The priest in his relation with the Marian dimension of the Incarnation

(Prof. Jose Vidamor B. Yu, Manila)

The directory on the ministry and life of the priest emphasized that there is an “essential rapport” between the maternity of Mary and the priesthood of Christ. Marian spirituality is rooted in every priest. (no. 68) If the maternity of Mary is closely related to the priesthood of Christ, there will be a profound relationship between priestly ministry and the mystery of the Incarnation. The love of God is incarnated in the community of believers through the ministry of the priest. John Paul II had written to the priests on Holy Thursday of 1996 saying that the priest is a sharer in many different life choices, sufferings and joys, disappointments and hopes. In every situation, his task is to show God to man as the final end of his personal existence. As Mary made Jesus manifest to the world by giving birth to Him, the priest likewise makes the Word alive in the world through his ministry and mission. John Paul II continues to say that “the priest becomes the one to whom people confide the things most dear to them and their secrets, which are sometimes very painful. He becomes the one whom the sick, the elderly and the dying wait for, aware as they are that only he, a sharer in the priesthood of Christ, can help them in the final journey which is to lead them to God.” God’s love is experienced and incarnated through the ministry of the priest.

The Priest in Union with Christ

The essential relationship between Mary and the ministerial priesthood is found in Mary’s divine motherhood and the priesthood of Christ. Mary has a distinctly close intimacy with Jesus Christ and this intimacy is comparable to the intimacy that a priest is expected to have and to cultivate in virtue of his office. It is through the ministry of the priest that Jesus the Savior continues to give divine life to the world. John Paul II echoes this when he desired that the year 2000 be Eucharistic because God continuously reveals and offers His grace to man. He said that “the Year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic; in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Saviour, who took flesh in Mary’s womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer himself to humanity as the source of divine life”. (MND 7)

Just as the Eucharist is inseparable from Church, Mary too is inseparable from the Eucharist. Mary gave birth to Christ while the Eucharist is the sacrament of Christ’s presence in the world. The Church continues to acclaim Mary as the “Woman of the Eucharist” because the model for a Eucharistic spirituality is Mary. She did not only conceive Jesus in Her womb but she continuously becomes a guide towards Eucharistic contemplation and Eucharistic spirituality. Her intimate relationship with Jesus is the inspiration a priest receives as a gift when he celebrates the sacraments of the Church. The Eucharist nourished the saints because the Eucharist was the source of their spiritual nourishment. The priest should find inspiration from the Blessed Virgin Mary because it was her whole life that incarnated the entire meaning of the Eucharist. “The Church, which looks to Mary as a model, is also called to imitate her in her relationship with this most holy mystery”. (MND 31)

Priest Make the Word Present in the World

The ministry of the priest is closely linked with the Marian dimension of the Incarnation because through the priest, the Word of God may be present in the world. Just as Mary gave birth to Christ and made Him manifest, the priest makes the Word of God present in the world. Mary gave glory to God and took her share in the salvation of man through her “fiat” and through the birth to the Son of God. The priest however, whether he devotes himself to prayer and adoration, or preach the Word or celebrate the Eucharist and other sacraments or exercise other services for the benefit of men is contributing at once to the increase of God’s glory and men’s growth in the divine life. (cf PO 2) The mystery of the Incarnation manifested Jesus as the concrete expression of God’s love and His intervention in human affairs to sanctify the human race. Likewise, the priest who celebrates the sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist makes Christ the center of the assembly and makes manifest the concrete love of God in the world through the celebration of the Word and the Eucharist.

One of the essential relationships between the ministry and life of the priest with the mystery of the Incarnation is that both focus on the invitation of worshipping Christ as the Savior of the world. The priest leads the Eucharistic community to worship which is similar to what Mary did when she presented the Child Jesus to the wise men for worship. John Paul II made it a point for us to reflect that similar act of the priest with Mary’s act of presenting Christ as the center of worship. He said that on the Solemnity of the Birth of Christ the Church both adores the Savior and venerates His glorious Mother. On the Epiphany, when she celebrates the universal call to salvation, the Church contemplates the Blessed Virgin, the true Seat of Wisdom and true Mother of the King, who presents to the Wise Men, for their adoration, the Redeemer of all peoples (cf. Mt. 2:11). (Marialis Cultus 5) Mary led those who saw the Child to acts of worship likewise the priest finds his distinct place in the celebration of the liturgy by leading the whole congregation towards authentic forms of worship.

