On Holy Thursday Jesus instituted the priesthood. So my thoughts naturally turn to the priesthood as I write to you this Easter message in the Year for Priests.
A priest occupies a unique position, a kind of “dual existence” if you will. On the one hand he is a man like everyone else: “selected from among men,... himself subject to weakness,” (Hebrews 5:1-2). This is one of the priest’s greatest assets and is meant to be a source of empathy and solidarity - we’re all in the same boat! A priest shares the same humanity as every other person: the same heart, the same mind, the same hopes and longings, the same struggles and temptations. He lives in the context of the same culture; he breathes its air and is shaped by its influences. This is what makes it possible for a priest to represent the rest of humanity: he is one of them. That’s why others can identify with him: they recognize in him their own human nature. A priest is not superman, he is everyman, with the same potential for greatness and the same Achilles’ heel shared in common by every human person.
And yet he’s singled out, not by his own initiative but by the preemptive decision of Christ: “You did not choose Me; it was I who chose you” (John 15:16). He’s grasped, seized, taken hold of (cf Phil 3:12) by Christ; configured, conformed to, identified with Him; stamped with His likeness, endowed with His authority, commissioned and sent by Him, entrusted with the Word of the Gospel and made a steward of “the mysteries of God” (1Cor 4:1). This is why the priest can represent Christ, make Him present and bestow His life on others in an utterly unique and effective way. And yet this happens to him, and he carries out this ministry, without ceasing to be a member of the human race like every other person.
This puts the priest in a singular position: being a man like everyone else and yet representing and bearing within him something he is not, Someone immeasurably greater than he. This is an immense privilege and an overwhelming responsibility – an uncomfortable combination! And it places the priest in a curious “in between” position, between the altar and the congregation, as the prophet Joel describes it (2:17), pleading with the Lord for His people of which he himself is one, belonging both to Christ the Head and to His Body, and yet suspended somehow between them, like Moses standing in the gap (Ps 106:23).
The peculiar coexistence of elements that constitute the existence of a priest is both heroic and tragic, an excruciating mixture meant to produce the humility that gives birth to holiness. This can help us to understand some of the distinctive struggles priests face, and – sadly – the reason why they sometimes fail. It also highlights the crucial importance of priests in the life of the Church. The way in which a priest struggles with and reconciles his own humanity to Christ has a huge impact on the way others do; he becomes a model and a bridge.
In a very poignant way, this is the challenge of the priests in the Diocese of Torit. Like everyone else in South Sudan they experienced the horrors of the civil war. To a man they know the anguish of lost loved ones, the terror of air raids, the humiliation of threats and intimidation, the shame and contempt of exile, the sense of powerlessness in front unstoppable destruction and helplessness in trying to rebuild a devastated homeland. The enemy is not only the northern army who inflicted this incomprehensible suffering, but the outrage that can suffocate love, the trauma that eclipses hope and the despair that can blind faith.
And yet while sharing fully the plight of their people, these men are called upon to reveal the face of Christ and reflect His light on the situation they face together. And they are asked to do so in extreme conditions. Some are housed deplorably and survive without sufficient food. Many either don’t have an adequate vehicle or lack the funds to repair or refuel it. Most don’t have the resources to acquire clerical attire. And worst of all, a large number do not have the liturgical items they need to celebrate the Sacraments in a dignified way. In this Year for Priests, I would like to invite you to help me do something about this.
During my almost two years in Sudan I have tried in a small way to get the priests here the support and materials they need to carry out their ministry. The upcoming visit of a mission team next month in May offers the chance to do something on a larger scale. Could I ask you to please consider donating a clerical shirt or some vestments for one of the priests of the Diocese of Torit to send with the visiting team? These are the least expensive items and easiest to transport. If you’re moved to do something more, some priests have asked for monstrances and other larger objects. If you’d like to participate in this effort, please contact me by email at cfrsudan@gmail.com for more information. We hope to distribute these items near the official conclusion of the Year for Priests on Solemnity of the Sacred Heart .
As a priest in this Year for Priests, I am especially grateful for your support and encouragement which makes my presence and ministry here possible. May Christ the High Priest bless you exceedingly!
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