ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನದ ಮುನ್ನಡೆಗೆ ಅದರ ಯಶಸ್ಸು/ಗೆಲುವು ಅದರ ರಥವಾಗುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಅನುಮಾನವಿಲ್ಲ. ಸಹೋದಯ 2010 ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಒಂದು ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವಾದರೂ ಅದು ನಿಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಸಹಕಾರದಿಂದ ಗೆದ್ದಿದೆ; ನಿಮ್ಮ acceptance ಪಡೆದಿದೆ ಮತ್ತು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸಪೋರ್ಟ್ ನ ರುಚಿ ಕಂಡಿದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಸಹಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಚಿರಋಣಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಸಹಕಾರದಿಂದ ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಇನ್ನು ಉತ್ತಮವಾಗಿ ಮೂಡಿಬರಲಿ. ಈ ಭಾರಿ ಸಹೋದಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿದೆ, ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಸಹೋದಯ ನಿಮಗೆ ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ ಹಾಕಿದೆ. ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು 'comments' ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಉತ್ತರ ಕಳುಹಿಸಿ. ಒಂದಂತು ನಿಜ; ನಿಮ್ಮ ಒಂದು ಮಾತು/ಅನಿಸಿಕೆ ಸೋತ ಮನವನ್ನು ಬೆಳಗಿಸಬಹುದು, ಸತ್ತ ದೇಹಕ್ಕೆ ಜೀವ ತುಂಬಿಸಬಹುದು; ಅವುಗಳಿಗೆ ಜೀವವಿದೆ, ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ತರುವಂತಹ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಇದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಾತುಗಳು ಲೇಖನಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಮೂಡಿಬರಲಿ, ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಗಳು comments ಬಾಕ್ಸನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಿ ಎಂಬುದೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಆಸೆ. ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತದಲ್ಲಿ ಜೆಸುವಿತ್ ಯಾಜಕತ್ವ ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಾವು ಕೈಗೊಂಡಿರುವ ಸೃಜನಾತ್ಮಕ ಬರವಣಿಗೆಯ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲು ಗೊಂದಿದ್ದಿರಿ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು . ಇನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಜನರು ಈ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗವಾಹಿಸಬೇಕೆಮ್ಬುದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಕೋರಿಕೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಚಿಂತನೆಗೆ ಒಳಪಡಿಸುವ ಕೆಲ ಅದ್ಭುತ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಹೊತ್ತು ತಂದಿದೆ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿ ಎಂಜಾಯ್ ಮಾಡಿ .
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
ಯಾಜಕ ...
ಯಾಜಕರ ಪಾಲಕ ಸಂತ ಜಾನ್ ಮೇರಿ ವಿಯಾನ್ನಿ ಯವರ ಮರಣದ 150 ನೇ ವಾರ್ಷಿಕೋತ್ಸವದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ, ಅಂದರೆ 2009ರ ಜುಲೈ19 ರಂದು ಜಗದ್ಗುರು 16ನೇ ಭಕ್ತಿನಾಥರು ಯಾಜಕರ ವರ್ಷವನ್ನು ಘೋಷಿಸಿದರು. ಯಾಜಕರ ಈ ಸಂವತ್ಸರದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿವಿಧ ಸ್ತರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಚರ್ಚೆ,ವಿಚಾರ ಮಂಡನೆ ಮತ್ತು ಚಿಂತನೆಗಳು ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿವೆ. ಜತೆಗೆ ವಿವಿಧ ಧರ್ಮಕೇಂದ್ರಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗುವ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಸುತ್ತೋಲೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗುವ ಲೇಖನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾಜಕೀ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಯಥ್ಠೇಚವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ.
ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಯಾಜಕರ ಕುರಿತ ನಮ್ಮ ಜ್ಞಾನ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ವೃದ್ಧಿಯಾಗಿದೆ.ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂಗಳ ಮುಖಾಂತರ ದೇವರು ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಹೇರಳವಾದ ವರದಾನಗಳನ್ನು ದಯಪಾಲಿಸುವರು ಎಂಬುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಶಯವಿಲ್ಲ.
