Charged by the office that is his, each priest is ordained to preach, teach, and sanctify.
It was Christ Himself who said in that Gospel mandate, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you.” This touches the very heart of the priest’s pastoral ministry. In response to this calling, every priest should be passionate, intense, and proud.
In the words of Henri Nouwen, “The priest must realize that his deepest vocation is to be a witness to the glimpses of God he has been allowed to catch.” To that end, each priest should possess what the illustrious Monsignor Ronald Knox described in his pastoral sermons as a “jealous regard for tradition, for established precedent, a reluctance to be stampeded by the fashion of the moment, to barter away for some momentary advantage a long inheritance of accumulated wisdom.”
Each priest must take deeply into his own heart the example of Our Lord Jesus and recognize that the future strength of the Church lies in her youngest children. To move forward in faith and with Christ, each priest must see that catechesis of the faith is the driving force for building a strong and vibrant Catholicism in our own times.
The priest today is called to teach in the here and now. Today’s priest must creatively graft a new shoot on the old stock.
It is a formidable challenge to prepare seminarians to be the finest teachers and evangelizers. Their mission will be to lead God’s people to behold the splendor of Truth and to contemplate the face of the Savior, Jesus Christ. This necessitates an essential dimension in the program for priestly formation: intellectual formation. A beautiful prayer encapsulates the sentiments of those dedicated to this significant task:
“Lord, today again, I enter your Word. Let me receive your love as I study, teach, and write. May my time immersed in theology be a time of encounter with you and not simply time to think or explore.”
In all things, the priest is to be a leader who listens, a teacher who is willing to learn, and a preacher who lives the Gospel. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council emphasized the intellectual dimension of a well-integrated priestly formation program. They understood that the teaching of theology is not merely an academic exercise but must lead to an authentic formation for prayer, communion, and pastoral action. It requires a real commitment to a personal discipline of reading and study.
In closing, reflecting on the office of the priest as teacher and as I watch these wonderful seminarians living their dream and engaging wholeheartedly in the program for priestly formation, I make the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI my prayer for them:
“May no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world nor of the future nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that by your faith His name will continue to resound throughout the world.”
My friends, let us pray for each other, let us pray for the future of our Church, and let us pray for the men who wish to dedicate their lives to serving the Lord and proclaiming the Gospel.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
By Monsignor Aloysius Callaghan, Rector and Vice President Emeritus, St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn.
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