PRIESTS
COURTESY OF FATHER PADDY GILGER, S.J.
Secrets to being a happy priest by Father Timothy Radcliffe,
Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. was master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001 and currently serves on the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace. A lecturer and teacher, he is the author of many books on theology and contemporary culture.
O.P.
WHEN JESUS was baptized, a voice was heard from heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight.” The church should be a community in which people discover God’s delight in them. This is the ministry of priests. Father Paddy Gilger, S.J. gives a kiss to his goddaughter and niece, Hayden Bauer.
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.
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 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
126 | VISION 2020 | VocationNetwork.org