1959ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂತ ಜಾನ್ ಮೇರಿ ವಿಯಾನ್ನಿಯವರ ಮರಣದ ಶತಮಾನೋತ್ಸವದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂದಿನ ಜಗದ್ಗುರು 23ನೇ ಅರುಳಪ್ಪರವರು ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ ವಿಶ್ವಪತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ (Nostri Sacerdotii Primitias) ಯಾಜಕತ್ವದ ರಹಸ್ಯದ ಕುರಿತು ವಿವರಿಸಿದರು. ನಂತರ 1986ರಲ್ಲಿ ಜಗದ್ಗುರು ಎರಡನೇ ಜಾನ್ ಪಾಲ್, ಪವಿತ್ರಗುರುವಾರದಂದು ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ ಪತ್ರವೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾಜಕದೀಕ್ಷೆಯ ಮಹತ್ವವನ್ನು ವಿವರವಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿಯಪಡಿಸಿದರು. ಯಾಜಕದೀಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆ ನೀಡಿರುವ ಈ ಮೂವರು ಜಗದ್ಗುರುಗಳು ಸಂತ ಜಾನ್ ಮೇರಿ ವಿಯಾನ್ನಿಯವರ ಯಾಜಕೀ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಘಟನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶಂಸಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅವರ ಜೀವನ ಮೌಲ್ಯಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರೇರಿತರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ.
ಜಾನ್ ಮೇರಿ ವಿಯಾನ್ನಿಯವರ ಜೀವನ ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಓದಿದವರ ಮನದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿಯೇ ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಯಾಜಕನ ವೈಯುಕ್ತಿಕ ಜೀವನದ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಮುಖ್ಯ? ಯಾಜಕರು ಮಾನವ ಸಮುದಾಯದಿಂದ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾದವರು. ಇತರ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾನವರಂತೆ ಮಾನವ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲೂ, ದೌರ್ಬಲ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ಜೀವಿಸುತಾರೆ. ಜಾನ್ ಮೇರಿ ವಿಯಾನ್ನಿಯವರ ಬಡತನದ ದೀನ ಬದುಕಿನ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆ ಅವರ ಯಾಜಕೀ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೆಯಾವುದೇ ದಕ್ಕೆ ತರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅವರ ಕರೆಯನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸುವ ಸಲುವಾಗಿ ತನ್ನ ಕುಟುಂಬದವರು ಅನೇಕ ತ್ಯಾಗಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. ಆದರೆ ಅವರ ಕುಟುಂಬದಲ್ಲಿನ ಬಡತನ ಅವರ ಯಾಜಕೀಯ ಕರೆಗೆ ಅಡ್ಡಿಯಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅವರ ಕುಟುಂಬದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಆಧ್ಯಾತ್ಮಿಕ ವಾತಾವರಣ ಅವರ ಕರೆಯನ್ನು ದೈರ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಲು ನೆರವಾಯಿತು. ಅವರು ಸೇವೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಫ್ರಾನ್ಸ್ ದೇಶದ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಪ್ರದೇಶದ ವಿಚಾರಣೆಯೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಇವರ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತೀ ಆದರ್ಶ ಜೀವನವೇ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಜನತೆಗೆ ಶುಭಸಂದೇಶವಾಯಿತು. ಉತ್ತಮ ಪ್ರಭೋದಕ ರಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತನ ಪ್ರತಿಬಿಂಬವಾದರು. ದೇವರ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯಾಗಿರುವ ಮಾನವರೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ದೇವರ ಪ್ರತಿಬಿಂಬಗಳಾಗಲು ಆಹ್ವಾನವಿದೆ. ವಿಯಾನ್ನಿಯವರು ನಡೆಸಿದ ನಿಷ್ಠೆಯ ಬದುಕು ಅವರನ್ನು ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತನ ಪ್ರತೀಕವಾಗಿಸಿತು. ಯಾಜಕರಾದವರು ಅವರ ಬುದುಕಿನ ಮುಖಾಂತರ- ದೇವರು ಇಂದಿಗೂ, ನಮ್ಮೊಡನೆ, ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲ ಕೆಲಸಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಜೀವಂತವಾಗಿ ಕ್ರಿಯಾಶೀಲರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಎಂಬ ಸಂದೇಶವನ್ನು ಸಾರುವಂತವರಾಗಲಿ.(ಮುಂದುವರೆಯುವುದು)
-ಮೆಲ್ವಿನ್ ಲೋಬೋ ಎಸ್. ಜೆ
PRIESTHOOD, INTIMACY, SPIRITUALITY – A REFLECTION - Part II
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I think we have now touched all the three major points of this paper, namely, priesthood, intimacy and spirituality. Let me now dilate a little more on each of these three points.