Mystery of Incarnation: Revelation of God’s Mercy

The mystery of the Incarnation is the definitive act of God in revealing His mercy to man. Through Christ man comes to know God in the most profound mystery of His being. By “making known” through Christ we know God above all in His relationship of love for man. His invisible nature becomes more visible in a special way, incomparably more visible than through all the other things that have been created. (cf DM 2) Through the mystery of the Incarnation, God is not only being more visible but His mercy becomes more experienced and within human reach. If through the Incarnation God gave human life the dimension that He intended man to have from his first beginning and he has granted that dimension definitively in the way that is peculiar to Him alone, in keeping with His eternal love and mercy, the ministry of the priest continues the saving act God has begun in the world. (cf RH 1)

The priest makes incarnate and makes the mercy of God visible. In a world that seems to be opposed to the God of mercy and seems to exclude Him from the life of man and remove Him from the human heart, the priest bears witness to a God who is “rich in mercy” desiring to bring back man in His original dignity. It is because “the Church proclaims the truth of God’s mercy revealed in the crucified and risen Christ, and she professes it in various ways.” (DM 15) The Church has always been an agent of mission of bearing witness of God’s mercy in Christ. The Church introduces and makes the mercy of God incarnate in the hearts of every Christian especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Besides, the Church is not only the proclaimer of God’s mercy but remains faithful to it in the midst of a sinful world. In the name of Christ and through the ministry of the Church, the priest professes the mercy of God as handed down by revelation throughout the generations. The sacraments celebrated by the priest especially the Eucharist brings every Christian ever closer to Christ. As the mystery of the Incarnation has brought Christ ever nearer to mankind, the priest too, through the sacraments he celebrates brings Christ closer and places Him in a unique place in the hearts of man. The priest encourages all Christians to put mercy into practice. Christ exhorted his disciples to be merciful that they may in turn receive mercy. (cf Mt. 5:7)

Priest as a Disciple of Christ

Mary is the model of all priests. She is considered as the “perfect disciple” of Christ. During the Anunciation, Mary became a true servant of God’s word. She listened to the angel and trusted in the words spoken to her. Mary became a model of Christian virtues. By the experiences she had in Nazareth as a lowly and humble servant as well as the sacrifices she had while conceiving the Child in her womb, her patient endurance amid the trials she had in raising Christ especially when Herod desired to take the life of the Child, had made her “the handmaid of the Lord.” In the life and ministry of the priest, “the priest will look on Mary to be a humble, obedient and chaste minister and to give testimony of charity in the total surrender to God and to the Church. (Directory of Ministry and Life of Priests 68)

The mystery of the Incarnation through the Blessed Virgin Mary becomes an ideal of purity “without stain or blemish,” “holy and immaculate” for the priest. The directory reminds us that “this contemplation of the Blessed Virgin places before the priest the ideal to which the ministry in his community should lead, so that this be a ‘wholly glorious Church’ through the priestly gift of his very life.” (Directory of Ministry and Life of Priests 68)

The mystery of the Incarnation serves as an inspiration of discipleship. Like Mary who is a listerner and a doer of God’s word, priests are likewise called to be disciples of Christ by being a listener and doer of God’s word. As the Church continues the work of redemption in the world today, priestly ministry continuously draws its inspiration from a profound Marian spirituality. The Motherhood of Mary in the Church is in the order of faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ. (cf LG 63) Priests, by their unique place in the world are called to be ministers to make this union possible today. The Motherhood of Mary is manifested through her faith and obedience that gave birth on earth the very Son of the Father, not through the knowledge of man but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. (cf LG 63) In the same manner, the ministry of priests is a privilege and a challenge to make the Word incarnate in every culture and people.

Priests as Signs of Hope

The mystery of the Incarnation is God’s sign of hope for the world. Through Mary the Church journeys into a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ. Through the Incarnation, Mary is introduced into mystery of Christ. Thus, the priest who is formed by the virtues of Mary, becomes a minister of God introducing the mystery of the Incarnation into the hearts of the faithful. Through the mystery of the Incarnation, man is fully emersed into the mystery of Christ. John Paul II said that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. (cf Redemptoris Mater 4) Through faith, Mary began her journey towards union with Christ. Through faith, the priest is called and sent to journey with Mary into the mystery of Christ.

The mystery of the Incarnation is God’s gift of hope for His people. It is through it that man finds his hope for salvation. The priest is called to preach to the people of God about the mystery of the Incarnation because Christ is the way towards the Father. Christ is the supreme model to which the disciple must conform his own life. As Christ became the living sign of the Father’s love, likewise priests should be living signs of hope as they become instruments of God’s mercy. “Priests should therefore regard themselves as living signs and bearers of that mercy which they offer, not as though it were their own, but as a free gift from God. They are thus servants of God's mercy.” (Cardinal Dario Hoyos)