First, the pain. Pain, especially for the victims of the abuses committed by priestsIf in the past omission could become a form of response, today we want conversion, transparency, sincerity and solidarity with the victims to become our way of making history and help us to be more attentive to all human suffering.
Pain as well, on the part of the priests who feel rejected or placed under suspicion in some places. The truth is that there are countless priests who carry a delivery life and of service to Godto the Church and to all people.
"I am convinced," Francis writes, "that, to the extent that we are faithful to God's will, the times of ecclesial purification The events in which we live will make us more joyful and simple and will be, in the not too distant future, very fruitful". He interprets that on the occasion of these tragic events, God is looking for our conversionsaves us from hypocrisy and appearances, since the humble repentance is always a good way for a renewed beginning of holiness.
John Baptist Mary Vianney, known as the Holy Curé of Ars, was a French priest proclaimed patron saint of Catholic priests, especially those who have the care of souls.
Secondly, gratitude. Gratitude first and foremost to Godwho has called us to his service. Memory gratefulness that recalls the impact of the Lord's call and leads to a serene joy. Knowing and rediscovering oneself in the hands of God is a guarantee of that immense spiritual fruitfulness, which usually follows in the life of priests. It is here that Pope Francis quotes Lucius Gera as a great teacher of priestly life in his country: "Always, but especially in trials, we must return to those luminous moments in which we experience the Lord's call to consecrate our whole life to his service"(*).
The Pope's gratitude also to the priests for his fidelity to his commitments, in spite of the difficulties of the environment, his limits and sins. Thank you also for your daily struggle to maintain a joyful heart, which seeks to strengthen the bonds of fraternity and friendship with other brothers in the priesthood and unity around the bishop.
Thank you for your perseverance and endurance, strength and courage. For your daily prayer and celebration of the sacramentsespecially the Eucharist and reconciliation (confession of sins), where God's mercy is poured out with full hands.
Mercy that makes you "capable of warming people's hearts, of walking with them in the night, of knowing how to dialogue and even to descend into their night and their darkness without getting lost," as the Pope said in his interview with A. Spadaro. Thank you for your closeness to those who suffer. Thank you also for the faithful people who accompany us and care for us, and whom we must care for on our part.
Echoing the words of St. Paul ("My desire is that you be encouraged": Col 2:2), the Pope encourages priests to accept difficulties, misunderstandings, their own limits, as a way that allows God to act, and above all to recognize the pain and needs of those around us: "A good 'test' to know how our shepherd's heart is is to ask ourselves how we face pain". Getting close to others who need us and suffer is a way of taking on our own wounds and those of others, that is, "the wounds of Jesus".
Priests are warned Francisco of that discouragement and disillusionment that the Fathers of the Christian East call "acedia," and which modern spiritual authors such as G. Bernanos and Cardinal Špidlík also denounce: the sadness that others call spiritual lukewarmness, which has to do with forgetting that it is God who carries the Church forward, filling us with his tenderness and mercy.
It is mainly in the prayer where we must rediscover our weakness and renounce putting our own strengths first. And to strengthen ourselves for our task, knowing that we are carried by the prayer of the People of God. "This frees us all from seeking or wanting easy, quick and prefabricated answers, allowing the Lord (and not our recipes and priorities) to show us a path of hope".
For this reason, the pope encourages priests to strengthen and not neglect their bonds with Jesus by means of their personal prayer and of the spiritual accompaniment. And to always seek its link with the people of God, opening itself to all in evangelization trip.
Our times," Francis observes, "marked by old and new wounds, need us to be artisans of relationships and communion, open, trusting and expectant of the newness that the Kingdom of God wants to bring about today. A Kingdom of forgiven sinners invited to bear witness to the ever-living and active compassion of the Lord".
Finally, as a finishing touch, Francis urges us to lift up our hearts in praise to God, together with Maria.
In fact, the priests we are, and we must be more and more and better witnesses of the compassion and of God's mercy. We have, as a mission of the priest in the Church and by the grace of God, the immense power to anoint our brothers and sisters with hope. And also the immense good fortune to serve them by strengthening ourselves in their prayer for uswe need it very much.
Mr. Ramiro Pellitero Iglesias
Professor of Pastoral Theology
Faculty of Theology
University of Navarra
Published in "Church and new evangelization".