1. Priesthood: The Second Vatican Council beautifully described the role of the priest by noting three functions: "preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful and celebrate divine worship" (LG, 28). It is important to see in what order the three functions are mentioned here. First comes preaching the Gospel, second, shepherding the people and third, celebrating divine worship. This particular order corrects the traditional view of priesthood as mostly cultic. May be we are most familiar with "celebrating divine worship," for example, the Mass. But the Council gives renewed priority to the ministry of the Word. This makes for a Gospel-based priesthood, and to the pastoral care of the faithful, which makes for a service-based ministry. Pope John Paul II, in his Pastores Dabo Vobis puts it as three-fold ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral charity.
Of all the many models of priesthood that have been popular since Vatican II, it seems to me that the model of "servant leader" is most suitable. Jesus shows us what a servant leader ought to be when he washes the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper: "For I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you" (Jn 13:15). This service is a special kind of service to the faithful as the preacher of the Word, as the one who celebrates the sacraments and also, perhaps in a more hidden way, in his day-to-day actions: the quiet way he lives his own Christian life, for example, by being prayerful, kind, loving, sacrificial, generous and charitable. In all this he serves the faithful, and so serves God and the Church by being a servant leader. Service is the crucial dimension of priesthood.
Vatican II explicitly mentions the priest as the "preacher of the Word.” I would use the word “proclaim”, because preaching has a connotation of rhetoric and eloquence, while proclamation is more of witnessing by incarnating the message of the Gospel. The priest, like all christians, is called to live the Gospel message. Thus his life itself becomes a sermon. He has to preach the Gospel by becoming the Good News to his people. He has to live the Gospel by internalizing the Good News of the Kingdom. In the words of Pope Paul VI, we become “witnesses more than preachers”. But, there is more to a priest than mere preaching. In a special way, he is asked to be one of the "experts" for the community on the Scriptures, helping to break open the Word for people so that they are able to actualize it in their own lives
Another word used by the Council to refer to the priest is: the shepherd. Now, the traditional image of "shepherd" may turn off some people either because they are not from a farming culture—or because they don’t like thinking of themselves as sheep! None of us would like to be called “kuruba” or “kuri”. But all the same it describes well the person who cares for everyone. As Ezekiel says, going in search of those who are lost, bringing back home those who have gone astray, binding up the wounds of those who are hurt, feeding nourishing food to those who are weak and leading everyone to the path of life in abundance. And in the words of John, being even ready to lay down one’s life for them. So while for many people the shepherd image may be antiquated, it is actually a beautiful one, not so much because it talks about the faithful as sheep, but because of the great invitation it offers to the priest—that is, to love. Love till it hurts. Love counting no cost, heeding no wounds, refusing no sacrifice, eve of life itself. In the words of John Paul II, showing Christ’s loving concern to the point of total gift of self to the flock.
Those three roles of priest as preacher of the Word, shepherd of souls and celebrant of divine worship are intimately related—because each is a service. Service born of love. Love for God and love for fellow humans. As preacher of the Word the priest immerses himself in the Word of God and from this immersion he brings God’s Word alive to people. As “the shepherd of the people” he cares for people’s spiritual and material, indeed all human needs—not only through the sacraments, but also by counseling them, helping them through difficult times and helping them to pray, helping them to organize themselves to fight for their rights, helping them to be educated, empowered and gainfully employed, helping them to be men and women of service, men and women for others. Finally, as the "celebrant of divine worship" the priest leads the community in prayer, especially while presiding at the Eucharist. All these priestly roles flow not just from Vatican II, but fundamentally from the example of Jesus. In short, these are models of service.
