The Priest at Prayer, May 26

Second Part
The Priestly Ministry

The Ministry in General

Second Meditation - Exercise of the Ministry

I.
What are my ministerial duties? Those deriving from the Orders I have received and from my appointment.

Each tree, each being, is expected to give its own specific fruit: the olive-tree, olives; the vine, grapes; and of the doctor is required healing; of the lawyer, the defence of justice in lawsuits; and of the priest, the offering of the Great Sacrifice, the administration of the Sacraments, the announcing of the word of God, and prayer, voiced in the name of the Church. This is why we are priests; for this we were ordained; this is what is imperiously demanded of us by God, by souls, by society, and by our priestly attire.

Have these been the fruits I have yielded up to now? If fruits of another species, no matter how exquisite they may seem, I shall be but a freak of a tree that fails to fulfill the Creator's precept that each fruit tree yield fruit after its kind. I should be like a vine-stock bearing, let us say, lemons. And if I bore no fruit at all, that would be worse still. I should be cursed with sterility, and eventually Every tree that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. (Matt. iii, 10)

II.
It is not enough for just a few of the branches to bear fruit: they must all do so, otherwise they will be pruned as useless and harmful to the vitality of the others that do give fruit. In like manner, I must not content myself with exercising one or two of my minis­terial duties, no more, and despise or dodge the rest, or exercise them only once in a while.

And how many pious and zealous priests easily get the idea that they have striven sufficiently in days gone by for the Glory of God, and brought to a successful issue an adequate number of tasks; so now, in the evening of their lives, it is only right they should enjoy a well-earned rest and gloat inactively over past endeavours!

These were not the sentiments of the Apostle of the Gentiles:

"May you live as befits his servants, waiting con­tinually on his pleasure; may the closer knowledge of God bring you fruitfulness and growth in all good." (Cor. i, 10)

"And in its service I suffer hardship like a criminal, yes, even imprisonment; but there is no imprisoning the word of God." (II Tim. ii, 9)

Our Lord Himself expressed His Mind also on this point:

I must work the works of Him that sent me, whilst it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work. (John ix, 4)

Does my sloth and laziness try to hasten the night of my life, and turn my noon into darkness, against God's Will? Fruit trees are not always bearing fruit, you'll say perhaps, they have only one autumn in the year. Yes, but in our lives there was also a winter and a spring: those long years in which slowly, step by step, we prepared for Holy Orders; but once ordained, our autumn has begun, and God comes to us every day looking for fruit.

And will the priest be the only man without his years of rest and retirement? Will he never be pensioned off? Is there no superannuation for him? No, definitely; never. You may be forced to retire from active work because of waning physical strength or old age or bad health, but even then there still remains something to accomplish; for instance, the duty of reading the Office.

For the genuine minister of Christ the time for resting is not to be found in this life; to him more than to anyone else apply the words of the Apocalypse:

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Yes, for ever henceforward, the Spirit says, they are to have rest from their labours." (Apoc. xiv, 13.)

Resolutions
In future, this is how I am going to exercise the ministry:

1. With real affection, proving therein my love for my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I shall begin my various duties by trying to picture the Redeemer saying to me, as He said to the Prince of the Apostles: Dost thou love me more than these? Feed my lambs. . . . feed my sheep. John xxi, 15)

2. With promptness and zest. I do not wish to hear one day before the Divine Tribunal what was said to Capharnaum: It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of Judgement.­(Matt. x, 15) I do not wish to see myself judged and confounded by the doctor who rushes out to patients at all hours of the night, or by the soldier who keeps the country's flag flying amid the storm and stress of battle, amid wounds and death.

3. Disinterestedly. It may be all right for a stone mason, a road mender, or a miner, to work merely for the wages; but a curse on the priest who in everything he does will not fix his gaze first and foremost on the eternal reward!
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Adapted from The Priest at Prayer
by Fr. Eugenio Escribano, C.M. (© 1954)
Translated by B.T. Buckley, C.M.

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Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood!