Year of the Priest

Examination of Conscience for priests

The Congregation for Clergy published an examination of conscience entitled “The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy: An Aid for Confessors and Spiritual Directors” which hopes to reinvigorate the priest’s spiritual paternity by a recovery of the sacrament of Confession by penitent and confessor. Here is yet another aspect of the new evangelization called for by Blessed John Paul II and now Pope Benedict: the renewal of priests and people through Reconciliation.

“The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy” is the fruit of Pope Benedict’s Year for Priests. As Cardinal Piacenza notes, this “is a measure of authentic faith in the saving action of God which shows itself more clearly in the power of grace than in human strategic or pastoral initiatives which sometimes overlook this essential truth.” A sobering statement for one who works in a parish.

On the surface it seems that this text is exclusively for the clergy. Don’t be fooled into putting it aside. I would recommend it to the laity as well. Be acquainted to the sacrament of Confession, the theology and practice of the Church and what the Church expects of her clergy. We have to help each other see Christ’s work among through concrete manifestation of Divine Mercy.

Consider the ideas found in the introduction (the link to the full text is at the end):

“It is necessary to return to the confessional as a place in which to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but also as a place in which “to dwell” more often, so that the faithful may and compassion, advice and comfort, feel that they are loved and understood by God and experience the presence of Divine Mercy beside the Real Presence in the Eucharist”.

With these words, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI addressed confessors during the recent Year for Priests, indicating to each one present the importance and therefore the apostolic urgency of rediscovering the Sacrament of Reconciliation, both from their viewpoint of penitents as well as that of ministers. Along with the daily celebration of the Eucharist, the availability of the priest to hear sacramental confessions, to welcome penitents, and to accompany them spiritually when they so request, is the real measure of a priest’s pastoral charity. By their availability, priests give joyful witness and in a certain sense take upon themselves their true identity, redeﬁned in the Sacrament of Holy Orders and not reducible to a mere functionality. The priest is a minister, which is to say that he is at the same time both a servant and a prudent dispenser of Divine Mercy. To him is entrusted the serious responsibility “to forgive or to retain sins” (cf. John 20: 23).

Through him, and through the power of the Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of Life, the faithful are able to experience today in the Church the joy of the Prodigal Son, who after a life of sin returned to his father’s house in the manner of a servant but was welcomed with the dignity of a son. Whenever a confessor is available, sooner or later a penitent will arrive. And if the confessor continues to make himself available, even stubbornly so, sooner or later many penitents will arrive! Our rediscovery of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, both as penitents and as ministers, is a measure of authentic faith in the saving action of God which shows itself more clearly in the power of grace than in human strategic or pastoral initiatives which sometimes overlook this essential truth.

Responding to the appeal of the Holy Father and expressing his profound intent, this aid is intended as yet another fruit of the Year for Priests, to be a helpful instrument for the ongoing formation of the Clergy and an aid in rediscovering the indispensible value of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and of Spiritual Direction. The new evangelization and the ongoing renewal of the Church, semper reformanda, draw their life blood from the true sanctiﬁcation of each member of the Church. It is clear that sanctiﬁ cation must precede both evangelization and renewal, for it lays claim to and forms the necessary precondition for every effective apostolic effort, as well as for the reform of the Clergy.

In the generous celebration of the Sacrament of Divine Mercy, each priest is called to experience for himself the uniqueness and the indispensability of the ministry entrusted to him. Such an experience will help him to avoid the “ever-changing sense of identity” which so often marks the existence of some priests. Instead, his experience will cultivate within himself that sense of wonder which ﬁ lls his heart, for through no merit of his own he is called by God, in the Church, to break the Eucharistic Bread and to forgive the sins of others.

Here’s “The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy: An Aid for Confessors and spiritual Directors”: Examination of Conscience for confessors and spiritual directors.pdf

Priesthood: “First of all, authentically human,” Fr Carron suggests

Father Julián Carrón, published the following commentary on priesthood in the L’Osservatore Romano (June 9, 2010), at conclusion of the Year of Priest.

I will never forget the impact of a question at a spiritual retreat with some priests in Latin America. I had just finished saying that often our faith lacks the human, when a priest approached me and said that when he was in seminary, they taught him that it was better to hide his concrete humanity, not to have it in sight “because it disturbed the journey of faith.” This episode made me more aware of how Christianity can be reduced and of the state of confusion in which we are called to live our priestly vocation. Once someone asked Fr. Giussani his advice for a young priest, “That he be above all a man,” he answered, to the surprise of those present. We find ourselves at the polar opposite of the advice given the seminarian: on the one hand, to look away from one’s humanity, and on the other, a gaze full of fondness for oneself.

So then, what is decisive for our faith and our vocation? What do we need? Fr. Giussani repeatedly indicated that “the forgetfulness of the ‘I’,” the absence of authentic interest for one’s own person is the “supreme obstacle to our human journey” (Alla ricerca del volto umano, Rizzoli, Milano 1995, p. 9). Instead, true love for oneself, true affection for oneself is what leads us to rediscover our constituent exigencies, our original needs in their nakedness and vastness, so as to see ourselves as relationship with the Mystery, entreaty for the
infinite, structural expectant awaiting. Only people so “wounded” by reality, so seriously engaged with their own humanity can open themselves totally to the encounter with the Lord. Fr. Giussani affirms, “In fact, Christ offers Himself as the answer to what “I” am and only an attentive and also tender and passionate awareness of myself can throw me wide open and dispose me to acknowledge, admire, thank, and live Christ. Without this awareness, even that of Jesus Christ becomes a mere name” (At the Origin of the Christian Claim, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal 1998, p. 4).

“There is no response more absurd than that to a question one hasn’t asked” wrote Reinhold Niebuhr. This also applies to us when we uncritically submit to the influence of the culture in which we are immersed, which seems to favor the reduction of humanity to our biological, psychological and sociological antecedents. But if humanity is truly reduced to this, what is our task as priests? What use are we? What is the sense of our vocation? How can we resist a flight from reality, taking refuge in spiritualism or formalism, seeking alternatives that make life bearable? Or wouldn’t it be better, obeying the cultural climate, to become social assistants, psychologists, cultural operators or politicians? As Benedict XVI reminded us in Lisbon, “Often we are anxiously preoccupied with the social, cultural and political consequences of the faith, taking for granted that faith is present, which unfortunately is less and less realistic. Perhaps we have placed an excessive trust in ecclesial structures and programs, in the distribution of powers and functions; but what will happen if salt loses its flavor?” (Homily at Holy Mass at Terriero do Paco of Lisbon, May 11, 2010).

Therefore, everything depends on the perception, first of all for us, of what humanity is and what truly corresponds to our infinite desire. The decision with which we live our vocation therefore derives from the decision with which we live our being men. Only within an authentically human vibration can we know Christ and let ourselves be fascinated by Him, to the point of giving Him our lives to make Him known to others. “Why does the faith still absolutely have a chance of success?” then Cardinal Ratzinger asked himself, and answered, “I would say because it finds correspondence in the nature of man. […] In man there is an inextinguishable nostalgic aspiration toward the infinite. None of the answers sought is sufficient; only the God who has made Himself finite, to lacerate our finiteness and lead it in the breadth of His infinity, is able to meet the questions of our being. Therefore today as well, Christian faith will return to find humanity” (Fede, Verità, Tolleranza [Faith, Truth, Tolerance] Cantagalli, Siena 2003, pp. 142-143).

This certainty that Benedict XVI testifies to continually even in the face of all the evil we bring upon ourselves or cause others – just think of the pedophilia issue – invites us on a journey to rediscover and deepen our understanding of the reasonableness of the faith: “Our faith is well-founded, but this faith needs to come alive in each of us […]: only Christ can fully satisfy the profound longing of every human heart and give answers to its most pressing questions about suffering, injustice and evil, concerning death and life hereafter” (Homily at Holy Mass at Terriero do Paco di Lisbon, May 11, 2010). Only if we experience the truth of Christ in our life will we have the courage to communicate it and the audacity to challenge the hearts of the people we meet. In this way, the priesthood will continue to be an adventure for each of us and thus the opportunity to testify to our fellow women and men the answer that only Christ is for the “mystery of our being” (G. Leopardi). Thank you.

Father Julián Carrón is a priest of the Archdiocese of Madrid and he is the President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation centered in Milan, Italy. He was appointed by Benedict XVI to be among the experts at the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God and he is a consultant on the Pontifical Council of the Laity.

Praying for priests as an act of Mercy

O my Jesus, I beg you on behalf of the whole Church:
Grant it love and the light of the your Spirit, and give power to the words of
priests so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to
you, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy priests; you yourself maintain them in
holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of your mercy
accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares
which are continually being set for the souls of priests. May the power
of your mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the
sanctity of priests, for you can do all things. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, pray for our priests.

First Thursday Plenary Indulgence for Lay Faithful for Year for Priests

In response to questions about the Plenary Indulgence for
the Year for Priests, the decree says that, “all truly penitent
priests”–having confessed their sins and received Holy Communion–may
obtain a Plenary Indulgence each day by devoutly praying Lauds or Vespers
before the Blessed Sacrament, and by making themselves available “with a
ready and generous heart” for the Sacrament of Penance and the other
sacraments.

This Plenary Indulgence may be applied to the souls of priests in
purgatory. Priests may also obtain a partial indulgence so often as they offer
prayers to ask for the grace of sacerdotal holiness. As I mentioned the other day about praying for souls of our priests, this an opportunity for priests to come to the assistance of their brother priests in
purgatory!

The decree also makes generous provision for the lay faithful. They
may obtain a Plenary Indulgence on the opening and closing days of the Year of
the Priest and on the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney
(August 4, 2009), on the First Thursday of the Month, or on any other day
established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the
faithful. The particular conditions are given below.

An example, a
prayer suitable for obtaining the Plenary Indulgence would be:

O Jesus, Eternal
Priest, keep Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart, where none may
touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Thy Sacred
Body. Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with Thy Precious Blood. Keep
pure and unworldly their hearts sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.
Let Thy holy love surround them from the world’s contagion. Bless their labors
with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and
consolation here and their everlasting crown hereafter. Mary, Queen of the
Clergy, pray for us; obtain for us numerous and holy priests. Amen.

To acquire
a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the
indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession,
Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It
is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent.

Meeting Fr Z in NYC

Meeting “blog personalities” is always fun, especially meeting a popular blogging priest. Father John Zuhlsdorf writes the blog, What Does The Really Say? He’s an affable priest with a good sense of humor and a good thinker. He celebrated a Solemn Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form for First Friday at the beautiful Church of the Guardian Angels (NYC). The particular intention for the Mass was for deceased priests.

The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus

In his homily, Father Zuhlsdorf spoke about the priesthood as the result of the outpouring of love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mindful of the human condition and the Incarnation, we have Perfect Love choosing imperfect men to be priests to preach the Gospel and to celebrate the sacraments. And because the priest is a normal human being with the normal failings as other men, we know the imperfect minister needs conversion. Our job is to beg for God’s mercy upon our priests, living and deceased, as an act of love for the priests. Priests are fallible, sinful human beings like everyone else and yet they are called by God to serve Him as priests for the good of His people. It is an awesome thing to consider that our souls are fed by priests, some of whom are worthy ministers of the Lord and some not. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of a priest’s ministry does not depend on the state of his soul (something part of our doctrine since the time of Saint Augustine).

We believe that two sacraments give permanent character to our souls that lasts into eternity: Baptism and Holy Orders. So, when a priest dies his soul is recognized as a priestly soul in heaven by God and whole heavenly court. The priesthood, therefore, does not end on the day when the priest’s body dies.

