Pope: "A priest never belongs to himself "
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "A priest never belongs
to himself," he seeks to belong to Jesus, to "conform himself"
to Christ in every aspect of his life, including the obedience that the Son has
shown, unto the Cross . Disobedience
"is not" a path ", it does not renew the Church. The Chrism Mass,"
premise "of the Paschal Triduum, celebrated today by Benedict XVI in St.
Peter's basilica was entirely dedicated to the priesthood,
Concelebrating
cardinals, bishops and priests around 1,600 today renewed, in Rome and throughout the world, their priestly
promises. In
all Catholic cathedrals today, priests gather around their bishop for the
celebration during which the oils of catechumens, the oil of the sick and chrism
were blessed
The Pope referred to the moment of priestly ordination to say that from that, " there is a need for an interior bond, a configuration to Christ, and at the same time there has to be a transcending of ourselves, a renunciation of what is simply our own, of the much-vaunted self-fulfilment. We need, I need, not to claim my life as my own, but to place it at the disposal of another - of Christ. I should be asking not what I stand to gain, but what I can give for him and so for others. Or to put it more specifically, this configuration to Christ, who came not to be served but to serve, who does not take, but rather gives - what form does it take in the often dramatic situation of the Church today? Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church's Magisterium, such as the question of women's ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the Church has received no authority from the Lord".
Benedict XVI does not say it, but the reference is
clearly to the 300 priests of the Pfarrer-Initiative
movement, who in June 2011 launched a "Call to disobedience" to
"open the church to modernity".
"Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? - the Pope
asks - We would like to believe that the authors of
this summons are motivated by concern for the Church, that they are convinced
that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in
order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date. But is disobedience really a way to do
this? Do we sense here anything of that
configuration to Christ which is the precondition for all true renewal, or do
we merely sense a desperate push to do something to change the Church in
accordance with one's own preferences and ideas?".
"But let us not oversimplify matters. Surely Christ himself corrected human traditions which threatened to stifle the word and the will of God? Indeed he did, so as to rekindle obedience to the true will of God, to his ever enduring word. His concern was for true obedience, as opposed to human caprice. Nor must we forget: he was the Son, possessed of singular authority and responsibility to reveal the authentic will of God, so as to open up the path for God's word to the world of the nations. And finally: he lived out his task with obedience and humility all the way to the Cross, and so gave credibility to his mission. Not my will, but thine be done: these words reveal to us the Son, in his humility and his divinity, and they show us the true path".
"Let us ask again: do not such reflections serve simply to defend inertia, the fossilization of traditions? No. Anyone who considers the history of the post-conciliar era can recognize the process of true renewal, which often took unexpected forms in living movements and made almost tangible the inexhaustible vitality of holy Church, the presence and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit. And if we look at the people from whom these fresh currents of life burst forth and continue to burst forth, then we see that this new fruitfulness requires being filled with the joy of faith, the radicalism of obedience, the dynamic of hope and the power of love".
"It is clear that configuration to Christ is the precondition and the basis for all renewal ". And if "the figure of Jesus Christ seems too lofty and too great for us to dare to measure ourselves by him. The Lord knows this. So he has provided "translations" on a scale that is more accessible and closer to us". From St. Paul to "the priest-martyrs of the 20th century, and finally Pope John Paul II, who gave us an example, through his activity and his suffering, of configuration to Christ as "gift and mystery". The saints show us how renewal works and how we can place ourselves at its service".
The Pope then recalled two other aspects of the priesthood. The first is the ministry of formation. "At the meeting of Cardinals on the occasion of the recent Consistory, several of the pastors of the Church spoke, from experience, of the growing religious illiteracy found in the midst of our sophisticated society. The foundations of faith, which at one time every child knew, are now known less and less. But if we are to live and love our faith, if we are to love God and to hear him aright, we need to know what God has said to us - our minds and hearts must be touched by his word. The Year of Faith, commemorating the opening of the Second Vatican Council fifty years ago, should provide us with an occasion to proclaim the message of faith with new enthusiasm and new joy. We find it of course first and foremost in sacred Scripture, which we can never read and ponder enough. Yet at the same time we all experience the need for help in accurately expounding it in the present day, if it is truly to touch our hearts".
"The last keyword that I should like to consider is "zeal for souls": animarum zelus. It is an old-fashioned expression, not much used these days. In some circles, the word "soul" is virtually banned because - ostensibly - it expresses a body-soul dualism that wrongly compartmentalizes the human being. Of course the human person is a unity, destined for eternity as body and soul. And yet that cannot mean that we no longer have a soul, a constituent principle guaranteeing our unity in this life and beyond earthly death. And as priests, of course, we are concerned for the whole person, including his or her physical needs - we care for the hungry, the sick, the homeless. And yet we are concerned not only with the body, but also with the needs of the soul: with those who suffer from the violation of their rights or from destroyed love, with those unable to perceive the truth, those who suffer for lack of truth and love. We are concerned with the salvation of men and women in body and soul. And as priests of Jesus Christ we carry out our task with enthusiasm. No one should ever have the impression that we work conscientiously when on duty, but before and after hours we belong only to ourselves. A priest never belongs to himself. People must sense our zeal, through which we bear credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us ask the Lord to fill us with joy in his message, so that we may serve his truth and his love with joyful zeal".
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14/04/2022 16:37
