”: ordered to the good of all of humanity; not toward an earthly good ―although it does not ignore temporal reality, but this is not what defines its mission― but rather “to what refers to God”. As St Paul would explain in writing to Timothy: the Priest is “a man of God” (1 Tim 6: 11). As St Josemaría would repeat throughout his life, paraphrasing the Apostle: we ought to preach Christ, Christ crucified, who is the Love of Heaven for every creature.
In the meeting with the Roman clergy which I mentioned earlier, Benedict XVI highlighted that, “in having its root in Christ, the Priesthood is, by its very nature, in the Church and for the Church (…). It has a constitutive relationship with the body of Christ, in His double and inseparable dimension of Eucharist and Church, of Eucharistic body and of Ecclesial body. Thus, our ministry is amoris officium (St Augustine, In Ioann. ev. tract. 123, 5): it is the office of the good shepherd, who gives his life for his sheep (cf. Jn. 10: 14-15)”, and he carries this out joyfully, aware of that marvelous reality, since each one is ‘Priest forever’, today, now and forever.
In the homily of a Mass of priestly ordinations, the Pope was insisting on this duty to be “good shepherd” in the likeness of the Good Shepherd who is Christ: he expressed “the three fundamental affirmations of Jesus regarding the good shepherd”. The first is that the shepherd gives his life for his sheep. “We ought to give our life, from day to day,” the Holy Father explained. “I ought to learn, day after day, that I do not have possession of my life for my own sake. Day after day I ought to learn to detach myself from myself, to be at the Lord’s disposal for whatever He might need me at each moment, even though other things might seem to me more attractive and more important.”
The second affirmation is that the good Shepherd knows his sheep and his sheep know Him (cf. Jn. 10: 14-15). “This implies, before anything else, acting in profound relation with Christ, and through Him, with the Father, as an indispensable condition for truly understanding persons and for accompanying them in their needs and their questions (…). It has to be a knowledge with the heart of Jesus, a knowledge that is oriented toward Him, a knowledge that does not link the person to me, but one that leads the person toward Jesus, thus making him free and open.”
The third characteristic is: “In addition, I have other sheep who are not in this sheepfold; even those I have to attract; they shall hear my voice, and there shall be only one sheepfold, only one shepherd” (Jn 10: 16). The Pope concludes: “Obviously, a Priest, a shepherd of souls, ought to occupy himself above all with those who believe and live with the Church (…). Nevertheless, as the Lord says, we also ought to go out anew ‘to the highways and byways’ (Lk 14: 23) to bring God’s invitation to His banquet even to those who, up to now, have not heard about Him or have not been interiorly touched by Him”.
In this context, some very meaningful words of St Josemaría occur to me, when he wished to clarify the mistaken notion of those who “think that Christians want to see, in the Priest, one more man. No, this is not true. In the Priest ―he would say―, they want to admire the virtues proper to any Christian, and even to an honest man: understanding, justice, life of work ―priestly work, in this case―, charity, learning, delicateness in dealings. But along with these, the faithful wish to see stand out in him the Priestly character.”
Later on, he would explain more specifically what is implicit in these affirmations: “They expect the Priest to pray, to not refuse to administer the Sacraments, to be ready to receive everyone without making himself ‘the boss’ or ‘militant of human factions’, whatever form this might take (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 6); someone who puts all his love and devotion into the celebration of the Holy Mass, who sits in the confessional, who consoles the sick and the infirm, who imparts doctrine through catechesis to children and to adults, who preaches the Word of God and not whatever human knowledge which ―although he would know this perfectly well― would not be the knowledge that saves and that leads to eternal life; someone who exercises counsel and charity with those in need.”
These considerations permit us to go into the third part of our exposition.
