Posted on 06/24/2015 6:42:04 AM PDT by Salvation
The Mystery of Being a Priest
Msgr. Charles Pope • June 23, 2015 •
Each year I concelebrate with hundreds of other priests in the ordination Mass of new priests. I find such Masses deeply spiritual. I have no role other than to quietly concelebrate, so the readings and the rites move me deeply. As I sit quietly, I ponder the mystery of my own priesthood.
When I was growing up, there was little to indicate that I would ever become a priest. I was not a particularly spiritual child (at least not after age 7). I did not “play Mass.” In fact, I did not like church at all. At the end of Mass when the priest said, “The Mass is ended, go in peace,” I responded, “Thanks be to God!” much more vigorously than necessary. My teenage years were marked by rebellion and pride. And while it is true that I joined the parish youth choir, it was only so that I could meet girls. It was not an evil intent, but not particularly spiritual. I did indeed date a few of them, two of them seriously. But sometime during college a strange and uncomfortable notion came over me that I was being called to the priesthood. It was an odd desire, one I could not explain.
It was true that by that time I had become a Church musician, organist, cantor, and choir director. But again, I do not think I was particularly spiritual. Music was something I enjoyed, but my involvement was more about leadership and impressing others, especially girls.
The growing desire to be a priest was inexplicable to me. At the time I was dating a real beauty queen, Denise. She was pretty, kind, and did not bring a heavy agenda to the relationship. Her greatest desire was just to get married and start raising children. I was two years away from graduation from college. I already had a job lined up with the Army Corps of Engineers. My life seemed pretty well set. And now this? The priesthood? How crazy is that?
And it wasn’t just a fleeting thought; it was a desire and it was growing. It was so mysterious, so strange, so unexpected. Somehow in my most honest moments I knew that the desire for the priesthood was stronger than the desire for marriage. But it seemed disloyal to Denise and I wasn’t going to break her heart, no way! And frankly I did not respect most of the priests I knew at that time. It was the late 70s and early 80s, the era of beige Catholicism, and the priests I knew seemed worse than irrelevant. I often fought with the pastor about music. He couldn’t think past Carey Landry and the St. Louis Jesuits, while I had met Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, and Victoria.
What on earth (or in Heaven?) was this thinking about being a priest? I just couldn’t make sense of it. I will spare you all the details, but God won. Denise had a change of heart (or maybe she got glasses and saw that I wasn’t all that great ). Or maybe she sensed my growing ambivalence. I won’t go into the details, but our dating ended. The troublesome pastor and I also parted ways (he later left the priesthood).
Two years later I entered the seminary. And now here I am, today, celebrating my 26th anniversary as a priest. Sitting in the Basilica the other day seeing nine new priests ordained was a great joy. And there again were those words that spoke to the mystery of the call: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet (Jer 1:4). Well, God always knew, but it sure was news to me before I was 22.
Yes, the call of God is a great mystery to me. Before I was born, God knew I would become a priest, but surely I did not know until long after birth.
Even after my ordination I would not have selected most the assignments I was given over the years. I came forth from the seminary as a Thomist, a Moral theologian. I graduated at the top of my class. I was skilled in Latin and the ancient liturgy, a lover of chant and polyphony. But my assignments were in African-American parishes that knew little of these, and where Gospel music was the mainstay.
Yet I could not be happier. I lost nothing of what I had; I only gained more. The mystery of God’s call makes our own notions and plans seem laughable in retrospect. The second reading at ordination this past Saturday also speaks volumes to my experience. Paul wrote to Timothy, Until I come, attend to the reading (or Sacred Scripture) exhortation and teaching … Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to everyone. Attend to yourself and to your teaching (1 Tim 4:12ff).