In this Year for Priests, indeed even outside of this special year, we ought to care for the priests who serve our parishes and other ministries in concrete ways. We ought to pray for the souls of the priests who have died, too. I am particularly thinking of the priests and bishops who gave us new Life in Christ through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist and Penance, and the other sacraments as applicable.

I have an immense sense of gratitude for the faith I received from the priest who baptized me, the bishop who confirmed me, the priests who heard my confessions and gave me the Body of Christ.

Could we offer a prayer once a day during November for the deceased priests we knew? After November, could we offer a prayer for the priests at least once a month in the years to come?

It would be good to read (or re-read) the Pope’s letter to the Church announcing the Year for Priests. There you will find some startlingly beautiful points to reflect upon and live out of. In my opinion, the Pope’s letter has so much to consider that it would take a lifetime to understand.

Priesthood: a snapshot into the vocation

In the August-September 2009 issue of Inside the Vatican, Angela Ambrogetti interviews Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, the archbishop-secretary of the Congregation of the Clergy on the year dedicated to the priest. In the interview Archbishop Piacenza notes:

1. “Among the new generations [of priests] there is a certainly a great desire for commitment, spirituality, rigorous training, a life of ascesis and penance.

2. “…the Church does not invent its doctrine [on the priesthood] but has received it from the Lord Jesus.”

3. “Believers need to find a unique paternity in the priest. The priest’s personal virtues, then the cassock itself, are indicative of his identity, which must be recognized by everyone. His presence in all fields, especially education, is fundamental for the Church’s mission. Unless we resume our educational work, we won’t be able to accomplish our apostolic mission! The Church cannot give up the education of the young, as most society is doing. It would be like renouncing our future.”

4. “The Lord Jesus gave Himself completely to man. Everything and forever are in the logic of Christian love. This complete devotion requires order and disciple. The rule of prayer, for example, must be observed. Should it fall into disuse, for any reason, it must be restored immediately. The same importance must be attached to daily rest, to a wholesome diet and to holidays, which are for the priest, time of the spirit.”

5. “The priest plays a decisive and irreplaceable role in the liturgy. He is not just an organizer of prayers and celebrations, as he is sometimes thought to be! In the liturgy, the priest stands for Christ Himself. In his offering to God, he repeats Christ’s words and gestures with effectiveness. The thing which the priest really needs in the celebration of the liturgy is prayer. The risk of triviality, superficiality and secularization can be avoided through the education of the priest and the people of God. If we all think of ourselves as being in the presence of the Lord, the liturgy will look quite different to us, along with our faith.”

The saint who disturbed the 19th century: John Mary Vianney

The life we lead is based on the influences we have. For some, like Father George Rutler, John Newman and John Vianney are two such influences. George Rutler, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and pastor of the Church of Our Saviour (NYC) gave the Terrence Cardinal Cooke Theology Lecture tonight at Saint Joseph’s Seminary. Himself a convert, author, TV personality tried to dispel the florid presentations of the saint which detach reality from the soul. John Vianney (8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859) knew himself well as a farm boy who desired to serve the Lord as a priest in love. What ought to be resisted when thinking about Vianney is sugar coating his ministry and manner of living. His was not a life akin to pouring molasses on roast beef. The saint, in Catholic theology and as reminded by Rutler, is a person who shows us that living the gospel is possible, that conversion is possible, that real, self-giving love is possible because the saint shows us Christ. And since Christianity is not speculation but fact, the fact of the saint is a testament to the reality of Christ today.

Saint John Vianney loved his people in substantial ways: he revealed Christ to them and allowed Christ to speak through his priestly life in ways that challenged each person to take more seriously the desires of their heart and their state of life. Vianney was direct when it came to sin and sinful ways; he was devoted to the humanity of those whom he encountered, and he responded as Christ would if someone presented himself. Vianney may have been a poor student and a man of little sophistication as judged by the world, but he was a brilliant disciple of the Lord who acted like a shepherd for the flock. Like the apostle who is known for his zeal, the martyr his patience, the virgin her purity and the confessor his intellect, Vianney is known for his love. Can we model our lives accordingly?

Nearly 125 people attended the lecture tonight.

