More from the Directory: Thus, the identity of the priest stems from the specific participation in the Priesthood of Christ, whereby he who is ordained becomes, in the Church and for the Church, a real, living and faithful image of Christ the Priest, “a sacramental representation of Christ, Head and Shepherd”. Through consecration the priest “receives a ‘spiritual power’ as a gift, which is participation in the authority with which Jesus Christ, through his Spirit, guides the Church”. This sacramental identification with the Eternal High Priest specifically inserts the priest into the Trinitarian mystery and, through the mystery of Christ, into the ministerial communion of the Church in order to serve the People of God, not as an attendant to religious matters, but as Christ, “who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). It is not surprising, therefore, that “the internal principle, the virtue which animates and guides the spiritual life of the priest inasmuch as he is configured to Christ the Head and Shepherd, is pastoral charity, as a participation in Jesus Christ’s own pastoral charity, a gift freely bestowed by the Holy Spirit and likewise a task and a call which demand a free and committed response on the part of the priest”. At the same time it must not be forgotten that each priest is unique as a person, and possesses his own ways of being. Everyone is unique and irreplaceable. God does not cancel the personality of a priest; on the contrary, he wants it in its entirety, wishing to avail himself of it – grace, in fact, builds on nature – so the priest may transmit the deepest and most precious truths through its characteristics, which God respects and others must respect as well.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 04:58:47 +0000
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