Here, too, God has been good to me. I can only say that for 30 years now, 26 of them as a priest, I have prayed every day, celebrated the liturgy every day, read and studied God’s word every day, and confessed every week. And through it all I am a changed man. I’m not what I want to be, but I’m not what I used to be. A wonderful change has come over me. I am more confident and serene. I have seen sins put to death and graces come alive. I love God more than ever. I love to pray and to teach. I have come to love God’s people so much more. Surely my faults are still quite manifest. I am proud, opinionated, and too rash in many of my judgments. My zeal makes me impatient and too quick to judge. Have mercy on me, Lord and dear people of God! But so many good things have come to change my life and to make a new man of me. Thank you, Lord. I do not boast, except in the Lord, for it is He who has accomplished all through the means above and by the prayers of his Holy people.
I am not the same man who entered the Basilica 26 years ago today. And thanks be to God for that. His word is true. Attending to His word, to the preaching, teaching, and celebration of the Sacraments has had wondrous effects! And I can’t wait to see what the next 26 years will bring, if God grants them. For now I can only marvel at the mystery of my call and its unfolding over all these years.
I’d like to conclude with some words of encouragement that were give to me some years ago during a difficult and anxious time in my priesthood. The words expand on what St. Paul said to Timothy in the passage above. The holiness and humanness of the priest is the deepest source of his authority. The person of the priest is the “substantial bread” of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Personal development and the personal quest for God make the priest credible in the sight of the faithful – Rev. Robert Schwartz
Amen. So be it, Lord.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
When I was an altar boy in grade school one priest had the habit of “accidently” showing us his junk prior to morning mass as he dressed. In high school we knew better than to ever go in to the rectory because of all the homosexual priests. That aside, I met some great men who were priests in the church. Unfortunately, most of these great men knew that their brethren were sickos and did nothing about it because the church had a homosexual subculture that was so large if they kicked them out they would have had a hard time replacing them.
A very odd perspective on priests and nuns came from a South American witch doctor, an opinion not offensive at all to Catholics.
He observed that to carry out their spiritual activities, they need the strength that is kept only if someone is both chaste and celibate. This is what makes priests and nuns powerful among mankind.
He added that as long as they maintain their chastity and celibacy, they will be near impossible for tyrants to exterminate. Their strength will allow them to overcome, or at least avoid their oppressors.
He concluded by saying that the church will survive as long as it has such people within it, and why it has prospered for so long.
Most of them, if not all of them, are gone now.
You can come back to the church.
Interesting.
Thank you
The real mystery is why churches attempt to limit priesthood (as if we were still in an old testament era) when the new testament expanded it...see Peter...1 Pet. 2:5-9 and Rev 1:5-6
Come back to the Catholic church? Not a chance. For decades they allowed abuse and it still exists. Today the head of the church is guano crazy. I am surrounded by good people that are Catholics, unfortunately the church is sick from the head down.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/05/us-usa-minnesota-archdiocese-idUSKBN0OL23W20150605
There is sin in this world. It will always be so, until He comes again.
I agree, that is why I identify it and keep away from it.
Glad you are believing Reuters.
Pope Benedict XVI sent emissaries to all the seminaries to clean them out.
Someone applying for the priesthood these days must undergo a two day psyche exam. Parents are interviewed, former pastor is interviewed.
The candidate is interviewed by others at the order or diocese to which he is applying.
And many men are refused. Please update yourself! I can’t send you all the links that I have stored since my computer is only about half way working.
I am doing the same in the Catholic Church. We do our best.
Just as Jesus spent time with sinners, so the Catholic Church welcomes sinners and provides the resources to guide them to Heaven.
We are all sinners and we need each other to strengthen our resolve together to follow God’s will. God does want us to help each other by loving our neighbor.
Just because some leaders of the Church failed and sinned does not make the Catholic Church unholy.
We often have bosses or business associates or family members that are crazy or not likeable, but we put up with them. So too should we love our neighbors in the church so that we gain God’s graces through the Sacraments.
Just because some individuals may have sinned doesn’t mean that all Catholics are bad, does it?
Do Protestants sin? Of course they do.
Maybe if catholic priests would spend more time in Greek and Hebrew they would have a clearer understanding of the Word.
I never said that, in fact I said I am surrounded by good people tat are Catholics.
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