Reflections on Priesthood

CALL
At the beginning of the third Christian millennium, the Catholic priest in Canada is a man of faith who has heard and who continues to hear the authentic call of God. His life as a priest is lived out by responding to the best of his ability to that ongoing call.
 
His vocation is a mystery, lived in the presence of God and God's people. His happiness and joy, his peace and fulfillment are derived from God's gift to himself.
 
IDENTITY?
The identity of ordained priesthood is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a gift that calls men to be the light of the world.
 
There is an integration of ordained priests into the priesthood of Christ, and this is what helps to incarnate Christ in the world today.
 
The ordained priest is linked to all aspects of Christ, and in a special way to the Paschal mystery. It is by identifying and recognizing his weaknesses and his humanity that a priest calls upon the strength of God to be more completely God's servant.
 
The ordained priest holds a unique identity in the Christian community. This does not set him apart from other people. Rather, it establishes him as one support in a community that relies on the interdependence of many supports.
 
Priests have been given special charisms, although they are often reticent to express them. Ordination gives a priest the mandate to carry out essential roles in the community of faith. These include presiding at Mass and other sacraments, teaching, preaching, praying daily, living a celibate lifestyle (in the Latin rite) and providing spiritual leadership. In some communities, certain historical and cultural expectations of the priest can be properly exercised by others.
 
SPIRITUALITY ?
The spirituality of the priest builds and supports the sense of his own identity and integrity, his mission and ministry, and his sense of wellbeing. This spirituality is also his source of strength as he meets the various challenges that face him today.
 
While the spirituality of the diocesan priest is not clearly defined, each priest knows that he must take responsibility for nourishing his own spirit by means of prayer, a regular sacramental life, by reflection, self-examination, and appropriate reading.
 
INTEGRITY
?As an extension of his own spiritual health, the priest seeks wellness in all aspects of his life. He desires to be faithful to the will of God, to the expectations of the Church, to his own personal experiences, and to the lived experience of the faith community. This can be a difficult task. To preserve his personal integrity, today's priest uses all the resources available to him in order to deepen his understanding of Church doctrine and the requirements of relevant ecclesiastical authorities. He seeks the advice of colleagues and experts as he deems necessary, while always considering his own experience and the experiences and needs of the people he serves.
 
MISSION?
Priests see their mission today as:

• Providing a vision of God's people, based on the witness they give to the Good News of Jesus Christ and to Christian hope;?
• Building up the community of faith
• Calling people to holiness through relationships in faith with Jesus and with one another
• Strengthening the family as the basic unit of the community of faith and the nurturer of future vocations.
•  

MINISTRY - ROLE?
Ministry is the concrete expression of the priest's mission.
 
Ministry in general, and priestly responsibility in particular, are seen as both a means and an end. Ministry requires acquiring skills and a commitment to ongoing development. Humility and openness to positive critique are essential. In the Church today, it is vital that priestly ministry involve collaboration with others, collegiality of consultation and consensus building, especially among priest and bishop, priest and fellow priest, as well as clergy and laity.
 
Collaborative ministry involves a complementarity of roles, each with its own unique charism and responsibilities. It involves teamwork, cooperation, and mutual respect. Ministry involves identifying, calling forth, and affirming these gifts by both leadership and the community. Effective ministry is built on trust that allows for the expression of different views. Above all, it requires a commitment to authentic communication and effective listening.
 
WELLNESS?
In order for a priest's ministry to be effective, he must acknowledge the needs for his holistic development as a human being: the integration of his physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs. A priest needs a balanced lifestyle, one that integrates his prayer, work, relationships, exercise and relaxation. All priests are aware of the challenges this presents in the lives of many of their colleagues. Today, many live in isolation, others live near - and in some cases in - the church they serve. Some are responsible for multiple parishes requiring extensive travel. Many face the exponential demands and expectations of contemporary priesthood. All are affected by the combined effects of an aging priestly population, one that is also declining in its overall numbers. They are concerned that the present living situations of many of their brother priests do not promote adequately the level of wellness deemed to be conducive to an effective life of service.
 
A second fundamental and related area of wellness involves the provision of appropriate care for Canada's aging priests as well as those whose health has been affected because of their role as caregivers. All priests acknowledge the diversity of responses to these needs in various parts of the country. They affirm those dioceses where systems of referral, crisis intervention teams and other support functions are in place. They see the need for such assistance to be made universally available to all priests. When it comes to issues of aging and the provision for retirement, priests recognize the centrality of actions that are grounded in justice, especially since in some regions of the country this is not being adequately dealt with.
 
In general, priests are aware of their responsibility for their own health and for reaching out to a brother priest in need of human caring. Priests place value on the support they receive from one another, from family and friends, and from their bishops or superiors. Here again, they acknowledge the great diversity of their current experience of priestly life in Canada.
 
CHALLENGES?
Each priest faces many challenges in his life of faith. While he understands himself particularly called by God to be an "alter Christus," one who is "another Christ" in the world in which he lives, he nonetheless discovers that his call is also within the experience of human suffering and the longing for goodness in a broken world.
 
Priests are called to be prophetic witnesses for God, especially as each is sent as a servant of the Church to build His Kingdom here on earth. The strength to carry out this mission is rooted in each priest's spiritual life: a life of prayer and sacrament, a life that is open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially when faced with the reality of his own human frailty. St. Paul offers priests a special source of strength in the example of his struggle with a "thorn in the flesh." St. Paul prostrated himself before the Lord, relying on divine Grace for his ultimate inspiration.
 
An added strength for the priest in his call to serve is a healthy lifestyle. His positive approach to his own physical and emotional well-being; his balanced relationships with family, friends and parishioners; his positive attitude toward recreation and outside interests; these are the fundamental sources of sustained support for a strengthened priesthood.
 
To be effective, as well as to be hope-filled and joyful in his life, each priest needs the support of the love, friendship, and kindness of those with whom he shares his life. The fraternity of his brother priests, the affirmation of those in authority, and the charity and friendship of the faith community are essential for his well-being.
Such support is all the more necessary when a priest is aware of the lowering of priestly morale, the escalation of loneliness, and the shadow that is cast by inappropriate behaviour such as alcoholism, substance abuse, and sexual misconduct, his own or that of his brother priests. Sexuality and celibacy are of particular concern to priests, some of whom find themselves still struggling with decisions they made in their past.
 
In situations such as these, a priest is aware of the responsibility of his priestly fraternity to acknowledge this human reality and to respond to it with a commitment to bring about an effective resolution. Priests need to be present to each other with gifts of understanding and forgiveness, and a sense of their responsibility to provide help to each other.
 
The priest is called to be a faithful and joyful servant of the Lord. The challenge to be this is immense in today's world where so many demands and expectations are loaded on his shoulders. He will do well, as he places his life, his hopes, his worries and his struggles, in the hands of his God, who will supply what he needs for a life of joyful service. It is a joy-filled priest who attracts others to the priesthood.