This does not mean that we priests are more holy, more learned or more accomplished. Certainly not! The Council has highlighted our universal call to holiness and our common call as "priest, prophet and prince" that we all receive at our Baptism. The common priesthood belongs to the whole people of God. Lay persons share the common priesthood with clergy and religious. The ordained priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood, and has specific functions within the ministry of all believers. But each of the priestly roles can, in a sense, also be seen as the roles of the laity, who are also called to preach the Gospel, to care for one another and gather, together with and in communion with and under the leadership of the presiding ordained priests, to celebrate, participate in and be nourished by the Eucharist. All are equal but all are not the same. We are equal but different.
What makes us different? Not our cassock but our ministry. Our ministry is primarily to be the face of God, the heart of God, the hands of God. We have to be God’s presence in the midst of people. For this we need to have a unique relationship with God. We have to be in God’s inner circle. Friends of God. Official representatives of God. We have to be the spiritual leaders of the community. The presence of a priest in the community, in the families, in social gatherings is always a grace. People invite us not to socialize but to be God’s presence in their midst – a grace! We lay hands on the sick. We bless children. We pray with the families. We do not hesitate to say: “God bless you”. The priest, as the friend of God and the ordained representative of the Church, symbolizes the sacred. He becomes the channel of grace. Of course he is human. He is flawed. He is sinful. But priesthood is an unmerited gift to the undeserving. It carries a unique grace. A powerful grace. Therefore, in spite of our faults and failures, flaws and foibles, our presence is a source of grace for the community. Therefore, the priest is indeed a sacrament. We need to focus on this religious and supernatural dimension of the priesthood in response to a culture that only sees the priest as person devoted to the service of others, as an agent of social promotion," and not as a man of God.
In fact, we cannot separate the priest’s identity as the man of god from his mission of building up the Body of Christ. Indeed, precisely by considering his identity together with mission each priest is able to be more aware of the need for that gradual identification with Christ which will guarantee him fidelity and the fruitfulness of Gospel witness. In the priest’s life, preaching and worship can never be separated, just as the sacramental identity and evangelizing mission must never be separated. Moreover, we might say that the purpose of every priest’s mission is one of worship and service. Therefore there are three words to characterize our priesthood: Word, Worship and Work. These are not three separate realities. They are but three dimensions of one single priestly vocation. The meditation on the Word of God leads us to Worship and worship impels us to work to transform the world into God’s Kingdom. The early Christian communities were already clearly aware of this. St John Chrysostom tells us that the sacrament of the altar and the "sacrament of the brother" or "sacrament of the poor man” are two aspects of the same mystery. In his last Encyclical, “Ecclesia de Eucaristia”, Pope John Paul II has a powerful quote from this great Saint of the Eucharist. Love for one’s neighbour, attention to justice and preferential option for the poor are essential aspects of the Eucharist we celebrate, the Gospel we proclaim and the work we do. The mission of each individual priest will therefore depend on his awareness of the sacramental reality of his "new being". His enthusiasm for the mission depends on the certainty of his own identity not artificially and humanly constructed but freely and divinely given and received in Ordination.
There is another key difference: The priesthood of the laity flourishes in the secular world. All Christians are called to be disciples who follow and share in the ministry of Jesus, the Priest, the Prophet and the Prince. Simply put, celebrating the Eucharist, proclaiming the Gospel and ministering to the people. Each of those three roles is broadly shared. The Ordained exercise these three roles by their service in the formal, sacramental life of the Church. In the secular world the laity exercise the same three roles. The Ordained priesthood is essentially at the service of the common priesthood. That is why it is called ministerial priesthood. The word ministry, as you know, means service, humble service
This demands of us a radical change of mindset and way of proceeding. It demands that we respect the laity, that we exercise participative leadership, that we involve our parishioners in the decision making processes in the parish, that we be accountable to our people, that we encourage them to ask questions and even to point out our mistakes, of course, in all charity and with due respect. It demands that we do not think of ourselves as the sole bosses in our parishes. We are Leaders Yes! But we are SERVANT leaders! We are Ministers! We are at the service of the common priesthood of the people of God. We are there to help our people to become more and more priestly people, sharing in the Eucharistic celebration, living the Eucharist, becoming the Eucharist and building up Eucharistic communities in their families, in their neighbourhoods, in the parish and in their places of work.
