Focus: young people, vocation and holiness of life

The priest will therefore, to the degree that he lives his time of formation and his priesthood well, experience the hundredfold of blessings — blessing that help him become more and more like Christ — in his thoughts, his emotions, his way of acting, in his entire life.

don’t worry. The fact that I will be married to both of you will not diminish in the slightest my love, attention, and devotion to you.” How would Sophie respond? “You’re crazy! A man is only capable of giving his heart to one wife. You must be out of your mind if you think that having a second spouse will not greatly harm your love, attention, and devotion to me.” As a man, you can only give your heart to one spouse. For those of you whom God will call to become priests, you will be called to give your heart to Him alone, to the exclusion of any earthly spouse.

It is difficult to put into words the greatness of the blessings the priest receives by having God alone. The saints and mystics, in attempting to say something of the intimate relationship between the soul of a celibate and his God have used the language of the Song of Songs. They have used poetry and music to give some hint of the blessings God has in store for those who choose Him alone as their portion, yet, in the end, they confess that “eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)

In a healthy marriage, where a man is truly devoted to his spouse, or, to take a different example, where a man has a best friend for many years – perhaps a teenager who spends extended time, over several years, with a best friend – the man is greatly influenced by his spouse, or the teenager by his friend. Because the man’s spouse or friend occupies a major place in his heart, the spouse or friend has a profound influence on his thoughts, his emotions, his way of acting, how he lives his life. If this is the case even in human relationships, how much more so for the man who chooses God alone as his portion; God, who has promised in the Gospel to give a hundredfold in return for whatever we sacrifice for Him? The priest will therefore, to the degree that he lives his time of formation and his priesthood well, experience the hundredfold of blessings – blessing that help him become more and more like Christ – in his thoughts, his emotions, his way of acting, in his entire life.

Even with poor sinners – and I say this as one who, sadly, is still terribly far from fully embracing the gift of the priesthood; as one who is still, unfortunately, in so many ways lukewarm – even with poor sinful men God takes what we offer Him and grants the hundredfold. The Church, as a good mother, knows the weakness of her children and offers us many practical helps and safeguards so that, on a daily basis, we might be strengthened and protected in our priestly life. Though much of these helps have not been sufficiently taught in recent decades, and have therefore, not been truly embraced and put into practice in priestly life, they are still available and are an invaluable help for young men called to become priests.

A priest is called to nourish his spiritual life:

• through the daily celebration of the

Holy Mass, in which he offers the

Holy Sacrifice on behalf of the living and the dead, and leaves aside earthly things in order to be face to face with His God; • through the Divine Office, during which the words of the psalms, prayers of the Church, and readings from Scripture and the saints

constantly teach and guide him in his relationship with God; • through the daily rosary, in which the priest is brought ever closer to

Our Lord and Our Lady; • through daily meditation – by spending at least 30 minutes a day in quiet conversation with God – or by making a Holy Hour; • through spiritual reading; • through regular fasting and Confession – from their days at the seminary priests used to learn the practice of confessing once every 15 days; • through his annual retreat: once a year a priest is required to make an annual 5-day retreat. When made well, these five days of silence for more intense prayer and formation help the priest come more fully face to face with his God, in order to be renewed and blessed in ways that only God can grant.

There are many other ways that a priest is strengthened for the spiritual battle. For example, wearing the cassock on a daily basis – so that all who encounter you, whether on the street, in a shop, on the plane, or elsewhere will know that you are a priest – makes it easier for others to seek his help. But even when not in public, for example even when the priest is going about various duties within the rectory, the cassock helps the priest himself remember that he is consecrated to God, that he is called to serve God and His people all throughout his day – that the priesthood is not “a job” but a consecration to God of all that he is, of his entire life. The priest also lives in a presbytery, a place that should be set aside and decorated in such a way as to help the priest remember that he is in the presence of God, normally with a small chapel in the rectory or with the church close at hand. The priest also has the fraternal support of other priests striving for holiness. This is true today, even in the midst of the current scandals. The friendship and support of brother priests is very real.

The priest also has the invaluable help of knowing that what he has received – if he has been given in his formation what Christ Himself confided to the Church, what has been safeguarded by her for 2,000 years –that the truths he has been formed in will never change, and cannot change, because they are the truths that God Himself has revealed. They are a firm bedrock upon which his life and apostolate can be built. As St Alphonsus Liguori declares:

“From the time of the Apostles down to our own days our Faith has continued unaltered… Accordingly, the Catholic Church has remained the same in all ages and in all climes. The doctrines she teaches today are the same that were taught and believed in the first ages of the Church.”9

Our Lord gave this solemn command to the apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…”10 St John exhorts us all, but in a particular way the priest: “Let that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you.”(1 Jn 2:24) Or as St Jude writes: “I beseech you, dearly beloved, to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.”(Jude 3)

To contend, to fight “for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.” Such is the great mission to which every priest is called. God turns to

To contend, to fight “for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.” Such is the great mission to which every priest is called.