Christ’s Faithfulness and the priest’s faithfulness

Benedict XVI

Tags: Faithfulness, Jesus Christ, Priesthood

Dear brother priests,
In the time in which we live it is particularly important that the call to participate in the one Priesthood of Christ in the ordained Ministry flourishes in the “charism of prophecy”: there is a great need for priests who speak of God to the world and who present God to the world; men who are not swayed by transient cultural trends but are capable of living authentically that freedom which alone the certainty of belonging to God can give.

The horizon of the ontological belonging to God also constitutes the proper framework for understanding and reaffirming, in our day too, the value of sacred celibacy which in the Latin Church is a charism required for Sacred Orders (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 16) and is held in very great consideration in the Eastern Churches (cf. Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, can. 373).

It is an authentic prophecy of the Kingdom, a sign of consecration with undivided heart to the Lord and to “the affairs of the Lord” (1 Cor 7:32), the expression of their gift of self to God and to others (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1579).

The priest’s vocation is thus most exalted and remains a great mystery, even to us who have received it as a gift. Our limitations and weaknesses must prompt us to live out and preserve with deep faith this precious gift with which Christ has configured us to him, making us sharers in his saving Mission. Indeed, our comprehension of the ministerial priesthood is bound to faith and requires, ever more forcefully, a radical continuity between seminary formation and continuing formation. The prophetic life, without compromises, with which we serve God and the world, proclaiming the Gospel and celebrating the Sacraments, will encourage the advent of the Kingdom of God already present and the growth of the People of God in faith.

Dear priests, the men and women of our time ask us only to be truly priests and nothing more. The lay faithful will find in a great many other people what they humanly need, but in the priest alone will they be able to find the word of God that must always be on his lips (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 4); the Mercy of the Father, abundantly and freely bestowed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; the Bread of new Life, “true food given to men” (cf. Hymn of the Office of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi of the Roman Rite).

Let us ask God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of St John Mary Vianney to obtain that we may thank him every day for the great gift of our vocation and that we may live our Priesthood with full and joyous faithfulness. Thanks to you all for this meeting! I very willingly impart the Apostolic Blessing to each one.

- Extract from the speech given by Pope Benedict XVI to participants in a conference organized by the Congregation for the Clergy in the Hall of Benedictions, Friday March 12, 2010.

Full text available at: www.vatican.va