I may appear to be rather conservative and a hopeless traditionalist. But I do want to raise some questions that should really bother us both who are already priests and those who are preparing to be priests. I am raising these questions because I am of the opinion that more and more of our young people fail to see in us priests, men of authentic spirituality, integrity and compassion. How much time do we spend before the Blessed Sacrament everyday? How much time do we spend in reading and internalizing the Word of God? How faithful are we to our Breviary? How devout are we in celebrating the Eucharist and in administering the sacraments? How enthusiastic and innovative are we in popularizing the sacrament of reconciliation? How committed and created are we in the faith formation of our people? How welcoming and understanding are we to our parishioners? How friendly are we with the youth? How zealous are we in promoting vocations in our parishes? How regular are we in visiting the families under our pastoral care? How involved are we in the day to day struggles and pains of our people? How effective are we in bringing about reconciliation in the families and among our parishioners? How compassionate are we towards the poor, the weak, the wounded, the oppressed and the marginalized? The last, the least and the lost?
St John Mary Vianney reminds us that as priests we are on call 24/7. The parish Priests today have very few helpers. They are responsible for Baptisms, weddings, funerals, as well as Masses, as well as administrative functions, as well as confessions, as well as having to drop everything and counsel someone in crisis, or visit people in the hospital whenever someone falls ill—emergencies never come on a schedule. Few people in the Church work as hard as parish priests do. (In the secular world, I would compare them to the on-call schedules of parents of young children.) The responsibility of being on call constantly is something that some people may not know or appreciate about parish priests. Parish priests can hardly say no to visiting the hospital, celebrating a funeral Mass or many others of their duties, such as dropping in on families where there are bed ridden people, or the senior citizens who can hardly venture out of their homes. They continue to work hard, responding to their parishioners’ needs – baptisms, weddings, and funerals. They readily take on leadership roles – pastor, counsellor, advocate, mediator, and peacemaker. And sometimes they absorb into themselves the frustrations of the community. When this happens they are sharing the life of the crucified one who absorbed the violence of the world so that the world might be at peace. This takes me to the second point, namely, Intimacy. Priests can be emotionally drained. They can experience burn out. They also can be plagued by loneliness. Let us reflect on this now.
To be continued....
I think we have now touched all the three major points of this paper, namely, priesthood, intimacy and spirituality. Let me now dilate a little more on each of these three points.
1. Priesthood: The Second Vatican Council beautifully described the role of the priest by noting three functions: "preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful and celebrate divine worship" (LG, 28). It is important to see in what order the three functions are mentioned here. First comes preaching the Gospel, second, shepherding the people and third, celebrating divine worship. This particular order corrects the traditional view of priesthood as mostly cultic. May be we are most familiar with "celebrating divine worship," for example, the Mass. But the Council gives renewed priority to the ministry of the Word. This makes for a Gospel-based priesthood, and to the pastoral care of the faithful, which makes for a service-based ministry. Pope John Paul II, in his Pastores Dabo Vobis puts it as three-fold ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral charity.
Of all the many models of priesthood that have been popular since Vatican II, it seems to me that the model of "servant leader" is most suitable. Jesus shows us what a servant leader ought to be when he washes the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper: "For I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you" (Jn 13:15). This service is a special kind of service to the faithful as the preacher of the Word, as the one who celebrates the sacraments and also, perhaps in a more hidden way, in his day-to-day actions: the quiet way he lives his own Christian life, for example, by being prayerful, kind, loving, sacrificial, generous and charitable. In all this he serves the faithful, and so serves God and the Church by being a servant leader. Service is the crucial dimension of priesthood.
