MEETING WITH THE CLERGY
TORONTO,
ONTARIO
SEPTEMBER
14, 1984
Dear Brother Priests,
I am pleased that the first major meeting of my pastoral visit to
the Church in Toronto finds me here with you.
I want you to know the joy I experience
and how much I appreciate all that you do for God's holy people. Happily our gathering occurs on the feast of the
Triumph of the Cross. The significance of this celebration is outlined
for us in today's liturgy. Here we find a rich source of inspiration for
reflecting on the meaning which the Cross has for the Priesthood of Jesus and,
consequently, the meaning that it has for our own priestly lives.
The Cross represents the culmination of
Jesus' priestly service. On it he offers
himself as the perfect sacrifice of reparation to the Father for the sins of
humanity; thereby he establishes a new and lasting covenant between God and man. This wonderful covenant is
renewed in every Eucharist that we celebrate; and in every Eucharist, the
Church reaffirms her identity and her calling as the Body of Christ.
In turning to the Gospel passage from Saint John which we have
just listened to, we find Jesus in
discussion with Nicodemus, a ranking Jewish leader of his time, who "came by night", under the cover of
darkness, to be enlightened by him who
is "the light of the world". By his questions Nicodemus indicates that he is in search of the
truth about God and that he desires to
know the right direction that his life should take. Jesus does not disappoint him. His response is clear and
direct. In answering Nicodemus, Jesus goes to the very core of the
Gospel message:
"God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal
life" (Jn 3:16).
The lifting up of the Son of Man on the Cross is a sign of the
Father's love. Jesus confirms this when
he says: "The Father loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up again" (Jn 10:17). At the
same time the Cross demonstrates
Jesus' loving filial obedience to the Father's will: "My food is to do the will of the one
who sent me, and to complete his work" (Jn 4:34). The Cross is truly a
sign of divine love - but a divine
love that the Son shares with humanity.
This love symbolized by the Cross is
profoundly pastoral, for by it everyone
who believes in Christ gains eternal life. Upon the Cross the Good Shepherd "lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11). Jesus' act of dying on the Cross is the
supreme ministerium, the highest act of service to the community of believers. The Sacrifice
of Jesus expresses more eloquently
than human words the pastoral nature of the love that Christ has for his people.
The Cross represents the will of the Father
to reconcile the world through his Son. Saint Paul summarizes for us the reconciling
mission of Christ when he
writes:
to be found in him
and all things to be
reconciled through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross" (Col 1:19-20).
The Cross not only stands over the ecclesial community that is
gathered in faith, but its sphere of
influence extends to "everything in heaven and on earth". The power of the Cross is the
reconciling force that directs the destiny of the whole of creation. Our
Lord reveals the centre of that reconciling
power when he says: "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself" (Jn 12:32). The
reality of the Cross profoundly
affects our contemporary society with all its technological skills and scientific achievements. It is through
the Priesthood of Christ that this
society will reach its ultimate destiny in God.
As the meaning of Christ's Priesthood is
discovered in the mystery of the
Cross, so too the life of the priest derives its sense and purpose from this same mystery. Since we share in the Priesthood of the
Crucified Jesus, we must
realize more and more each day that our service is marked by the sign of the
Cross.
The Cross reminds us priests of God's great love for humanity and
of God's personal love for us. The greatness
of that love is communicated first of
all in the gift of new life that each Christian receives through the saving waters of Baptism. This wonderful
expression of divine love continually
fills the believer with gratitude and joy.
And how marvellous is that gift which Jesus
offers to certain men - for the
benefit of all - of sharing in his ministerial priesthood. Which of us priests
cannot but find in that call an expression of God's deep and personal love for him and for the whole Church that he is called
to build up through a specific ministry
of word and Sacrament?
Knowing that we have been called to join our
lives to the redeeming mission of Jesus, each of us
senses his own unworthiness in being ordained a
"man of God" for others. This realization leads us to seek a
greater dependence on God in prayer. In union with Christ in prayer, we
find the strength to accept the Father's will, to respond
joyfully to Christ's love and
thereby to grow in holiness. In this process, the shadow of the Cross falls across our whole existence as priests, urging us to imitate
Christ himself with ever greater generosity.
Throughout this struggle, the words of
Saint Paul constantly echo in our hearts: "Life to me, of course, is Christ" (Phil 1:21).
As priests we also see in the Cross a symbol
of our own pastoral service
to others. Like the High Priest in whose name we act, we are called "not
to be served but to serve" (Mt 20:28). We are charged with shepherding the flock of Christ, to lead it "in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake" (Ps 23:3).
Our primary service as priests is to
proclaim the Good News of salvation
in Jesus Christ. We communicate this message,
however, not "in terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of
Christ cannot be expressed", but through "the language of the
cross", which is "God's power to save" (1 Cor 1:17-18). Effective preaching requires that we be
imbued with the mystery of the Cross through study and through daily
reflection on God's word.
Our priestly service finds its most sublime expression in the
offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
Indeed, the Eucharistic Sacrifice is the
sacramental proclamation of
the mystery of salvation. In this
sacred action we make present, for the
glory of the Most Holy Trinity and for the sanctification
of the people, Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross. The Eucharist brings the power of Christ's death
on the Cross into the lives of the
faithful: "Until the Lord
comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you
are proclaiming his death" (1 Cor 11:26).
