By Br. Raghu –
On August 4th, the Holy Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Marie John Vianney – The patron saint of parish priests. Soon after his ordination, he was appointed in an indifferent village parish. He spent a lot of time in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord often on his knees, with arms outstretched and entrusting the parish to the Eucharistic Lord. Gradually there was a change in the parishioners and there was a revival in the parish.
The three main ways by which he revived the parish were :
- Fervent prayers in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord.
- Endless hours at the confessional listening to the confessions.
- Regular visits to the families propelling all and insisting on a true conversion.
This should also be a reminder to each one of us about the similar needs in our parishes and retreat centres. It is the responsibility of our priests to follow similar ways and ensure that Parishes are once again alive to the Holy Spirit.
Our Holy Father Pope Francis said, “ A minister of God who does not nourish his love for Christ, his church and his flock, inevitably ends up losing sight and an authentic sense of his service and the joy that comes from a deep communion with Jesus.”
Jesus told his apostles to care for his sheep with the power of the Holy Spirit, not their own human efforts, and to do so “according to his heart,” that is, with the same love that Jesus had for his sheep. “Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son” (Act 20: 28).
CCC 1551 says; “This priesthood is ministerial.” That office, which the Lord committed to the pastors of His people, is in the strict sense of the term a service. It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on His unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church. The sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a “sacred power” which is none other than that of Christ’s. The exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by love made Himself the least and the servant of all. “The Lord said clearly that concern for His flock was proof of love for Him.”
While acknowledging the need for the priests to be vigilant and focused on shepherding the flock, let us also remember that it is a huge responsibility of the laity to do their part in building the Church of God. Today the laity needs to understand their role and responsibilities and not just point fingers at the priests.
There are two areas of concern which we need to address:
Sin of commission against the priests:
Today we, as laity, often destroy the priests and their ministry by our words and actions. We scrutinise their every action, judge them, gossip against them and categorise them as good and bad priests. As laity we have no authority to judge or gossip against them even when we find some shortcomings in them.
Let us remember that it is the Lord who has chosen and consecrated them. The Bible says, “Do not touch my anointed ones” (Ps 105:15a). This touch does not just mean a physical touch. But anything by word or deed against a priest is a sin against God. While we understand that there are difficulties in the Church today, we are not to act against the priest but to lift them up in prayer. In current times, there is more pressure on the priests to remain faithful to Christ than in any other time. The pressure experienced by the priests can never be really understood by a laity.
Saint after saint has declared that the devil’s principal target on earth is the Catholic priest. It stands to demonic reason. Today satan wants to destroy the Church, The Mystical body of Christ. And we are all aware that the Catholic Church is built on the Sacraments. If satan wants to destroy the Church, the easiest way is to stop the administration of the sacraments. How does he achieve that? By attacking priests and plotting their downfall. So every time we act against the priest by gossiping, judging and disobeying them, we are indirectly joining hands with satan to bring down the Church and we persecute Christ in this.
We all know how Saul persecuted the disciples of Christ and the Church. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that when Saul was on his way to Damascus, he heard the voice of God saying; “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Act 9:4-5). So acting against the chosen one is acting against Christ.
Also in order to deceive and delude the priests, Satan uses us to tempt them. Today when a priest is unfaithful, we judge them. We often fail to understand that we are the cause for his downfall. Our approach and our relationship with priests are often questionable. We need to understand that they are consecrated and set apart. We are to maintain a reverential distance from them. How often have we dressed immodestly and come before them? How often have we involved them in unnecessary social gatherings? Remember God’s wrath is against all who are responsible for the fall of a priest. “But you made the nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’ So, I will press you down in your place, just as a cart presses down when it is full of sheaves” (Amos 2:12-13).
Sin of omission against the priests :
A solution for all that we read above is to pray fervently for the priests. A failure to pray for the priest is a sin of omission.
Why do we need to pray for the priests?
- By praying for the priests we break the plan of satan to destroy the Church.
- Through prayer we gain graces for the priest. Why do priests need special graces from God? It is because they have extraordinary responsibilities before God. They are to be more holy, more generous, more zealous, and more patient and more Christ like.
- For our own good. Think of what would be the state of our soul if we did not receive the absolution for our sins from priests. That how spiritually weak we would be if we do not receive Holy Communion and other sacraments. When we know the gift of God and cherish the sacraments received from priests we are duty bound to pray for them. It is a matter of gratitude for the selfless service they offer.
- We should pray for priests because this has been the practice of the Church since apostolic times. It’s a matter of revealed truth. It is a divine mandate. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour” (1Tim 2:1-3). Praying for priests is the spiritual responsibility and mission of every Catholic. Rome’s Congregation for the Clergy published a booklet in 2012 in which they implore the universal Church to engage in “Eucharistic adoration for the sanctification of priests and spiritual motherhood.”
A Call to Pray for Priests
Let us take this mandate to pray for priests seriously as it a responsibility of every Catholic. Our Holy Father Pope Francis said the world’s bishops, priests and deacons need people’s prayers and encouragement to continually deepen their relationship with Jesus and serve their community with love. Let us not join hands with satan to bring down the Church by targeting the priests but join hands with each other in praying for our priests. Let us make it a habit to include a prayer for our priests in our personal and family prayers.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you ordained the Apostles at the Last Supper to continue your mission of mercy to the end of time. We believe that every Catholic priest traces his ordination to that first ordination of the Apostles. We know how much you expect of your priests and we also know how weak and human they are. Inspire us, dear Jesus, to pray for your priests. Mary, Mother of priests, pray for priests. Amen.