3. Some constants belonging to the Priestly life:
In speaking of the ministry of priests, the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis recalls for us some primordial functions, in relation to the tria munera Christi, the ministry of the word, that of the sacraments, and that of governing the People of God.
a) The ministry of the word
The Christian community, says the Conciliar document, “are joined together primarily by the word of the living God. And rightfully they expect this from their priests. Since no one can be saved who does not first believe; Priests, as co-workers with their bishops, have the primary duty of proclaiming the Gospel of God” (no. 4). There exists, therefore, an inescapable duty to transmit the “word of God”, so that the faith might reach all men of all races and conditions. Its foundation lies in the command of Jesus to the Apostles and to those who were to continue his mission in time: “Announce the Gospel, the ‘good news’ of the Kingdom that has been restored with His coming. With clear lights, the Apostle of the gentiles had thus understood it, when he said “For if I preach the Gospel, it is no glory to me, for a necessity lieth upon me: for woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.” (1 Cor 9: 16).
This is not the moment to be occupied with how to carry out the ministry of the word, a task which ―according to the circumstances of persons, place and time― can be presented in many and varied forms, among which the homily takes principal place. But I find it of interest to say that the Priest, as having been sent by Jesus Christ to announce the Gospel message, ought to foster in a lively way that “holy restlessness” of bringing to all souls the faith and love of God, especially as givingmeaning and direction to human life, highlighting eternal happiness, and always making use of the abundance of truth and with a language that is effective and attractive.
I was referring earlier to St Josemaría’s reputation as a good preacher, even in the 1940s, as can be seen from the fact that many Bishops were calling on him to preach Retreats to their Priests in their dioceses. In line with this, Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo would recount a comment by Fr. Manuel Castro, who was to be the Archbishop of Burgos. When he was yet Bishop of Segovia, he attended a Retreat for the clergy, and, at the end of it, he felt obliged to say some words of gratitude to the preacher. Among other things, he said: “Don Josemaría always hurts; sometimes with a sword of Toledo blade, at other times with a hand grenade.”
It seems to me that this comment illustrates very well the “holy restlessness” that every Priest ought to awaken with his preaching in the souls of the faithful. It is not the fruit of eloquence or of human science ―although he ought to cultivate these―, but rather the work of the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete makes use of the interior life and of the preparation of Priests in order to produce salutary reactions in souls.
Allow me to return to that Retreat of Alacuás, to which I referred earlier. The protagonist of the account narrates that, on hearing the words of the Founder of Opus Dei, she experienced a profound supernatural disquiet. She realized that the Lord was inviting her to give Him her entire life in the midst of the world; but her first reaction was that of defending herself, of wanted to drown that voice that resounded within her through the words of the Priest. Then a day came when, preaching about the Passion of our Lord, St Josemaría invited the attendees to consider the scenes as being very much present, something very personal: “All this He has suffered for you. You, at least, since you don’t want to do what He is asking of you, should have the courage to look at the Tabernacle and to tell Him: This thing You’re asking me to do: I don’t want it.”
The outcome of that interior fight became apparent. That woman wanted to carry the Work as well, and along with other young women, she constituted the first established nucleus of women of Opus Dei, which was still forming at that time. Precisely on this coming 14th of February, there shall have passed 80 years since that day when the Lord put that passion in the soul of St Josemaría. Thus I dare ask you for prayers so that this leavenof sanctity continue to be efficacious in the life of Christians.
We can extract a lesson from these events. So that the voice of Christ who speaks in the Church resound faithfully in our ears, the Priest has to exert every effort to grow constantly in intimacy with God. For this reason, he ought to dedicate the necessary time to the meditation on the word of God, and prepare his preaching with exquisite care, in different ways. The transmission of the word of God demands, as St Josemaría would point out, “interior life: we have to speak to the others about holy things, ‘ex abundantia enim cordis, os loquitur’ (Mt 12: 34), out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And along with interior life, study (…). Study, doctrine which we incorporate into our very lives: only in that way will we know how to give to others, in the best way, adjusting ourselves to their needs and circumstances, with the gift of tongues.”
b) The ministry of the sacraments
We were recalling that Vatican II explains the institution of the priestly ministry, saying that the Lord “constituted certain ministers who, in company with the faithful, would have the sacred power of Orders, to offer the sacrifice and to forgive sins”.
