Year III, Number 34

"The priest's identity," as the synod fathers wrote, "like every Christian identity, has its source in the Blessed Trinity," which is revealed and is communicated to people in Christ, establishing, in him and through the Spirit, the Church as "the seed and the beginning of the kingdom." The apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici, summarizing the Council's teaching, presents the Church as mystery, communion and mission: "She is mystery because the very life and love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the gift gratuitously offered to all those who are born of water and the Spirit (cf. Jn. 3:5) and called to relive the very communion of God and to manifest it and communicate it in history [mission]."

It is within the Church's mystery, as a mystery of Trinitarian communion in missionary tension, that every Christian identity is revealed, and likewise the specific identity of the priest and his ministry. Indeed, the priest, by virtue of the consecration which he receives in the sacrament of orders, is sent forth by the Father through the mediatorship of Jesus Christ, to whom he is configured in a special way as head and shepherd of his people, in order to live and work by the power of the Holy Spirit in service of the Church and for the salvation of the world.

In this way the fundamentally "relational" dimension of priestly identity can be understood. Through the priesthood which arises from the depths of the ineffable mystery of God, that is, from the love of the Father, the grace of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit's gift of unity, the priest sacramentally enters into communion with the bishop and with other priests in order to serve the People of God who are the Church and to draw all mankind to Christ in accordance with the Lord's prayer: "Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one...even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn. 17:11, 21).

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

Hi im 17 and went to a youth conference at Franciscan University in Ohio. During my time spent there the priests took the Monstrance and went down the rows of people. When the Monstrance passed our row I suddenly felt strange. It was like static electricity was all over my body and then my body went numb! Is this a sign from God to be a priest, monk or any other religious order???

A. Dear John,

No, what you felt is not a special sign of anything. It's just one of those things that can happen to us under certain special circumstances in our lives, and at the most it is something that God uses to jog us a little and get us thinking about the realities of our faith and our life.

If your experience of Christ during your retreat (by experience I mean not so much things like you describe in your message as the experience of faith, those times when you get the grace to really wake up to all he has done for you and it hits you more clearly than ever) has led you to take a new look at your life and consider that he might be asking something special from you in response to his love and in order to bring that love to others, then you should take it a step further.

Maybe this experience you had has gotten you to ask some questions, but the answer to the questions is not going to be in the experience itself but on much more solid bases that your faith and your reason are going to provide for you. So talk it over with some priest you know and trust. God bless.

-Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

Hello there. I have had “inclinations” towards religious life for the past four years and started serious spiritual direction almost a year and a half ago. I have been in general discernment this whole time getting ready for vocation discernment. And, even though I am not in formal discernment, I am really starting to get a sense that I may be called to religious life.... I also have this desire to completely surrender my life to Christ, not only in my daily life (which I do already), but in everything I do. My spiritual director is aware of this, and pretty soon we will be going into vocation discernment. However, the conflict comes in with my mother... The reason my mom hates the idea (for the most part) is because she wants grandchildren.... I know that I will eventually get to this conflict with my mother in spiritual direction and ultimately I have to trust in the Lord, but if you could provide any advise or input, I would appreciate it.

-Libby

A. Dear Libby,

There is only one piece of advice I can give you: keep your priorities straight. If you put God in first place, everything else will work out for the best. It may take a long time (these things usually do, since we are talking about real life here, and not a TV show) and the attitudes that we are up against are deeply ingrained.

The main thing to ask God for your mother is not that she accept or understand your vocation (from what you say it would sound like you may have one), but the gift of faith. Faith will help her not only in this instance but in the many other difficulties we must face in life.

-Fr Anthony

Since our life consists in this intimate dialogue of love with God, we can see that it will be fulfilling and happy only inasmuch as we fulfill what God intended from all eternity – to the extent in other words that we live our fundamental vocational to love. Love: this is the great project of our life, our most important undertaking, the highest vocation that sums up all the rest. For us who are Christians, the love which is our way, truth and life is not a vague ideal or philanthropic project but rather has a very real face; it is a person – Jesus Christ.

