The Year for Priests

This year we are marking the 150th anniversary of the St. John Mary Vianney (the Cure of Ars) who is the universal patron of parish priests. Because of this, Pope Benedict XVI has declared this year to be the Year for Priests. He opened it last June 16, 2009, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This year for Priests will end will last until the Feast of the Sacred Heart next year (2010).

In his Letter proclaiming this Year for Priests, Pope Benedict said that this year is meant "to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful witness to the Gospel in today's world." During this year, the whole Church, clergy and laity alike, is asked to reflect on the gift of priesthood that Christ our Lord gave to the Church.

Once, St. John Mary Vianney said: "A good shepherd, a pastor after God's heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy... O how great is the priest!.. If he realized what he is, he would die... God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host... Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest... Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and they end by worshiping the beast there... The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you."

We priests tremble at these words of the Cure of Arse as he reminds us of the great responsibility that has been laid on our shoulders. These words humble us for truly we cannot but feel so unworthy of this great privilege and task the Lord has entrusted to us. Yet it is good to be reminded of the great gift of the priesthood and of what the priesthood is really all about, for nowadays both lay and clergy have the tendency to conceive of priests and the priesthood in secular, corporate terms. Nowadays, how often do we hear of priests likened to a CEO? Or how often is he expected to act like a showbiz personality in his homilies or in the way he runs the parish? I submit to you that the idea that people usually have of priests and their expectations of them do not quite match what the Lord really intends them to be. This is one of the causes of deep misunderstandings in the parish sometimes. Hopefully this Year for Priests will also be an occasion for the lay people to purify their notions and expectations of the priesthood and priests.

For me, this Year for Priests is not about putting them on a pedestal. Above all, it is about praying for them. They too, like anybody else, struggle hard on the road to holiness. Certainly, they are not as perfect as the angels. This Year for Priests is also about "re-configuring" our expectations of them. One of the greatest source of inspiration for us priests is when we see lay people try to take their faith seriously and make efforts to really live that faith. When we see lay people who are like that we also grow.

Finally, may this Year for Priests inspire parishes to really pray for vocations. We lack priests in our diocese. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send laborers in his vineyard.