The sanctifying mission of clergy is, thus, principally manifested in the celebration of two sacraments: the Eucharist and Penance. On the altar, the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary is made present,the fount of life in the Church; while in sacramental Confession,auricular and secret, there takes place that great encounter between Christ and each soul, for the forgiveness of his sins. The celebration of these two sacraments, St Josemaría would explain, “is of such critical importance in the mission of the Priest, that everything else ought to revolve around it. His other priestly tasks, preaching and instruction in the faith, will have no foundation, if they weren’t to be directed toward teaching people to deal with Christ, to find themselves with Him in the loving tribunal which is Penance and in the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary at Holy Mass.”
Therefore, the many holy Priests of the Church ―they are so no less today― have made the Holy Sacrifice present on a daily basis, and have tried to dedicate the best hours of their day to the celebration of the sacrament of Penance, as was very patent in the life of the Curé of Ars. We cannot forget that this holy patron of confessors, even though the storms of revolution of his time had tried to eliminate all vestige of religious practice, “tried with all means possible, in his preaching and with his persuasive advice, to get his parishioners to re-discover the meaning and beauty of sacramental Penance, showing it as a most intimate demand of Eucharistic presence.”
As regards the Eucharistic sacrifice, I find it opportune, in this context, to re-read those other words of Benedict XVI: “In the Eucharistic mystery, Christ gives Himself anew, and precisely in the Eucharist we learn the love of Christ and, as a consequence, the love of the Church. Thus, I repeat with you, beloved brothers in the Priesthood, those unforgettable words of John Paul II: “The Holy Mass is, in an absolute sense, the center of my life and of my entire day”. And each one of us can repeat these words as if they were ours: “The Holy Mass is, in an absolute sense, the center of my life and of my entire day”.
Yes, the Holy Mass ought to be for all of us the “center and root of our interior life” as St Josemaría would repeat to all the faithful. But it is necessary to carry out an intense work of catechesis, of formation and guidance in what refers to sacramental life, through our example and our word. Along with this, we have to take exquisite care of the house of God and of the liturgical art that enriches it, so that everything can go on with maximum dignity and so that there be a dignified cult to Our Lord. “His house”, the Scriptures warn us, ought to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Mk 11: 17).
We priests have to likewise take very good care of the Eucharistic cult outside of Mass, in our dealings with our Lord in the Tabernacle. There comes to mind another event in the life of the Founder of Opus Dei, which sheds a lot of light on this point. It happened in 1974, toward the end of his earthly life, during a long pastoral trip to various South American countries. One day, they showed St Josemaría some slides of Peru; among others, there was one in which the effects of a ‘huaico’ were quite visible [a natural disaster, causing an avalanche, typical of the Andean countries], which buried a village. Only the upper part of the Church’s bell tower was left visible. When they were told that our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in that little Church, and that there was no way for them to have taken the Hosts out before the avalanche happened, had a deep impact on St Josemaría. The thought of that Tabernacle buried underneath meters of rubble, in which our Lord was left alone, left him unable to sleep that night: he spent it in vigil, accompanying the Most Blessed Sacrament with that desire, making a lot of acts of love and Spiritual Communions.
c) Governing the people of God
Priests have also been given the ministry of governing the People of God, participating in the authority of Christ, Head and Shepherd. It is a spiritual power, conferred upon them for the building up of souls (cf. 2 Cor. 10: 8; 13: 10). In this task ―Vatican Council II reminds us― Priests “must treat all with exceptional kindness in imitation of the Lord. They should act toward men, not as seeking to please them (cf. Gal. 1: 10) but in accord with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. They should teach them and admonish them as beloved sons (cf. 1 Cor. 4: 14) according to the words of the Apostle: "Be urgent in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine" (2 Tim 4:2).
