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PRIESTLY ROLE & IDENTITY
BY THE MOST REV TIMOTHY DOLAN ARCHBISHOP OF MILWAUKEE USA
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The greatest of all prayers, The Eucharist, is where we experience our priestly identity most intimately. Is there ever a more powerful moment of configuration with Christ, of acting in persona Christi, than when we say. “This is my body; this is my blood”? Notice we do not say, “This is his body”; no, we say, “This is my body! This is my blood!” We are Christ!
“The priest is a man of the Eucharist" continues the Holy Father in that same exhortation cited above. “In the span of nearly fifty years of priesthood, what is still most important and the most sacred moment for me is the celebration of the Eucharist. My awareness of celebrating in persona Christi at the altar prevails. Never in the course of these years have I failed to celebrate the Most Holy Sacrifice. If this has occurred, it has been due entirely to reasons independent of my will. Holy Mass is the absolute center of life and of every day of my life.”
Flowing from that would come our prayer before the Holy Eucharist. I once heard a woman psychologist, addressing priests, say how rewarding she felt it must be for a priest to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Every man, she said, needs to see something he has brought about, created – most men have that joy when they see their child. A priest has that when he beholds the Eucharist. Here is a life he has procreated, brought about with God’s help. Prayer before the Eucharist is a powerful boost to our priestly identity.
Another help for us priests is prayer in union with Mary, the Mother of the First Priest. Cardinal Szoka’s moving words about our Lady in the life of a priest during his homily at the North American College a few years ago on December 8 reminded us of this. As our natural lives and identity were formed and nurtured in the womb of our earthly mother, so is our priestly life and identity fostered under the care of our heavenly one.
Another way to guard our priestly identity is to develop strong friendships with brother priests.
The companionship and support of our “comrades in arms” is an inestimable help in vivifying our own priesthood. Of course this presumes you keep the company of good, wholesome priests, not cynical, wavering ones. In fact, avoiding priestly company is usually a sign of trouble. Father Stephen Rossetti, who has done pioneer work in clerical problems, says that an indication that a priest is headed for trouble is that he is reclusive, a loner, especially uncomfortable in the presence of his brother priests.
We priests can bring out the best in one another. When we visit, share a drink, meal, day off, or vacation, discuss things, let off steam with one another, challenge one another, ask a brother if something’s bothering him, or pray together, we enhance one another’s priestly identity. Events such as support groups, days of prayer, study days, priests’ retreats, convocations, confirmations, forty hours, deanery meetings, priests’ funerals and jubilees, or just plain get-togethers – these are all good ways to build up our common identity as priests.
The art of developing and maintaining genuine friendships is one we hope is part of our life at the college.
Examine
your conscience: Do you have real friends in the priesthood? Do your
friends drag you down or bring out the best in you? If you were in
trouble could you share with a trusted friend? Can you discuss topics
like prayer, theology, vocation, fears, worries, with a good friend?
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