Living the Priestly life

LIVING THE PRIESTLY LIFE

CL. MARIO D’COUTO SDB

            Priesthood is not a competition and never should be. Every priest is a servant of God Almighty but more than a servant he is the one who is called to be the closest to God and hence it is he who is the link between God and the people. In an article written by Fr. Daniel O’ Leary, he speaks about the role of a priest as a ‘mid – wife.’

            As the great philosopher Socrates would use the term to illustrate the role of teacher in bringing out the best in each student, the priest too has a similar role. Besides the many responsibilities that a priest has to shoulder, one of his primary tasks is to educate the faithful to the Christian faith. But unlike the traditional way of filling up someone with loads of information as though he or she were a vessel, each person is a candle to be lit. This means that a priest has the responsibility of helping people discover God’s purpose in their lives. This is the kind of ‘mid – wife’ that a priest is called to be. It is his duty to reassure the people of the love and mercy of God that He has for each one of them. But all this would not be possible if he is not present to them. It is therefore necessary that a priest takes time off to visit his parishioners from time to time, not so much to intimidate or check on them but as a pastoral concern. Jesus is the ideal model in this regard. Fr. John C. Tormey in his book, “Priests are only human” explains this in the following way, “Jesus went around visiting all the towns and villages. He taught while meeting in houses and preached the good news of the Kingdom (Mtt 9:35). He visited the sick as it is seen where He visited the house of Peter to heal his mother – in – law who was not keeping well (Mtt 8:14). He relaxed where His people vacationed as it is seen in Mtt 13:1 where Jesus goes on the lakeside and sits down to teach. He also went to dinner receptions as seen in Lk 7:39 at the home of the Pharisee or a wedding feast as seen in the Wedding at Cana in the gospel of John.”

            In all this, we see the dynamic presence of Jesus among the people of Israel which helped Him to sense their needs. I guess one of the most important things of a priest is to be a pastor and that means being with the people. Unfortunately, most priests are too caught up in their offices so much so that people have to make appointments if they want to meet a priest. May the good Lord bless us with His grace to follow Him more closely and help us to become like Him an “Alter Christus.”  

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