Vatican II explicitly mentions the priest as the "preacher of the Word.” I would use the word “proclaim”, because preaching has a connotation of rhetoric and eloquence, while proclamation is more of witnessing by incarnating the message of the Gospel. The priest, like all christians, is called to live the Gospel message. Thus his life itself becomes a sermon. He has to preach the Gospel by becoming the Good News to his people. He has to live the Gospel by internalizing the Good News of the Kingdom. In the words of Pope Paul VI, we become “witnesses more than preachers”. But, there is more to a priest than mere preaching. In a special way, he is asked to be one of the "experts" for the community on the Scriptures, helping to break open the Word for people so that they are able to actualize it in their own lives
Another word used by the Council to refer to the priest is: the shepherd. Now, the traditional image of "shepherd" may turn off some people either because they are not from a farming culture—or because they don’t like thinking of themselves as sheep! None of us would like to be called “kuruba” or “kuri”. But all the same it describes well the person who cares for everyone. As Ezekiel says, going in search of those who are lost, bringing back home those who have gone astray, binding up the wounds of those who are hurt, feeding nourishing food to those who are weak and leading everyone to the path of life in abundance. And in the words of John, being even ready to lay down one’s life for them. So while for many people the shepherd image may be antiquated, it is actually a beautiful one, not so much because it talks about the faithful as sheep, but because of the great invitation it offers to the priest—that is, to love. Love till it hurts. Love counting no cost, heeding no wounds, refusing no sacrifice, eve of life itself. In the words of John Paul II, showing Christ’s loving concern to the point of total gift of self to the flock.
Those three roles of priest as preacher of the Word, shepherd of souls and celebrant of divine worship are intimately related—because each is a service. Service born of love. Love for God and love for fellow humans. As preacher of the Word the priest immerses himself in the Word of God and from this immersion he brings God’s Word alive to people. As “the shepherd of the people” he cares for people’s spiritual and material, indeed all human needs—not only through the sacraments, but also by counseling them, helping them through difficult times and helping them to pray, helping them to organize themselves to fight for their rights, helping them to be educated, empowered and gainfully employed, helping them to be men and women of service, men and women for others. Finally, as the "celebrant of divine worship" the priest leads the community in prayer, especially while presiding at the Eucharist. All these priestly roles flow not just from Vatican II, but fundamentally from the example of Jesus. In short, these are models of service.
This does not mean that we priests are more holy, more learned or more accomplished. Certainly not! The Council has highlighted our universal call to holiness and our common call as "priest, prophet and prince" that we all receive at our Baptism. The common priesthood belongs to the whole people of God. Lay persons share the common priesthood with clergy and religious. The ordained priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood, and has specific functions within the ministry of all believers. But each of the priestly roles can, in a sense, also be seen as the roles of the laity, who are also called to preach the Gospel, to care for one another and gather, together with and in communion with and under the leadership of the presiding ordained priests, to celebrate, participate in and be nourished by the Eucharist. All are equal but all are not the same. We are equal but different.
What makes us different? Not our cassock but our ministry. Our ministry is primarily to be the face of God, the heart of God, the hands of God. We have to be God’s presence in the midst of people. For this we need to have a unique relationship with God. We have to be in God’s inner circle. Friends of God. Official representatives of God. We have to be the spiritual leaders of the community. The presence of a priest in the community, in the families, in social gatherings is always a grace. People invite us not to socialize but to be God’s presence in their midst – a grace! We lay hands on the sick. We bless children. We pray with the families. We do not hesitate to say: “God bless you”. The priest, as the friend of God and the ordained representative of the Church, symbolizes the sacred. He becomes the channel of grace. Of course he is human. He is flawed. He is sinful. But priesthood is an unmerited gift to the undeserving. It carries a unique grace. A powerful grace. Therefore, in spite of our faults and failures, flaws and foibles, our presence is a source of grace for the community. Therefore, the priest is indeed a sacrament. We need to focus on this religious and supernatural dimension of the priesthood in response to a culture that only sees the priest as person devoted to the service of others, as an agent of social promotion," and not as a man of God.