This charity-filled behavior, which ought to accompany the life of Priests, is manifested in many and varied aspects. I recall here only a few: not to seek one’s own interests, but those of Jesus Christ (cf. Philip 2: 21); imitating Christ, who has “not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20: 28); sincerely recognizing and promoting the role that belongs to each Christian in the mission of the Church; having a maximum respect for the just freedom that everyone has in human society; seconding the noble aspirations that arise in the Christian community; examining with the help of grace the diverse charisms, recognizing them with joy when they are from God and fostering them with care, especially those that move people toward a loftier spiritual life. I affirm it in sum with the words of Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 9: “Priests have been placed in the midst of the laity to lead them to the unity of charity, ‘loving one another with fraternal love, eager to give one another precedence’ (Rom 12:10). (…) They are united by a special solicitude with those who have fallen away from the use of the sacraments, or perhaps even from the faith. Indeed, as good shepherds, they should not cease from going out to them.”
4. The primacy of grace in the Priestly life
As I come to the final part of this lecture, I would like to read some words of the Pope in another meeting with Priests, this time in the Diocese of Albano. “The time we set aside for prayer is not time taken from our pastoral responsibility but is precisely pastoral "work"; it is also praying for others. In the "Common of Pastors", one reads as a typical feature of the good Pastor that multum oravit pro fratribus. This is proper to the Pastor, that he should be a man of prayer, that he should come before the Lord praying for others, even replacing others who perhaps do not know how to pray, do not want to pray or do not make the time to pray. Thus, it is obvious that this dialogue with God is pastoral work!”
And he further adds, referring to the Sacrifice of the Altar and to the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours: “the Church gives us, imposes upon us - but always like a good Mother - the obligation to make free time for God with the two practices that constitute a part of our duties: the celebration of Holy Mass and the recitation of the Breviary. However, rather than reciting it, this means putting it into practice by listening to the word which the Lord offers us in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is essential to interiorize this word, to be attentive to what the Lord is saying to me with this word, to listen, then, to the comments of the Fathers of the Church or also of the Council in the Second Reading of the Office of Readings, and to pray with this great invocation, the Psalms, by which we are inserted into the prayer of all the ages. (…) I would say that this time dedicated to the Liturgy of the Hours is precious time.”
Priestly piety consists in a solid and profound dealing with God the Father through Jesus Christ in union with the Holy Spirit, nourished by the sources which are the Word of God and the Most Holy Eucharist, and animated by a tender devotion to the Virgin, Mother of the Most High Priest and Queen of Apostles. St Paul understood it well when, in the Letter to Timothy, he wrote: “…train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.” (1 Tim 4: 7-10).
Certainly, for this piety to flourish, interior peace is needed, “For God is not the God of dissension, but of peace” (1 Cor 14: 33). This peace that is admirably offered by the grace of the sacrament of Penance and which proceeds, on the one hand, from a holy struggle to avoid what the Apostle calls “works of the flesh” (Gal 5: 19), and on the other hand, from the exquisite care given to cultivating the fruits which, according to St Paul himself, the Holy Spirit makes germinate in us: “Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, continence” (Gal 5: 22-23).
In order to live priestly piety, there is a definite need to strengthen one’s faith, hope, and love, putting all of one’s trust in God, with true filial devotion, because we are truly sons of His in Christ Jesus, a joyful truth which ought to guide us continually. Whatever event--we should think in this wa-- happens out of the goodness of God, even when it pains us at the human level--even if we don’t understand it-- we know that God permits it for the good, so He may draw a greater good.
The Second Vatican Council asked us to live our ministry “in a holy way and with enthusiasm, with humility and fortitude, in accord with the image of the High and Eternal Priest, Pastor and Bishop of our souls.” To do this, we need a strong unity of life, as St Josemaría would characteristically express it. He loved to repeat, in one form or another, that “there is only one life, made of flesh and of spirit, and that is what will have to be ―in soul and body― holy and filled with God”. Applying these words to our priestly existence, I would say that we are talking about seeking growth in our love for God and for neighbor through the very exercise, everyday, of our ministry, at times in humble and hidden tasks, which are always transformed by grace into a joyful path of sanctity and of service to others.
