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Rev. George Fleming was ordained 15 years ago with full knowledge that he was entering what would be a transformed priesthood. The evidence was clear: He was one of only two priests ordained that year for the Diocese of Albany. He wondered: Would he have the personal holiness to fulfill his priestly role? 

"We were preparing for a changing priesthood," Father Fleming, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Schaghticoke and St. Bonaventure in Speigletown, recalled recently while driving around on his pastoral duties.

Father Fleming sees his own career as living on the cusp of change. His first assignment was at Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Latham, where he served as an associate pastor in a traditional role where he was mentored by an older priest-pastor.

Then came assignments that put him into a changing priesthood. One took him to northern Warren County, where he was the only priest in a cluster of three North Country parishes and two missions that comprised more than 500 square miles of territory.

Now, he's in Rensselaer County, and, while the mileage on his car has been lessened, the pastoral duties are just as intense.

Father Doyle's reflections on the Year of the Priest can be found at cnsblog.wordpress.com/category/ year-for-priests-blog. The Diocesan Vocations Office website can be found at www.albanyvocations.org.

Daily roles
Like many other priests in the Albany Diocese, Rev. Kenneth Doyle also wears many hats, illustrated by a typical day in his life: It's supposed to be his day off, but Father Doyle, pastor of Mater Christi parish in Albany and chancellor for public information for the Diocese, is up early to attend an 8 a.m. board meeting at a Catholic hospital.

It's just a few weeks after Pope Benedict XVI declared the Year of the Priest, and Father Doyle has chosen this day to talk about a typical day in the life of an American priest for a blog he writes for Catholic News Service.

In his "Year of the Priest" talk, the Pope cited St. John Vianney, the famous 19th-century French curate in the village of Ars, who became famous for attracting hordes to his confessional because of a reputation for sanctity and sage counsel.

The Pope's talk is seen as a response to how the role of the priest has come under question in recent decades. 

Some view the priest as a kind of community organizer who brings the gifts of others to the fore. Others prefer to see the priest as spiritual guru or in the central sacramental role he plays in the Eucharist.

Amidst this ongoing theological discussion within Church circles, the priesthood has been battered in recent years by the ongoing revelations about the small fraction of Catholic clergy who have committed sexual abuse.

Happiness
Despite it all, priesthood remains a treasured vocation. In the midst of the public turmoil over the sex abuse crisis in 2002, the Los Angeles Times published a study of American priests. They found that American priests are perhaps the most satisfied in their vocation than any other group.

The survey indicated that priests disagree on their views of the Church and on what their role should be. But there is heavy consensus on one point: More than 90 percent indicated they were satisfied with their lives.

Resurrection Sister Rosemary Ann Cuneo, CR, vocation director for the Diocese along with Rev. James Walsh, promotes the idea that the priesthood, and religious life, can be a fruitful and happy vocation choice.

Open ears
She emphasizes that vocations don't develop out of her office, however, but bloom in parish communities and families and are a response to God's call.

She said that vocations are discouraged by a culture that fails to recognize their value and by the fear of parents who lack an understanding of what priesthood and religious life is.

"God is calling. But they all can't hear it," said Sister Rosemary.

Still, she says, there are signs of hope. Five men are preparing to be ordained for the Diocese next year. A program of pasta dinners with Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, in which priests are asked to invite potential priest candidates for informal discussions about vocations, has proved popular, with a dozen or so candidates showing up on a regular basis. 

Meanwhile, Father Doyle is where he thinks God wants him to be. After his hospital meeting, he returns to St. Catherine's, where he writes up a report on parish consolidation. While writing the report, calls come in to arrange weddings - 11 planned for the next few weeks - as well as four baptisms. 

Holy sidetrack
"The challenge is to remember that 'God is in the interruptions' and that a priest, like Christ, must always be kind," Father Doyle notes in his blog. 

Throughout the frenzied life of a priest, notes Father Fleming, there are many challenges. Collaborative ministry is not easy. Laypeople, he says, often have different visions of Church. He finds he has disappointed people - for example, when he is unaware that a parishioner is experiencing illness and needs spiritual support.

But he feels his ministry is especially valued during times of crisis, when families look for him to minister to the sick or when he hears a heartfelt confession that transforms a life.

"The overwhelming presence of God in the sacraments was an experience I couldn't be prepared for," Father Fleming said about 15 years of living holy orders. 

"I was self-conscious that I wasn't good enough. Then you realize God provides, that whatever shortcomings you have are made up by others who come forward," he said. 

(10/15/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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