This invitation was inspiring to me as just this very week I was interviewed by a local student as to the changes affecting the ministerial priesthood today. In a culture which the priesthood has become more administratively focused or task oriented, due in large part to the shortage of clergy, it becomes easy to forget the roots or foundations of the life we have chosen to live as priests.
Benedict's letter strikes to the core of the call to ministry as priest in the world and offers a firm foundation for the development of the sacramental character of the priest in the modern world. Of note is his insistence on prayer and study and to recognize the foundations of our Catholic faith as being founded both on Word (Sacred Scripture) and Sacrament. Pope Benedict asserts, "God is not simply Word. In the sacraments he gives himself to us in person, in physical realities." This is the balance that all priests strive to embody for our people and one of the most difficult challenges facing the new generation of Catholic Christians.
The very life of the priest in years gone by spoke of the mystical bridge between heaven and earth. Today, priests are seen as being functional in nature, he is counselor, administrator, civil rights advocate, teacher in addition to his role as pastor. Yet the priesthood is far deeper and much more complex and, for myself in my opinion, much richer.
The priesthood today is intended to be lived among people in the mundane encounters of everyday life. The priest is a "leaven" in the society reminding people that Christ is present among them. The priest fuses together the human and divine.
This is the life I fell in love with and I was inspired by Benedict's invitation to our future priests: we are not men who hold a job - we embody a life - a distinct character - a grace in the world. We bear Christ: living, loving and holy, into the lives of those tnrusted to our care.
Pope Benedict XVI's Letter to Seminarians can be found here.
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