I conclude with some other words of the Founder of Opus Dei, who so loyally incarnated the figure of the High and Eternal Priest. He would say: “The Priest, if he has a true priestly spirit, if he is a man of interior life, can never feel alone. No one can have a heart that is so much in love as he! He is a man of Love, the representative between men and Love made Man. He lives by Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ. This is a divine reality which moves me deep within, whenever on a daily basis, lifting up and having in my hands the Chalice and the Sacred Host, I repeat slowly, savoring them, these words of the Canon: Per Ipsum, et cum Ipso et in Ipso... Through Him, with Him, in Him, for Him and for souls, I live. I live on His love and for His love, despite my personal miseries. And despite those miseries, or perhaps because of them, my Love is a love that is renewed each day.”
Let us ask Holy Mary, Mother of Fair Love, Mother of Priests, to obtain for us these affections from the Trinity.
--o--o--o--o--o--
For the original address in Spanish, along with Footnotes/References, click here:
http://www.opusdei.es/art.php?p=37072
--o--o--o--o--o--
- alizaracelis
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Re: Address by the Prelate, Valencia, 5-II-10, in ENGLISH
by wmpetzall » February 7th, 2010, 10:43 pm
Wow! That was fast! Thanks, Aliza!
- wmpetzall
- Posts: 55
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- Location: Caracas - VENEZUELA
Re: Address by the Prelate, Valencia, 5-II-10, in ENGLISH
by alizaracelis » February 10th, 2010, 3:53 am
Valencia…and the Retreat attended by Encarnita Ortega:
From March 30 to April 5 Father Josemaría was in Valencia, giving a retreat for the young ladies in Catholic Action, and during that time, when he had a chance to read the decree more closely, he found his joy at the bishop's approval of the Work somewhat diminished. The original text, which had been prepared with such affection by Bishop Eijo y Garay, had been changed substantially. The nuncio, as the bishop had suspected, knew all about the rumors and slanders against Opus Dei, and, fearful of wounding third parties or involving Church authorities in a confrontation, had counseled the bishop to eliminate anything that could in any way be interpreted as excessive. Bishop Eijo y Garay had therefore had to change the text from one of clear, strong, unreserved praise, for an institution promising great spiritual benefits for the diocese and for the universal Church, to one that, though still laudatory, lacked the force needed to proclaim the truth once and for all.
But the Lord, as always, sweetened the bitterness with honey. For that retreat in Valencia produced two vocations of women. On April 6, the day after the retreat, Encarnita Ortega and Enrica Botella went to the residence on Samaniego Street, to be introduced by Father Josemaría to the members there.
At Mass that morning, he had been given a divine locution assuring him that the nuncio would not allow himself to be swayed by the attacks on the Work. He describes in a letter what had happened:
On Palm Sunday in 1941, at Mass, after Communion, I was contemplating the dark outlook and the at least humanly speaking-powerful forces opposing us, and on our side I saw nothing but my weakness as our only defense. Deeply distressed, I set out before the Lord the current situation. And the interior locution-without words, like almost all those I've received in my life, but very clear and precise-was this: "For things to get better, they have to get worse; you will have easier access to the nunciature than to the bishop's residence." This, at the time, did not seem possible. When I got back to Madrid I gave Alvaro a written account, and he was-like me-amazed but sure of its authenticity. Events soon confirmed the divine message."
He went to see Bishop Eijo y Garay, who expressed his joy saying. "At least this persecution has resulted in the Work's getting its approval, since neither you nor I had been in any hurry about that before."
*Source: Andrés Vázquez de Prada, “Founder”, Vol. 2.
--o—o—o—o—o—
From March 30 to April 5 Father Josemaría was in Valencia, giving a retreat for the young ladies in Catholic Action, and during that time, when he had a chance to read the decree more closely, he found his joy at the bishop's approval of the Work somewhat diminished. The original text, which had been prepared with such affection by Bishop Eijo y Garay, had been changed substantially. The nuncio, as the bishop had suspected, knew all about the rumors and slanders against Opus Dei, and, fearful of wounding third parties or involving Church authorities in a confrontation, had counseled the bishop to eliminate anything that could in any way be interpreted as excessive. Bishop Eijo y Garay had therefore had to change the text from one of clear, strong, unreserved praise, for an institution promising great spiritual benefits for the diocese and for the universal Church, to one that, though still laudatory, lacked the force needed to proclaim the truth once and for all.