In fact, we cannot separate the priest’s identity as the man of god from his mission of building up the Body of Christ. Indeed, precisely by considering his identity together with mission each priest is able to be more aware of the need for that gradual identification with Christ which will guarantee him fidelity and the fruitfulness of Gospel witness. In the priest’s life, preaching and worship can never be separated, just as the sacramental identity and evangelizing mission must never be separated. Moreover, we might say that the purpose of every priest’s mission is one of worship and service. Therefore there are three words to characterize our priesthood: Word, Worship and Work. These are not three separate realities. They are but three dimensions of one single priestly vocation. The meditation on the Word of God leads us to Worship and worship impels us to work to transform the world into God’s Kingdom. The early Christian communities were already clearly aware of this. St John Chrysostom tells us that the sacrament of the altar and the "sacrament of the brother" or "sacrament of the poor man” are two aspects of the same mystery. In his last Encyclical, “Ecclesia de Eucaristia”, Pope John Paul II has a powerful quote from this great Saint of the Eucharist. Love for one’s neighbour, attention to justice and preferential option for the poor are essential aspects of the Eucharist we celebrate, the Gospel we proclaim and the work we do. The mission of each individual priest will therefore depend on his awareness of the sacramental reality of his "new being". His enthusiasm for the mission depends on the certainty of his own identity not artificially and humanly constructed but freely and divinely given and received in Ordination.
There is another key difference: The priesthood of the laity flourishes in the secular world. All Christians are called to be disciples who follow and share in the ministry of Jesus, the Priest, the Prophet and the Prince. Simply put, celebrating the Eucharist, proclaiming the Gospel and ministering to the people. Each of those three roles is broadly shared. The Ordained exercise these three roles by their service in the formal, sacramental life of the Church. In the secular world the laity exercise the same three roles. The Ordained priesthood is essentially at the service of the common priesthood. That is why it is called ministerial priesthood. The word ministry, as you know, means service, humble service
This demands of us a radical change of mindset and way of proceeding. It demands that we respect the laity, that we exercise participative leadership, that we involve our parishioners in the decision making processes in the parish, that we be accountable to our people, that we encourage them to ask questions and even to point out our mistakes, of course, in all charity and with due respect. It demands that we do not think of ourselves as the sole bosses in our parishes. We are Leaders Yes! But we are SERVANT leaders! We are Ministers! We are at the service of the common priesthood of the people of God. We are there to help our people to become more and more priestly people, sharing in the Eucharistic celebration, living the Eucharist, becoming the Eucharist and building up Eucharistic communities in their families, in their neighbourhoods, in the parish and in their places of work.
I may appear to be rather conservative and a hopeless traditionalist. But I do want to raise some questions that should really bother us both who are already priests and those who are preparing to be priests. I am raising these questions because I am of the opinion that more and more of our young people fail to see in us priests, men of authentic spirituality, integrity and compassion. How much time do we spend before the Blessed Sacrament everyday? How much time do we spend in reading and internalizing the Word of God? How faithful are we to our Breviary? How devout are we in celebrating the Eucharist and in administering the sacraments? How enthusiastic and innovative are we in popularizing the sacrament of reconciliation? How committed and created are we in the faith formation of our people? How welcoming and understanding are we to our parishioners? How friendly are we with the youth? How zealous are we in promoting vocations in our parishes? How regular are we in visiting the families under our pastoral care? How involved are we in the day to day struggles and pains of our people? How effective are we in bringing about reconciliation in the families and among our parishioners? How compassionate are we towards the poor, the weak, the wounded, the oppressed and the marginalized? The last, the least and the lost?
St John Mary Vianney reminds us that as priests we are on call 24/7. The parish Priests today have very few helpers. They are responsible for Baptisms, weddings, funerals, as well as Masses, as well as administrative functions, as well as confessions, as well as having to drop everything and counsel someone in crisis, or visit people in the hospital whenever someone falls ill—emergencies never come on a schedule. Few people in the Church work as hard as parish priests do. (In the secular world, I would compare them to the on-call schedules of parents of young children.) The responsibility of being on call constantly is something that some people may not know or appreciate about parish priests. Parish priests can hardly say no to visiting the hospital, celebrating a funeral Mass or many others of their duties, such as dropping in on families where there are bed ridden people, or the senior citizens who can hardly venture out of their homes. They continue to work hard, responding to their parishioners’ needs – baptisms, weddings, and funerals. They readily take on leadership roles – pastor, counsellor, advocate, mediator, and peacemaker. And sometimes they absorb into themselves the frustrations of the community. When this happens they are sharing the life of the crucified one who absorbed the violence of the world so that the world might be at peace. This takes me to the second point, namely, Intimacy. Priests can be emotionally drained. They can experience burn out. They also can be plagued by loneliness. Let us reflect on this now.
