Three Short Homilies on the Priesthood

Bishop McDermott asked priests to preach about priestly vocations this weekend. Here are three short homilies on the priesthood in Holy Orders.

Homily A

Bishop John McDermott has invited all priests this month to speak about the call to the priesthood within holy orders. It is my delight to do this. But first I want to start with the example of all the canonized Saints. What does that word really mean Saint? It means we are assured that someone has entered heaven. It means we know they can intercede for us on earth. But above all the word “saint” comes from the word meaning “sanctified.” The Saints have become completely holy, almost – we dare to say – like God is holy. Holiness is a real thing, and everyone is called to it.

This is the first thing I have to say about the priesthood. It is right to say it is a vocation to holiness. When a Catholic man is ordained to be a Catholic priest, it should mean that he has experienced holiness in some small degree, and that he will continue to grow in holiness. But it does not in any way mean that he is the only person eligible for holiness! Therefore, I can say from my own experience, that I did look at priests I knew growing up and that the idea of celebrating Mass and teaching people the Catholic faith was important. I did see this as a way to live out a holy life. But it seemed to me that this is a way that I could live a holy life. I certainly did not think that this was an exclusive club where only the priests and the religious sisters can become holy.

Now the next thing I want to explain is that there are four ways that a man prepares to become a priest. It will sound like only one of them has to do with becoming a saint. But really it’s all four. In seminary – that’s the place where training happens for men who are candidates to become priests – the four areas of evaluation and growth are human formation, intellectual formation, spiritual formation and pastoral formation. I know it sounds like spiritual formation is the only one that has to do with holiness. This is the wrong conception of the spiritual, thinking it means “say your prayers with more and more fervor, and focus only on spiritual things; not practical realities.” These things are important, but the vocation to the priesthood requires basic human discipline and common sense, a balance to life even while cultivating a hard work ethic. The vocation to the priesthood also involves a fair amount of study and reading and writing and public speaking. It does not require that a Catholic man be extroverted to be a priest, but he must usually have the work ethic and the basic academic intelligence to preach and teach.

Lastly in addition to intellectual and human and spiritual formation, pastoral formation means that these all need to be put together in a manner that serves other people in practical ways, out of the motive of love. Some people think that this is all the priest is; he’s a good-willed social worker who tries to help other people. But that idea excludes the spiritual life of the priest. Or, some people think the priest merely needs to be very smart and/or be very devoted to his prayers. But every priest who has a spiritual life with these elements, in fact has a desire to serve people practically.

I’m doing my best in the short form to show how all of these put together contribute to holiness: the four areas all together. But let me give one last description of how it all fits together. The special grace of holy orders is sometimes captured by the term pastoral charity. In short, many graces are put into the hands of a priest, quite literally so in the sacraments. But that does not mean the priest will grow himself in holiness as he ought, unless he is being a faithful servant of the Church and using those graces (again, most especially the sacraments) for the true good of others. 

Homily B

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few so pray that the Master of the harvest sent out the laborers for his harvest.” – Christ our Lord

In the 1st chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Saint Peter begins to think and meditate and the words of the psalms, “let another take his place.” He says that the Apostolic role that Judas had been assigned needs to be filled by a new man. The best thing in the world has just happened, Jesus has risen from the dead. But it’s not good that the Church has lost one Apostle. And so, a 12th apostle is appointed to take the place of Judas, that being St. Mathias. Now was it enough to just have 12 apostles? No. Jesus himself, and the Holy Spirit, would soon thereafter choose Saul of Tarsus to become a full-fledged Apostle: the 13th. But all the Apostles were meant to go out two by two. And so, in due time when Saint Paul is meant to begin his mission, the Holy Spirit also calls Barnabas to be an Apostle: the 14th. And when Paul and Barnabas go on mission, they begin to appoint presbyters for every church (that word turns into our English word, presbyters = priests). Do we get the picture now?

In every century, because the world of nations and of human societies keep growing, so also those appointed for ministry in the Church are also meant to multiply. We have the clear term for this, called Apostolic Succession. The Church came to realize that certain sacraments made a permanent change in the soul of their recipients. A person can never be unbaptized. A person’s soul never loses the mark of confirmation. And last of all, the sacrament of holy orders also leaves an indelible mark on the soul of the man who receives it.

This mark on the soul, also called an indelible seal, gives a certain characteristic to the whole of the person, each man who receives holy orders. It is quite literally called a character, and it is the character of the headship of Christ in relation to the Church as a body. I think it is equally true to say it is the character of the Suffering Servant, who’s vocation from almighty God is to bear hardships on behalf of the rest of the people of God. Because the Suffering Servant prophecies of the book of Isaiah are so intimately connected to the sacrifice made by Christ, how could we say that they are not connected to the way that priests celebrate the memorial of that sacrifice and try to bring to the whole church the graces and effects of that sacrifice?

In a certain sense then, every priest is a universal minister. His vocation is public, and it applies to the whole world. The field of God’s harvest is the whole world.

Everyone who participates in the Memorial of Christ’s Death (the Mass) is bound to seek holiness. But the Catholic priest is the minister for the Sacrament of that memorial, and so he is bound to seek holiness as the minister, and as a participant. If I can try to use the words of some of the priest saints, I try my best to live them out. “With you, I am a Christian. For you, I am a priest.”

