Priests: Consecrated to God

General Audience of Wednesday May 26, 1993

1. All of Christian tradition, based on Sacred Scripture, speaks of the priest as a "man of God", a man consecrated to God. Homo Dei: this definition is valid for every Christian, but St. Paul refers it particularly to Bishop Timothy, his disciple, when he recommends the use of Sacred Scripture to him.¹ It is appropriate to the presbyter as well as to the bishop, by reason of his special consecration to God. In truth, a person already receives a first, basic consecration in Baptism, with deliverance from evil and entry into a special state of belonging ontologically and psychologically to God.² Priestly ordination confirms and deepens this state of consecration, as the 1971 Synod of Bishops recalled when it referred to the priesthood of Christ shared by the presbyter through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.³

Here the Synod took up again the teaching of Vatican II which, after reminding presbyters of their duty to strive for perfection by virtue of their baptismal "consecration", added: "Priests are bound by a special reason to acquire this perfection. They are consecrated to God in a new way in their ordination and are made the living instruments of Christ the Eternal Priest, and so are enabled to accomplish throughout all time that wonderful work of his which with supernatural efficacy restored the whole human race."⁴ Pius XI recommended the same in his Encyclical Ad catholici sacerdotii of December 20, 1935.⁵

Imitators of Christ

According to the faith of the Church, priestly ordination not only confers a new mission in the Church, a ministry, but a new "consecration" of the person, one linked to the character imprinted by the sacrament of Orders as a spiritual, indelible sign of a special belonging to Christ in being and, consequently, in acting. The perfection required of the presbyter is thus commensurate with his sharing in the priesthood of Christ as the author of redemption: the minister cannot be exempted from reproducing in himself the sentiments, inner tendencies and intentions, the spirit of sacrifice to the Father and of service to the brethren that is proper to the "principal Agent."

2. As a result the priest has a sort of mastery of grace, which allows him to enjoy union with Christ and at the same time to be devoted to the pastoral service of his brothers and sisters. As the Council says, since the priest "in his own way assumes the person of Christ he is endowed with a special grace. By this grace he, through his service of the people committed to his care and all the People of God, is able the better to pursue the perfection of Christ, whose place he takes. The human weakness of his flesh is remedied by the holiness of him who became for us a high priest ‘holy, innocent undefiled, separated from sinners'."⁶ In this condition the priest is bound to a special imitation of Christ the Priest, which is the result of the special grace of Orders: the grace of union with Christ the Priest and Victim and, by virtue of this same union, the grace of good pastoral service to his brothers and sisters.

In this regard it is helpful to recall the example of St. Paul. He lived as an entirely consecrated apostle, he who was "taken possession of by Christ Jesus", and left everything to live in union with him.⁷ He felt so filled with Christ’s life that he could say in complete sincerity: "Yet I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me."⁸ Nevertheless after alluding to the extraordinary favors he had received as a "man in Christ,"⁹ he also suffered a thorn in the flesh, a trial from which he was never freed. Despite a triple request made to the Lord, he heard him respond: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."¹⁰

In the light of this example, the presbyter can better understand that he must strive to live fully his own consecration by remaining united to Christ and allowing himself to be imbued with his Spirit, despite the experience of his own human limitations. These will not prevent him from carrying out his ministry, because he is favored with a "grace that is sufficient for him." It is in this grace, then, that the priest must put his trust; it is to this grace that he must have recourse, knowing that he can thus strive for perfection in the hope of continually increasing in holiness.

Men of Penitential Spirit

3. His sharing in Christ’s priesthood cannot fail to arouse in the presbyter a sacrificial spirit too, a type of pondus crucis, the burden of the cross, which is expressed especially in mortification. As the Council says: "Christ, whom the Father sanctified or consecrated and sent into the world, ‘gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds"¹¹... In a similar way, priests, who are consecrated by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and sent by Christ, mortify the works of the flesh in themselves and dedicate themselves completely to the service of the people, and so are able, in the holiness with which they have been enriched in Christ, to make progress towards the perfect man."¹²

This is the ascetical aspect of the way of perfection, which for the priest cannot be lacking in renunciation and struggle against every sort of desire and yearning that would induce him to seek the good things of this world, thus compromising his interior progress. This is the "spiritual combat" of which the ascetical masters speak and which is required of every follower of Christ, but especially of every minister in the work of the cross, called to reproduce in himself the image of him who is Sacerdos et Hostia.

4. Obviously, one always needs to be open and responsive to the grace which itself comes from him who begets "any measure of desire or achievement"¹³, but who also demands that one use the means of mortification and self-discipline without which one remains impervious soil. The ascetical tradition has always pointed out—and in a certain sense prescribed— to priests certain means of sanctification, particularly the appropriate celebration of Mass, the punctual recitation of the Divine Office ("not to be mishandled", as St. Alphonsus M. de’ Liguori recommended), visits to the Blessed Sacrament, daily recitation of the Rosary, daily meditation and periodic reception of sacramental Penance. These practices are still valid and indispensable.

Particular importance must be given to the sacrament of Penance, the careful reception of which helps the presbyter to have a realistic image of himself, with the resulting awareness that he too is a poor, weak man, a sinner among sinners, one in need of forgiveness. He thus acquires "truth about himself" and is led to have confident recourse to the divine mercy.¹⁴

Men of Personal Holiness

In addition, it must always be remembered that as the Council says: "Priests will acquire holiness in their own distinctive way by exercising their functions sincerely and tirelessly in the Spirit of Christ."¹⁵ Thus, the proclamation of the word encourages them to achieve in themselves what they teach to others. The celebration of the sacraments strengthens them in faith and in union with Christ. The whole pastoral ministry develops their charity: "While they govern and shepherd the People of God they are encouraged by the love of the Good Shepherd to give their lives for their sheep. They, too, are prepared for the supreme sacrifice."¹⁶ Their ideal will be to achieve unity of life in Christ, integrating prayer and ministry, contemplation and action, because they continually seek the Father’s will and the gift of themselves for the flock.¹⁷

5. Moreover, it is a source of courage and joy for the presbyter to know that his personal commitment to sanctification helps make his ministry effective. In fact, as the Council recalls: "While it is possible for God’s grace to carry out the work of salvation through unworthy ministers, yet God ordinarily prefers to show his wonders through those men who are more submissive to the impulse and guidance of the Holy Spirit and who, because of their intimate union with Christ and their holiness of life, are able to say with St. Paul: ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’."¹⁸

When the priest recognizes that he is called to serve as the instrument of Christ, he feels the need to live in intimate union with Christ in order to be a valid instrument of the "principal Agent." Therefore, he seeks to reproduce in himself the "consecrated life" (the sentiments and virtues) of the one, eternal Priest who shares with him not only his power, but also his state of sacrifice for accomplishing the divine plan. Sacerdos et Hostia.

6. I will finish with a recommendation of the Council: "This sacred Council, in the hope of attaining its pastoral objectives of interior renewal, of worldwide diffusion of the Gospel, and of dialogue with the modern world, issues the strongest exhortation to all priests to strive always by the use of all suitable means commended by the Church towards that greater holiness that will make them daily more effective instruments for the service of all God’s People."¹⁹ This is the greatest contribution we can make to building up the Church as the beginning of God’s kingdom in the world.

NOTES

1. Cf. 2 Tm 3:16

2. Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theol., Il-Il, q. 81, a. 8

3. Cf. Enchiridion Vaticanum, IV, 1200-1201

4. Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 12

5. Cf. MS 28 [1936]:10

6. Heb 7:26, Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 12 cf. Pastores dabo vobis n. 20

7. Cf. Phil 3:7-12

8. Gal 2:20

9. 2 Cor l2:2

10. 2 Cor 12:9

11. Ti 2:14

12. Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 12

13. Phil 2:1 3

14. Cf. Reconciliatio et Poenitentia, n. 31; Pastores dabo vobis, n. 26

15. Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 13

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid. n. 14

18. Gal 2:20, Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 12

19. Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 12