To be continued....
ವಾತ್ಸಲ್ಯದ ಆಳದಲ್ಲಿ ...
ಭಗವಂತನ ಪ್ರಪ್ರಥಮ ಆಧ್ಯತೆ ಧರ್ಮಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲ
ಧರ್ಮಸಭೆ ಒಂದು ಸಾಧನ ಮಾತ್ರ
ಅದೊಂದು ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ
ಭಗವಂತನ ಪ್ರಪ್ರಥಮ ಆಧ್ಯತೆ ನೂತನ ಆಕಾಶ ಮಂಡಲ ಮತ್ತು ನೂತನ ಭೂಮಂಡಲ ವಾಗಿದೆ (ಪ್ರಕಟನೆ: 21, 1-2)
ಹಾಗದರೆ ಯಾಜಕನು
ಓರ್ವ ಪ್ರವಾದಿ
ಓರ್ವ ಮಾರ್ಗದರ್ಶಕ
ಓರ್ವ ಯಾತ್ರಿಕ
ವಿಶ್ವಾಸಾರ್ಹ ಮತ್ತು ಅಧಿಕಾರಯುಕ್ತ ಸುಸಂದೇಶ ಸಾರಲು
ದೇವ ಸಮುದಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರೇರಣೆಯಾಗಿ
ಪ್ರೀತಿವಾತ್ಸಲ್ಯದಿ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಕಟ್ಟುವರು
ಸಮುದಾಯದವರೆಲ್ಲರ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆಗಳೆಲ್ಲವನು ದೇವರೆಡೆಗೆ ಒಯ್ಯುವರು
ಸೇವಾಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯಾಗಿ
ಪೂರ್ವ ಭಾವಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಭರವಸೆ ಮತ್ತು ವಿಶ್ವಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಆತ್ಮೋದ್ಧಾರದೆಡೆಗೆ ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ಯುವರು
(Being Broken ಎಂಬ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಿಂದ ಆಯ್ದ ಚಿಂತನ )
ಅನುವಾದ ಮೆಲ್ವಿನ್ ಲೋಬೋ ಎಸ.ಜೆ.
ಧರ್ಮಸಭೆ ಒಂದು ಸಾಧನ ಮಾತ್ರ
ಅದೊಂದು ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ
ಭಗವಂತನ ಪ್ರಪ್ರಥಮ ಆಧ್ಯತೆ ನೂತನ ಆಕಾಶ ಮಂಡಲ ಮತ್ತು ನೂತನ ಭೂಮಂಡಲ ವಾಗಿದೆ (ಪ್ರಕಟನೆ: 21, 1-2)
ಹಾಗದರೆ ಯಾಜಕನು
ಓರ್ವ ಪ್ರವಾದಿ
ಓರ್ವ ಮಾರ್ಗದರ್ಶಕ
ಓರ್ವ ಯಾತ್ರಿಕ
ವಿಶ್ವಾಸಾರ್ಹ ಮತ್ತು ಅಧಿಕಾರಯುಕ್ತ ಸುಸಂದೇಶ ಸಾರಲು
ದೇವ ಸಮುದಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರೇರಣೆಯಾಗಿ
ಪ್ರೀತಿವಾತ್ಸಲ್ಯದಿ ಸಮುದಾಯ ಕಟ್ಟುವರು
ಸಮುದಾಯದವರೆಲ್ಲರ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆಗಳೆಲ್ಲವನು ದೇವರೆಡೆಗೆ ಒಯ್ಯುವರು
ಸೇವಾಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯಾಗಿ
ಪೂರ್ವ ಭಾವಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಭರವಸೆ ಮತ್ತು ವಿಶ್ವಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಆತ್ಮೋದ್ಧಾರದೆಡೆಗೆ ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ಯುವರು
(Being Broken ಎಂಬ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಿಂದ ಆಯ್ದ ಚಿಂತನ )
ಅನುವಾದ ಮೆಲ್ವಿನ್ ಲೋಬೋ ಎಸ.ಜೆ.
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