{"id":24804,"date":"2009-07-20T12:01:38","date_gmt":"2009-07-20T16:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2009\/07\/priesthood-is-enlightened-by-r\/"},"modified":"2009-07-20T12:01:38","modified_gmt":"2009-07-20T16:01:38","slug":"priesthood-is-enlightened-by-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2009\/07\/priesthood-is-enlightened-by-r\/","title":{"rendered":"Priesthood is enlightened by reason & freedom, Archbishop Piacenza said"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"Mauro<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n“Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit,
\nto discharge without fail the office of the priesthood in the presbyteral order
\nas a conscientious fellow worker with the Bishop in caring for the Lord’s
\nflock?”<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

The Archbishop-Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy<\/span><\/a>,
\nMauro Piacenza, wrote to the world’s priests on July 15th reflecting on the
\nliturgical theology that identifies and supports the theology of priesthood.
\nNow that we are clearly in the Year of the Priest we have to make solid effort
\nat connecting our daily prayer for priests (and, those preparing for
\nordination) and education on what the Church believes and teaches about the
\npriesthood. This year dedicated to the priesthood is not only directed to
\nrenewal and reform of the priesthood but also conversion of the entire Church. The
\nyear of priestly renewal is not merely centered on prayer for the local priest (which
\nis most essential) but also a time for some intellectual formation for both
\npriest and people. So, the proposal of the Pope is that we give a sufficient
\nattention to both prayer and education, not one or the other. I’d like to note
\nthat I find myself disappointed to see the lack of a public of storming heaven
\nfor the graces of renewal but also the lack of sufficient discussion of what
\nthe Church teaches and believes. What to do? In the meantime, Archbishop
\nPiacenza offers a number of juicy tidbits to consider. He said in part:<\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nChurch, in her maternal wisdom, has always taught that the ministry is born of
\nthe encounter of two freedoms: divine and human. If on the one hand one must
\nalways recall that, “no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it
\nby God<\/span>” (CCC n.1578), on the other hand, clearly, it is always a “human and
\ncreated I”, with his own story and identity, with his own qualities and also
\nhis own limitations, who responds to the divine call. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

            <\/span>The
\nliturgical-sacramental translation of this asymmetric and necessary dialogue
\nbetween the divine freedom which calls and the human freedom<\/span> which responds is
\nrepresented by the questions which each of us has had addressed to him by the
\nBishop during the rite our own ordination, immediately prior to the imposition
\nof hands. We shall revisit together in the months ahead this “dialogue of love
\nand freedom”. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

            <\/span>We
\nhave been asked, “Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to
\ndischarge without fail the office of the priesthood in the presbyteral order as
\na conscientious fellow worker with the Bishop in caring for the Lord’s flock?”
\nWe answered, “I Am”<\/o:p><\/p>\n

            <\/span>The
\nfree and conscious response is based, therefore, on an explicit act of the will
\n(“Are you resolved to discharge the office”, “I am”) which, as we know well,
\nrequires to be continuously enlightened by the judgement of reason and
\nsustained by freedom, so as not to become a sterile voluntarism or, worse, to
\nchange over time, becoming unfaithful<\/b>. The act of the will is enduring of its
\nvery nature, because it is a human act, in which the fundamental qualities of
\nwhich the Creator has made us participants are expressed. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

            <\/span>The
\nundertaking, then, that we have assumed is “for the whole of life” and thus not
\nrelated to fads or indulgences much less to sentiments, which might be apparent
\nto a greater or less degree. While feelings may be said to have a role in
\ncoming to the knowledge of the truth, it is only so as to direct out focus in
\nsuch a way as not to obstruct such knowledge but to assist the discernment of
\nit. Nevertheless, this is but one aspect of consciousness and cannot be its
\ndetermining factor. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Our
\nwill has accepted to exercise “the priestly ministry”, not other “professions”!
\nAbove all else we are called to be priests always and, as the Saints remind us,
\nin every circumstance, exercising with our very being that ministry to which we
\nhave been called. One does not merely act as a priest: one is a priest! <\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Each
\none of us is part of a dynamic entity, called to collaborate by demonstrating,
\neach in his own way, the Head of this Body: always as “fellow workers with the
\nBishop<\/b>“, in obedience to the good which he indicates, and “under the guidance
\nof the Holy Spirit”, that is in praying with each breath<\/span>. Only he who prays can
\nhear the voice of the Spirit. As the Holy Father recalled in the General
\nAudience of the 1st July last, “Those who pray are not afraid; those who pray
\nare never alone; those who pray are saved!”.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the office of the priesthood in the presbyteral order as a conscientious fellow worker with the Bishop in caring for the Lord’s flock?” The Archbishop-Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Mauro Piacenza, wrote to the world’s priests on July 15th … Continue reading Priesthood is enlightened by reason & freedom, Archbishop Piacenza said<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[1818,32104],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}