The diocesan bishop and priests are a blessing

As the Catholic people of our diocese strive to live lives of holiness, their obvious leaders in maturing in the life of faith are our bishop and priests.  At the time of their ordination, our priests consecrate their lives totally to God, serving Him through these consecrated lives as they try to lead others to holiness.  To do so, they have to be striving for personal holiness in their own lives.  

The principal effect of the Sacrament of Holy Orders is “the character, a spiritual and indelible mark impressed upon the soul, by which the recipient is distinguished from others, designated as a minister of Christ, and deputed and empowered to perform certain office of Divine worship.” (Summa III, 63:2)

As our priests minister to the people of the diocese, we look instinctively to them to lead us in the way of holiness.  The character mentioned by the Summa above has the effect of consecrating them especially to God, enabling them to live in a special relationship to Him.  At the same time, they are given the gift of the graces needed to enable us to grow in our personal relationship to Him also.

In the lives of every priest there are, of course, many calls to a ministry seemingly not directly related to God–the calls of construction of buildings in a parish or diocese, for example, the necessary raising of funds, calls to be a member of this panel or that group of citizens.  Nevertheless, these calls come precisely because the group involved wants the priest as priest to be involved in a process, which is part of their Church membership.

This process may, however indirectly, lead to a better situation for the priest, the people of his parish and the diocese. 

But primarily, priests are people of prayer.  We look to our priests to celebrate the Eucharist – with special emphasis on the Sabbath celebration.  The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is – spiritually– the high point of the week.  However, some people who are aware of the greatness of the sacrament look for it even more frequently, and this leads to daily or several- times-weekly celebrations also.  Most priests make this frequency of celebration available to their people. 

We look to them to make available to us the sacrament of reconciliation (confession)  – as a real necessity if we are guilty of having committed serious sin, as an aid to grow in holiness for those who are aware of a conscious call to such growth in their lives.  Priests also minister to us through the sacraments that are received much less frequently in our lives; sacraments such as the sacrament anointing of the sick received when one is seriously ill or in danger of death and the sacrament of marriage, which may be received more than once if one’s spouse passes away.
 
And then there are those priests who, in response to some people’s great desire to grow in holiness, commit themselves to give spiritual direction to them on an ongoing basis.  Spiritual direction is advice, suggestions, encouragement to make ongoing efforts to grow in holiness.  A commitment to do this on an ongoing basis surely must come from people who are themselves committed to growing in holiness. 

Encouragement in frequenting the sacraments, assistance with growth in prayer and with growth in virtue, especially in the virtue of charity, aid to overcome difficulties in the spiritual life and advice as to how to achieve such growth. All are part of the process of spiritual direction and surely come from priests who themselves are aware of the spiritual giftedness given to them by God as His priestly representatives. 

And if such great gifts are part of the consecrated life of dedicated priests, how much more are they part of the consecrated life of the bishop of the diocese – the leader of all priests in his diocese.  The consecrated life of the bishop shows itself in his leadership in the diocese, his encouragement of his priests to live their priestly lives as totally as possible, in his calling them together from time to time to pray together and plan together how they will live out their consecration and in his ongoing dedication to them and to the people who are both his and theirs. 

How blessed we are to have a bishop and priests who lead us in the ongoing process of spiritual growth.  Who are available to us in times of greatest joys and greatest sorrows and in all the times in between. 

Let us thank God in an ongoing manner for the great gift of the consecrated life of our diocesan bishop and clergy and ask Him to continue to bless them and to direct them in the way He wants them to go.