Working out the plan for the renewal of the priesthood

Below is an extract of a homily given by Franciscan Cardinal Claudio Hummer to new bishops at a gathering in Rome on 21 September 2009. The stage is set…

Our priests need to be loved and supported in their
vocation and mission, above all by their own Bishop and by their community.
They wish to be recognised for that which they are and that which they do. They
also need to be assisted and guided to renew in their hearts the true identity
of the priesthood and the true meaning of celibacy. In this context, the
renewal and reinvigoration of their priestly spirituality will be decisive,
which has as its foundation in being true and unconditioned disciples of Jesus
Christ, who has configured them to Himself, Head and Shepherd of the Church.
For this discipleship, so determining of their lives, it will be of great help
for priests to listen and to pray aloud the Word of God, the daily celebration
of the Eucharist, the frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession, the
recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, frequent visits to the Most Blessed
Sacrament, the recitation of the Holy Rosary and other means of spiritual
enrichment and of personal encounter and intimacy with Jesus Christ. Also of
great importance are the annual Spiritual Exercises and ongoing formation.

Moreover,
it is necessary to awaken the missionary consciousness of priests. The Church
knows there is a missionary urgency being experienced throughout the world, not
only ad gentes, but also within the very flock of the Church already
established for centuries in the Christian world. It is necessary to promote a
true missionary urge in our Dioceses and in our parishes. All our countries
have become a land of mission, in the strict sense. A new fire needs to be lit
in our priests and in us ourselves, a new passion to make us arise and go to
meet people where they live and work, to bring to them anew the Kerygma, the
first proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen, and of
his Kingdom, to lead them to a personal and then a communitarian encounter with
the Lord. Our beloved Pope, Benedict XVI, referring to the situation in the lands
of age-old Christian tradition, has said, “We should give serious thought as to
how to achieve a true evangelization in this day and age […] It is not enough
for us to strive to preserve the existing flock” (Discourse to the German
Bishops, 21st August 2005), but we need a true mission. It is not enough merely
to welcome those who come to us, in the parish or in the parish house. There is
an urgent necessity to arise and go in search above all of the many baptised
who are distanced from participation in the life of our communities, and then
to seek also those who know little or nothing of Jesus Christ. The mission has
always renewed the Church. The same will also be true for priests when they go
into the mission. This, then, is a whole programme to develop during this Year
for Priests.

Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, OFM

Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo

Prefect of
the Congregation for the Clergy

What is a priest’s identity?

Archbishop Mauro Piacenza looks briefly at this question and explores some key points of what a priest’s identity is. Watch the video clip.

Saint Gaetano Catanoso –a saint for the Year of the Priest

Many think that Saint John Vianney is the only canonized
parish priest. Vianney is certainly the most known for his extraordinary life.
And it helps that popes and other notable authors have drawn our attention to
him. But there is another saint who has a persuasive personality who is also a
parish priest and worthy of our attention. In this Year of the Priest it fitting to have yet another intercessor before God. Today the Church celebrates the
liturgical memorial of Saint Gaetano Catanoso.

Pope Benedict XVI canonized him on October 23, 2005. In
the homily of the Mass of Canonization said:

Saint Gaetano
Catanoso was a lover and apostle of the Holy Face of Jesus. “The Holy Face,” he
affirmed, “is my life. He is my strength”. With joyful intuition he joined
this devotion to Eucharistic piety.

He would say: “If we wish to adore the real
Face of Jesus…, we can find it in the divine Eucharist, where with the Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Face of Our Lord is hidden under the white veil
of the Host.”

Daily Mass and frequent adoration of the Sacrament of the Altar
were the soul of his priesthood: with ardent and untiring pastoral charity he
dedicated himself to preaching, catechesis, the ministry of confession, and to
the poor, the sick and the care of priestly vocations. To the Congregation of
the Daughters of Saint Veronica, Missionaries of the Holy Face, which he founded,
he transmitted the spirit of charity, humility and sacrifice which enlivened
his entire life.