The Eucharist is the very reason for the
priesthood. The priest exists in order
to celebrate the Eucharist. In the Eucharist we find meaning for everything else we do. We must, therefore, be attentive to this
great gift entrusted to us
for the good of our brothers and sisters. We must reflect deeply on what it is we do as we celebrate
the Eucharist, and how this action affects our whole
lives.
For Holy Thursday, 1980, I shared this thought with the Bishops of
the Church in a letter addressed to them:
"The priest fulfils his principal mission
and is manifested in all his fullness when he celebrates the Eucharist, and
this manifestation is more complete when he himself allows the depth
of that mystery to become visible, so that it alone shines forth in people's hearts and minds through his
ministry" (No. 2).
Through his love for the Eucharist the priest
inspires the laity to exercise their own
distinctive and important role in liturgical worship.
He also makes this
possible by actuating the charism of his own ordination. In his pastoral letter on the Priesthood, Cardinal Carter
describes this aspect of the priest's role:
"Its function is to summon the People of God to their own high responsibility ... to
offer that sacrifice of praise which
should leaven their lives and through them the world. This the priest must do in persona Christi"
(Pastoral Letter, V, 7).
In a word, priests lift up Christ in the
midst of the assembly so that, under
the sign of the Cross, the assembly may be built up in unity and in love and give witness to the world of Christ's redeeming love.
Under the sign of the Cross, we know that
certain sacrifices will be demanded
of us. This does not surprise us because Christ's way of performing pastoral service is the way of the
Cross. At times we may
encounter discouragement, loneliness, even rejection. We may be asked to give of ourselves to a point that we feel
completely depleted of our energy.
We are regularly asked to be understanding, patient and compassionate with those with whom we may
disagree and with everyone we encounter.
Yet we accept these demands, with whatever sacrifices they may involve, in order to be "all things to all men in order to
save some at any cost" (1 Cor 9:23). And
we accept what is demanded, not begrudgingly, but willingly, yes,
joyfully.
Our priestly commitment to live a celibate life "for the
sake of the kingdom of
heaven" is likewise embraced for the benefit of others. Allow me to repeat what I wrote to the priests of
the world in my Holy Thursday letter
of 1979: "Through his celibacy, the Priest becomes the 'man for others', in a different way from the man who,
by binding himself in conjugal union with a woman, also becomes, as husband and
father, a man 'for others'... The Priest, by
renouncing this fatherhood proper to married men, seeks another fatherhood and,
as it were, even another motherhood, recalling
the words of the Apostle about the children whom he begets in suffering. These are children of his spirit,
people entrusted to his solicitude by
the Good Shepherd... The pastoral vocation of priests is great... The heart of
the priest, in order that it may be available for this service, must be free. Celibacy is a sign of
a freedom that exists for the sake of service" (No. 8).
Moreover, we priests find in the mystery of
the Cross the reconciling power of Christ over all creation. We believe that Christ's Cross offers
contemporary society - with
its scientific discoveries and technological advancement, and with its
alienation and despair - a message of reconciliation and hope. As leaders of the Eucharistic assembly, which is
the source of
reconciliation and hope for the Church, we bear the responsibility of assisting
the people to humanize the world through the power of the Crucified and Risen
Lord.
Dear brother Priests: we are called to
proclaim Christ's message of reconciliation
and hope in a very special way, in a way
that God's Providence has reserved to us
alone. To proclaim reconciliation and hope means not only insisting on
the greatness of God's pardon and compassionate love in the face of sin, but also making available Christ's forgiving action
in the Sacrament of Penance.
Over and over again I have asked my brother priests and Bishops to
give special priority to this Sacrament, so that Christ may meet his brothers and sisters in a personal encounter of love. Our
sacramental ministry is an act of close collaboration with the
Saviour of the world in bringing his Redemption
into the lives of the faithful. It is through personal conversion effected and sealed by the Blood of
Jesus that renewal and reconciliation will finally permeate all
creation.
At this time I would like
to recall what I said last September to a group
of Canadian Bishops in Rome. It was an appeal made in the context of the preparation for my pastoral visit. Hoping that
it will now serve also as a follow-up
to my visit. I make this same appeal to you: "to invite all the faithful of Canada to conversion and
individual Confession. For some it
will mean experiencing the joy of sacramental forgiveness for the first time in
many years; for everyone it will be a challenge of grace... The call to
conversion is also a call to generosity and peace. It is a call to accept the mercy and love of Jesus Christ"
(September 23, 1983). Dear brothers:
let us proclaim to the world the reconciliation and hope that we ourselves
experience in the Sacrament of Penance.
The vocation to which Christ has called us is truly a challenge to
our love. In the words of the Letter to the
Hebrews: "Let us not lose sight of
Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake
of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the Cross" (Heb 12:2).
As we renew our priestly commitment today, let
us offer ourselves to Christ
along the way of the Cross. And let
us do so in union with Mary, his
Mother and ours.
Conférence des évêques catholiques du
Canada