SANCTIFICATION OF PRIESTS

The Sanctification of Priests:  the Hope of Pope Francis

1.       If Jesus had to come amongst us today surely he would ratify the dream, the vision and the enterprise of Pope Francis for the Church.

2.        The longest journey is the journey from the head to the heart

v  Our priestly ministry often suffers from a widespread presumption that exhortation, instruction is the primary strategy to influence people:  to be ministers of the Word.

v  But ideas by themselves do not change or motivate us unless they become “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.” How can this become possible in our own priestly life and then in our priestly ministry?

Although we are men we can and must show by our words and actions that the Church is a loving mother

v  This is what Pope Francis told 650 priests chosen to be “missionaries of mercy’ and sent out all over the world on 9 Feb. 2016

v  Evangelii Gaudium, the mission statement of his pontificate, “the Church must be a fertile mother.”

v  Long before Pope Francis declared this Year of Mercy one of the most popular prayers of Christians has been, “Hail, Holy Queen Mother of Mercy…”

And Mary’s Magnificat above all extols how God raises the lowly, fills the hungry with good things.

Our psycho-spirituality is patriarchal, cerebral and masculine, and we need to tap the infinite possibilities of the human heart of The Temple of the Spirit, The Interior Castle within us

In a world where  instant gratification  is possible, where we can achieve anything at a press of a button we become drawn into a culture of speed,  the culture of craving for the latest and the new, of superficiality in our relationships and inputs, conformed to whatever the world finds acceptable,  and no more live lives at a level of depth

v  There is a reluctance to have ourselves evaluated, our works; to identify shortcomings in our ministry.  I may not keep myself up to date in developments in theology or spirituality, my homilies may be forgettable, the pastoral service I do may be minimal but my needs will be met and I can lead a comfortable life.

v  The culture of excellence and accountability is disappearing among us priests.

v  The Journey from Head to Heart    To cultivate an inner life is a challenge to our frenetic culture which eats into our interiority and wearies us.

v  Constantly “surfing” life, living the illusion that we are exercising our autonomy will never lead us to make our home in our heart where He has already first made His home.

It takes time, it takes faithfulness, and it takes a rhythm of life. Pope Francis asks us to discover this interior place, our minds refreshed, where our souls are nourished, our minds refreshed.

v  The core of authentic ministry is our Be-ing rather than our doing or having.

We touch people’s lives more by cultivating an inner life than by our external actions

The more we are united with God the more we become an instrument of His saving grace.

v  St. Catherine of Siena, “The trouble with the world is me.” Others are transformed when we change; not when we exhort.

v  There is a need for us to go back to basics in our spiritual life.

Ø  What is my core sin? Pride, Anger, Covetousness, Envy, Lust, Greed, Sloth.

Ø  What kind of Sadhana, Brahmachari, self-discipline, do I practice?

Ø  What is the door of my heart like? A transparent door? A revolving door? A strong heavy door? A delicate glass door?..

We suffer from spiritual Dementia or Alzheimer’s: there is no more any semblance  of a  faith dimension in our life.

3.       The Priest as Mother

v  Is one to whom people can come fully confident that they will be welcomed, understood, forgiven and supported.

v  Is one who is not aloof, cold, formal, always businesslike, unloving

v  Is one whom people are not afraid to approach.

v  Is never rude, harsh sarcastic

v  Is capable of giving a joyful welcome and experience sadness at someone’s departing

v  The greatest danger in celibacy is to lead an unloving life and take it as normal.

Ø  We become “procedural machines”, our spiritual faculties atrophy/harden and our inner life falls by the wayside.

Ø  The main contribution we bring to the world is not the work we do but the quality of our relationships.

Ø  We should leave “climbing” to mountaineers and focus on the desire to serve.                                                  The days are beginning when people stop coming to us.  We will soon begin to  be forced to go out to them