June 22, 2022 at 4:09 p.m.
The Lord is my sole inheritance
The Lord is my sole inheritance
Indeed, Saint Luke in the Gospel continues this theme. The Master encounters those who wish to follow him, to dedicate their lives to him, and they cannot do so. Unlike Elisha, they are ultimately too caught up in the things of this world, like family and property, all of them in themselves good. The Lord says: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” The refrain of the responsorial psalm reminds us: “You (God) are my inheritance, O Lord.”
With all the trouble in the world, I contend that there has never been a better time to be a priest. Priests are more necessary than ever for the sanctifying of the world. What is necessary today for the priest is a radical reconfiguration to the Person to whom they were configured at their ordination — Jesus Christ, the Lord, the one, true, high priest.
For too long, I have forgotten that it is the Lord who is my sole inheritance, not human respect. For too long, I have set my hand to the plow and at least peered over my shoulder to see what is in back of me. The cloak of radical discipleship has been laid over us who are ordained priests. Therefore, in this age when we are called to be even more so agents of transparency — of healing, of trust, in the Church and the world — what are we to do?
Simple this — be Christ’s priests. We were given the triple munera for ministry in the Church — to teach, to administer and to sanctify. If we are to live out this with our whole heart, mind and self, what a difference it would be for the Church and the world.
We are to teach and to preach the doctrine of the Church, not only what we think, or what we think might be best acceptable to society, but what our Mother the Church has entrusted to us in the Deposit of Faith without any alteration. This, of course, does not mean that we just recite the Catechism to the people to whom we serve, but it does mean that we understand, accept and teach the Church as it is authentically taught in the Magisterium. At all of our diaconal ordinations, we took an oath of fidelity. Those who are pastors and seminary formators and professors did as well. Now is the time, more than ever, for us to live up to it.
We are to administer the temporal goods of the Church with the sure and certain knowledge that it is not our property. We are merely the caretakers, those responsible for the goods and buildings and services which our Mother, the Church, has given to us as pastors
We are called to sanctify the People of God, building up the Mystical Body of Christ by the reverent celebration of the sacraments, especially Holy Mass. Do we recognize that, when we offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it is Christ whom we call down in our own unworthy hands? Do we celebrate or concelebrate Holy Mass, even on days when we are not “on” to do so? Do we pray daily the Divine Office in its entirety, as we are obliged to do at our ordinations, not only for the sanctification of our own day, but in intercession for our Bride, the Church, for her growth in holiness? Do we make time daily for Eucharistic adoration, spending, indeed in the eyes of the world — wasting, time before our ultimate love?
The relationship for the priest that has to be primary is with God. He must realize that he is a beloved son of the Father and has to assure, through the formation of a “monasticism of the heart,” becoming an active contemplative, that this relationship is primary. In the midst of a busy schedule, with all of its demands, I can understand how many of my brother priests could scoff at the concept of being an active contemplative. All one needs to do to be an active contemplative is to take the time daily for real, substantial prayer, preferably before the Blessed Sacrament, doing a daily examen.
From this relationship flows his identity, which is, by his ordination, configured to Christ, and he is ontologically, at the root of his being, changed. The priest is called to be the chaste spouse to the Church, married, if you will, to the Church, the Bride of Christ. He is called to be the spiritual father, the one who gives life to his people through his loving service, like any father to a family and by feeding them with the Eucharist. He is called to be the divine physician, healing his flock through the sacraments of penance and anointing of the sick. He is called to be head and shepherd, leading and guiding his flock even when the times get tough. What a noble role! What an honorable task! How could a priest with this understanding not be excited and want to set the world ablaze!
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
Events
250 X 250 AD
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