priests “It belongs to our priesthood that we rejoice in the very existence of people,” says Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
Lea este artículo en español en VocacionCatolica. org. photos courtesy of father timothy radcliffe, o.p.
Read this article in Spanish at VocacionCatolica. org.
The joy in being a priest The church should be a community in which people discover God’s delight in them. This is the ministry of priests. This is my life.
by
Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
L
et me make a confession. As the time for me to be ordained drew near, I began to have terrible doubts as to whether I was called to be a priest. I had become deeply repelled by any hint of priestly superiority. I dreaded the hypocrisy of it, because I knew that I was no better than anyone Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. is a Dominican friar of the priory at Blackfriars in Oxford, England. He was Master of the worldwide Order of Preachers (Dominicans) from 1992-2001. He is a frequent speaker and the author of several books, the latest being What Is the Point of Being a Christian? (Burns & Oates).
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else. I only accepted ordination in obedience to my Dominican brethren. I could identify with Saint Augustine who wept when he was ordained a priest. The cynics thought that he was weeping because he had not been made a bishop, but in fact it was because he had no desire to be a priest at all. After my ordination I saw with horror my parent’s parish priest advancing toward me. Only two years before, he had commanded me to leave “those heretical Dominicans” so that I might save my soul. Now he threw himself down before me and asked for a blessing from my sacred hands. I fled from the recep-
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