But the Lord, as always, sweetened the bitterness with honey. For that retreat in Valencia produced two vocations of women. On April 6, the day after the retreat, Encarnita Ortega and Enrica Botella went to the residence on Samaniego Street, to be introduced by Father Josemaría to the members there.
At Mass that morning, he had been given a divine locution assuring him that the nuncio would not allow himself to be swayed by the attacks on the Work. He describes in a letter what had happened:
On Palm Sunday in 1941, at Mass, after Communion, I was contemplating the dark outlook and the at least humanly speaking-powerful forces opposing us, and on our side I saw nothing but my weakness as our only defense. Deeply distressed, I set out before the Lord the current situation. And the interior locution-without words, like almost all those I've received in my life, but very clear and precise-was this: "For things to get better, they have to get worse; you will have easier access to the nunciature than to the bishop's residence." This, at the time, did not seem possible. When I got back to Madrid I gave Alvaro a written account, and he was-like me-amazed but sure of its authenticity. Events soon confirmed the divine message."
He went to see Bishop Eijo y Garay, who expressed his joy saying. "At least this persecution has resulted in the Work's getting its approval, since neither you nor I had been in any hurry about that before."
*Source: Andrés Vázquez de Prada, “Founder”, Vol. 2.
--o—o—o—o—o—
- alizaracelis
- Posts: 438
- Joined: November 9th, 2009, 1:22 pm
Re: Address by the Prelate, Valencia, 5-II-10, in ENGLISH
by alizaracelis » February 13th, 2010, 10:56 pm
From my Filipina friend Jenny:
[Translating from her words in Spanish]
I was with the Father for 5 seconds last February 5th. After the Holy Mass [Cathedral of Valencia], my bosses and I went out to the door which was across from the Archbishop's palace. Half hour later, the Father went out via that door! I, with my lady boss took to the middle of the street, while the numeraries made way for the Father to pass. When the Father came really close, I left my lady boss, and I went to the Father saying "Padre, un cariño desde Filipinas!" Right at the moment that I said "Father!", he looked at me and stopped. Then he asked me "You're a Filipina?" to which I replied "Yes, Father". He was so near that I attempted to kiss his ring, but a "brother" brushed me aside and whisked away the Father so he could head toward the car which was waiting for him.
Those were my 5 seconds of encounter with the Father: they seem very short... but for me, they were the longest 5 seconds of my life!
Jennifer Torres*
Valencia, Spain
--o--o--o--o--
*Jenny is a graduate of Punlaan School in the Philippines:
http://www.punlaan.com/Punlaan%20School/Home.html
Currently she's looking after the household and the members of a Valencian family.
[Translating from her words in Spanish]
I was with the Father for 5 seconds last February 5th. After the Holy Mass [Cathedral of Valencia], my bosses and I went out to the door which was across from the Archbishop's palace. Half hour later, the Father went out via that door! I, with my lady boss took to the middle of the street, while the numeraries made way for the Father to pass. When the Father came really close, I left my lady boss, and I went to the Father saying "Padre, un cariño desde Filipinas!" Right at the moment that I said "Father!", he looked at me and stopped. Then he asked me "You're a Filipina?" to which I replied "Yes, Father". He was so near that I attempted to kiss his ring, but a "brother" brushed me aside and whisked away the Father so he could head toward the car which was waiting for him.
Those were my 5 seconds of encounter with the Father: they seem very short... but for me, they were the longest 5 seconds of my life!
Jennifer Torres*
Valencia, Spain
--o--o--o--o--
*Jenny is a graduate of Punlaan School in the Philippines:
http://www.punlaan.com/Punlaan%20School/Home.html
Currently she's looking after the household and the members of a Valencian family.
- alizaracelis
- Posts: 438
- Joined: November 9th, 2009, 1:22 pm
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