Yes, my dear friends, we have been created to be holy and without blemish in love. Holiness, to be like Christ, is our Christian life-project. We discover in him the model of perfect humanity, of love perfected in self-surrender and sincere giving of ourselves to others.

To love is to fulfill his commandments (cf. Jn. 14:21-24; I Jn. 2:3-6). To love is to follow always the concrete and objective path of God’s will in my life, a path that is often made narrow and uphill by the weight of the cross (cf. Lk. 13:24; Mk 8:31-38). To love God is to love him in all people, our brothers and sisters, since this is the essence of following Christ; it is the distinctive mark of his disciples (cf. Jn. 13:34-35) and the ultimate test of the authenticity of our love (cf. I Jn. 4:20-21).

Scripture Passage: "We are... joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." (Rom 8:17-18).

I. Is it even possible?

St. Theresa of Avila once remarked that our stay here on earth is like a night spent in a cheap motel: uncomfortable. To find joy in suffering is the great challenge, the paradox of our Christian faith. But is it really such a paradox? How is it that we can so easily find some joy in evil and yet be so blind to the good in suffering? (cfr. St. Paul - "What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate" Rom 7:15) Joy and suffering are reconcilable! Yes, they can be reconciled in the heart and flesh of an apostle.

"Blessed cross, blessed sufferings! They are clear signs that we belong to God, since he tells us through his Spirit that he tests those he loves most 'like gold in the furnace' and accepts them as a holocaust. He thus incorporates them more directly and actively into the work of Redemption, which is to establish God's Kingdom" (Marcial Maciel LC, October 18, 1961).

"I know that the path I am suggesting is difficult; but I also know that when we love something or someone in life no difficulties are insurmountable, for love is stronger than death. I have never heard a true mother complain of the annoyances her infant child causes her; I have never heard a true father bemoan the work he has to do to maintain his family because it makes him tired; I have never heard anyone truly in love complain about the demands that love entails" (Marcial Maciel LC, Envoy vol. ll, p. 220).

II. Our Lady of Sorrows

Was there any type of suffering that Mary did not experience? From the very beginning of the events surrounding the birth of her Son, to the anxieties and privations of the hurried flight into Egypt; from the events of her Son's hidden and public life, the slanderous accusations against him, to the peak of her suffering on Calvary, Mary was acutely aware of the sharp sword that pierced her heart.

"It is especially consoling to note... that at the side of Christ, in the first and most exalted place, there is always His Mother through the exemplary testimony that she bears by her whole life to this particular Gospel of suffering. In her, the many and intense sufferings were amassed in such an interconnected way that they were not only a proof of her unshakable faith but also a contribution to the Redemption of all. As a witness to her Son's passion by her presence, and as a sharer in it by her compassion, Mary offered a unique contribution to the Gospel of suffering, by embodying in anticipation the expression of St. Paul (cfr. Col 1:24). She truly has a special tide to be able to claim that she 'completes in her flesh’ as already in her heart' what is lacking in Christ's afflictions'" (OP II, Salvifici Doloris, #25).

"Sacrifice for sacrifice's sake is worthless. It needs to be sweetened by our generous, personal, and enthusiastic love for God, similar to the love the Blessed Virgin gave her Son. This love drove her to be with him in his times of light and glory, and also in his tribulation, humiliation, and defeat. 'Stabat iuxta crucem.' She was there beside the cross firm and faithful, because her love was true and total" (Marcial Maciel LC, September 13, 1965).

III. My invitation to the Cross.

It is obvious how strongly the example of Christ's and Mary's patient suffering remained imprinted in the hearts of the apostles. "Later recalling the apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name" (Acts 5: 40-41). "In the light of the unmatched example of Christ, reflected with singular clarity in the life of His Mother, the Gospel of suffering, through the experience and words of the Apostles, becomes an inexhaustible source for the ever new generations that succeed one another in the history of the Church" (John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, #25).

"Turn back to Christ in all his purity, accepting all the logical consequences of calling yourselves his followers. Plant the cross in your lives as the seed of resurrection and triumph. You will see, the joy that springs from it is stronger than any attraction the world can offer. You will see your lives bear fruit both in yourselves and in others" (Marcial Maciel LC, Envoy vol. II, p. 96). Therefore, "Do not fantasize about a life without the cross. Think rather of the cross with Christ. The cross is inherent to human existence, especially when we have accepted the call to follow Christ on the path to Calvary. So carry this cross joyfully, with the love you reserve for what is your own. Bear this cross with optimism, the optimism of a Christian who is aware, by faith, of the transcendence of his life in relation to eternity. Carry your cross, and like good Samaritans, help others to carry theirs" (Marcial Maciel LC, April 16, 1976).

Questionnaire:

1. Am I willing to go beyond mere acceptance of my cross to the joyful desire of embracing it with love? What is holding me back?

2. Is my love and acceptance of the cross constant, as it was for Mary? Do I pick and choose my crosses?

3. Am I aware of the transcendence of my vocation to be Christ's apostle? Do I expect to be able to win over souls for Christ by following a completely different path than the one he marked out for us ("If you wish to follow me, pick up your cross daily")?

Have you ever noticed how much non-Christian input you receive on a daily basis? Billboards, radio, television, movies, advertising of all sorts, conversations, books, magazines, reports, internet, meetings… – how much of this input harmonizes with the truth that only in God and through Christ does man find his life’s real meaning? Shockingly little. And yet, it fills your mind and bombards your attention – day after day after day. If you have any doubt that this bombardment affects your point of view, do the following experiment. For one month, watch no television, see no movies, do no internet surfing, read no magazines or secular books, listen to no radio, no other music – simply cut out all of your normal background/entertainment activities. Then, after a month, go back to what you used to do. I guarantee that you will be stunned. You will see more clearly than ever before that 90% of this kind of exterior input is designed to stir up one or more of your natural inclinations to selfishness, whether in the realm of greed or gluttony or lust or any other of the capital sins. The prevailing message of today’s world does not fit onto a Christian framework of values.

You can guess the consequence of this for your life of prayer. The world around you exerts monumental efforts to constantly keep your basest instincts stirred up into frenzy, so that you can be dragged along by them. In this way, you become primarily a consumer, not a free, independent person. This consumerist propaganda clutters your imagination and occupies your attention, becoming an obstacle to serene reflection and intimate conversation with God. Spiritual reading is one of the antidotes.

Spiritual reading consists of taking some minutes each day, or a few times a week, to read works of tested spiritual quality, works that effectively communicate the truths and principles of our faith, works that help us stay tuned to God’s way of seeing ourselves, others, and the world around us. These can be spiritual “classics” like Thomas A Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ, works of the saints and the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, writings of the Popes and biographies of saints, Sacred Scripture itself or trustworthy commentaries on it – in short, books that put us in touch with the permanent things, with the truths that can serve as beacons and guides along our difficult path.

Spiritual reading differs from study. Study deepens our understanding of particular issues or aspects of our faith or of the world; it arms us to explain and defend our faith in the face of attacks. Spiritual reading nourishes our soul by strengthening our convictions. It is kind of half way between study and prayer. In fact, spiritual reading can provide us with rich material for personal meditation and reflection, and for conversations with the Lord. It prevents our minds and hearts from becoming completely absorbed in temporal affairs and thereby helps maintain an interior balance that prepares us for our times of prayer. It is a glance at our spiritual compass in order to keep on course as we meander through the cares and demands of our daily lives.

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

Cheshire, CT, October 18-20, Test Your Call! retreat. Contact Br Branigan Sherman, (800) 420-5409. vocation@legionaries.org

Pittsburgh, PA, October 25-27. Spiritual exercises with Fr Anthony Bannon. Open to young men in college. Contact Fr Michael Goodyear, (740) 283-8835. mgoodyear@legionaries.org

Cheshire, CT, November 27 - December 1, Test Your Call! retreat. Contact Br Branigan Sherman, (800) 420-5409. vocation@legionaries.org

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony McDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. info@ytm.org

ShoreLines welcomes your questions and comments at questions@shorelines.org. If you do not specify otherwise, your question may be posted in the Vocations Q&A section.

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