Humility and Obedience in the Priest

Selected excerpts of a reflection by Fr John Hardon, S.J. All emphasis is mine.

It may seem a bit strange that all the major exhortations of the modern Popes to priests stress the importance of the virtues of humility and obedience, with no exception. . . I will take up each virtue separately and try to show why it is so important for priests, if they wish to be priestly priests, to be humble and obedient, and how they can grow in humility and obedience.
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Every facet of the ministry [of the priesthood] is the exercise of such influence in the lives of others that no one under Heaven is more exposed to the temptation of pride than a priest...Most of the chaos in the Catholic Church today is due to the pride of priests.
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What adds to the gravity of the situation is that the media give priests so much occasion for publicity and such opportunities for recognition, especially if they have strange ideas, that unless priests are extremely careful, their vanity and desire for praise will be exploited by the enemies of the Church to the detriment of the people of God.
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How does the priest cultivate this indispensable humility? The simple answer would be, as everyone else cultivates humility: by humble prayer; by daily reflection on his failings and sins; by humbly performing the menial duties and not looking for positions or places where he can shine.
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There is a long passage in the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests that deals with the subject of their obedience, and it intertwines the practice of obedience with the virtue of charity. Certain key passages in that Decree bring to the surface important implications for priestly obedience.
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Priests are told that, "The priestly ministry, being the ministry of the Church itself, can only be fulfilled in the hierarchical union of the whole body of the Church." Consequently, a priest is obedient and obediently working with and under and through the hierarchy, or his work will not be blessed by God.
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There is no such thing as a priest going off on his own, independent of ecclesiastical obedience, and expecting God to grace his labors.

As I read Fr. Hardon's reflection this evening, I could not help but think of Fr. Bozek and the scandal caused by a failure to practice and live a life of humility and obedience.

Many question why such obedience is necessary. Fr Hardon tells us that

"Obedience is the sacrifice of the human will to God...There is nothing that man possesses that is more precious to him than his own will...But the one thing which the priest can most call his own, his own free will, is what he surrenders when he obeys. It is that surrender that is so pleasing to God and so demanded by God of the priest."

If a man, with a sincere heart which is receptive to the truth, would read this talk by Fr. Hardon, he could not be but changed by the wisdom so profoundly laid out before him.

While the reflection is for priests, the principles are applicable to all of us - we can all learn how we can cultivate the virtue of humility and grow in obedience.

The full article is here.