Homily C (A homilette)

Saint John Vianney said “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”

Priests have a necessary role of service to the Church. A priest should have the mind of Jesus Christ, who said “I came to serve. Not to be served.” The service of priests is necessary for the Church to grow, and for the world to become a better place. Jesus says to every Christian “you are the light of the world.” But priests are the servants who place that light in the soul of the Christian.

If priests did not give baptism and the Eucharist to the people of God, the light of Christ would fade very quickly. The light is renewed in sinners when priests hear confessions. The light is strengthened when priests given confirmation, or prepare children to receive confirmation from the bishop. The light of Christ shines on family life when priests prepare the bride and groom for marriage and preside at the wedding ceremony. Without priests, the world would become darker and darker. Saint John Vianney Said “When people want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest; for when there is no priest, there is no sacrifice: and when there is no sacrifice, there is no religion.”

A vocation to the priesthood is often a thing that must “grow” in the mind of a Catholic man. There are different things that a young man recognizes when he is taking his faith seriously. Jesus said the Church needs workers for the harvest. When a man who is not committed to marriage realizes that there is a great harvest of souls, and he sees that he can help the Church, this is one sign of the priesthood.

It is mistake to think that priesthood is an exclusive vocation for holiness. We are all called to holiness, every Christian. Everyone grows in holiness along with the priest (we pray!). But the search for holiness must be part of a man’s life if he is discerning the priesthood. Obviously, holiness and the priesthood have a close relationship.

A man should not think “the only way to become holy is to become a priest.” But every man should think “if I become a priest, it might become the best way for me to grow in holiness.” That is why prayer and discernment are necessary.

Pope John Paul II made a great contribution to the world when he showed an example of the priesthood that was so closely tied to Marian Devotion. His motto was “Totus Tuus Ego Sum Maria” meaning “Mary I am totally yours.” This was his way of giving himself entirely to Jesus. The role of the Blessed Virgin Mary is essential for each priest, whether he knows it or not. A priest will always serve the Church better when he cultivates a devotion to Mary through special prayers.

Let us pray for more priests, for faithful priests, and even for “Marian priests” who recognize the relationship Jesus himself intended for his Mother, in relation to each priest.

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Bonus Homily… The best one!

Here is the whole sermon on the priesthood from Saint John Vianney.

Catechism on the Priesthood

by St. John Vianney (A.D. 1786-1859)

My children, we have come to the Sacrament of Orders. It is a Sacrament which seems to relate to no one among you, and which yet relates to everyone. This Sacrament raises man up to God. What is a priest! A man who holds the place of God — a man who is invested with all the powers of God. “Go, ” said Our Lord to the priest; “as My Father sent Me, I send you. All power has been given Me in Heaven and on earth. Go then, teach all nations. . . . He who listens to you, listens to Me; he who despises you despises Me. ” When the priest remits sins, he does not say, “God pardons you”; he says, “I absolve you. ” At the Consecration, he does not say, “This is the Body of Our Lord;” he says, “This is My Body. “

Saint Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest; yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts. If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest — always the priest. And if that soul comes to the point of death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmness and peace? Again the priest. You cannot recall one single blessing from God without finding, side by side with this recollection, the image of the priest.

Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. The Holy Virgin cannot make her Divine Son descend into the Host. You might have two hundred angels there, but they could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he may be, can do it; he can say to you, “Go in peace; I pardon you. ” Oh, how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love. The other benefits of God would be of no avail to us without the priest. What would be the use of a house full of gold, if you had nobody to open you the door! The priest has the key of the heavenly treasures; it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the distributor of His wealth. Without the priest, the Death and Passion of Our Lord would be of no avail. Look at the heathens: what has it availed them that Our Lord has died? Alas! they can have no share in the blessings of Redemption, while they have no priests to apply His Blood to their souls!

The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts. If the missionary Father and I were to go away, you would say, “What can we do in this church? there is no Mass; Our Lord is no longer there: we may as well pray at home. ” When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion.

When the bell calls you to church, if you were asked, “Where are you going?” you might answer, “I am going to feed my soul. ” If someone were to ask you, pointing to the tabernacle, “What is that golden door?” “That is our storehouse, where the true Food of our souls is kept. ” “Who has the key? Who lays in the provisions? Who makes ready the feast, and who serves the table?” “The priest. ” “And what is the Food?” “The precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. ” O God! O God! how Thou hast loved us! See the power of the priest; out of a piece of bread the word of a priest makes a God. It is more than creating the world. . . . Someone said, “Does St. Philomena, then, obey the Cure of Ars?” Indeed, she may well obey him, since God obeys him.

If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. The latter is the friend of God; but the priest holds His place. St. Teresa kissed the ground where a priest had passed. When you see a priest, you should say, “There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul. ” At the sight of a church tower, you may say, “What is there in that place?” “The Body of Our Lord. ” “Why is He there?” “Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass. “

What joy did the Apostles feel after the Resurrection of Our Lord, at seeing the Master whom they had loved so much! The priest must feel the same joy, at seeing Our Lord whom he holds in his hands. Great value is attached to objects which have been laid in the drinking cup of the Blessed Virgin and of the Child Jesus, at Loretto. But the fingers of the priest, that have touched the adorable Flesh of Jesus Christ, that have been plunged into the chalice which contained His Blood, into the pyx where His Body has lain, are they not still more precious? The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus. When you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ.