NBVM Novena Day 5: Priests and Religious – A Special Calling to Continue Christ’s Mission

Parish News

The 5th day of Novena Mass, dedicated to all priests and religious was presided by Rev Fr Ryan, accompanied by Fr Dom. At the start of the Mass, Fr Ryan invited the congregation to reflect on the life of the priest and religious. “We remember all the parish priests and assistants, visiting priests and religious brothers and sisters who have served the community in NBVM,” he said, “They have been chosen by Christ to continue his mission here.”.

The Gospel of day (Luke 6:12-19) sees Jesus selecting the 12 and empowering them as apostles in order to continue His mission in the world. He selected very ordinary people for this task; they were humble, simple and obedient to God’s will. Here we see that the calling to priesthood and religious life is initiated by God. It is God who initiates in all vocations; He chooses specific persons for His mission.

Priests and religious as well as all Christians share the same mission that Christ entrusted to his apostles, which is to further continue Christ’s mission in the world. This is the purpose of our baptism. Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, a man enters into ministerial priesthood, which gives him a sacred power to serve the people of God. The laity, on the other hand, share in the common priesthood of the baptised. Priests are therefore ministers of sacraments for the people – they are entrusted to serve and lead the flock and build Christ’s Church. We see a model of priesthood in the Good Shepherd. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John10:11) A priest emulates the characteristics of the Good Shepherd in being a shepherd to the flock entrusted to them.

There is a three-fold office in the priestly life:

  1. Kingly – A priest governs with the heart of a shepherd, as a servant leader. He builds communities, taking full responsibility over a parish. He listens to the voice of God while being sensitive to the cries of the people. He empowers, delegates and affirms the community.  
  2. Prophetic – As a teacher in the community, he breaks the Word of God and makes it relevant and applicable according to the signs of the times. He is tasked to be able to discern the movement of the Spirit in current realities.
  3. Ministerial – A minister of the sacraments, a man of prayer. In being with the people of God and journeying with them in their joys and pains, he is a visible sign of God’s love.

The religious, on the other hand, are men and women who set out to follow Christ with a greater liberty and to imitate Christ more closely by practicing the evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity and obedience. They dedicate themselves to God according to their respective charisms.

Let us thank God for the gift of priests and religious that we have encountered in our journey as Christians. Let us remember them, all the words and service that they have shared that have healed us, touched us and formed us. They have sacrificed their lives in order to form us, the people, to be disciples of the Lord. Through their ministry, they have prayed for forgiveness, brought healing and blessings to communities, families and individuals. They are like a bridge between God and humanity.

We also see and appreciate the struggles of priests. Priests too are humans, who come from the same communities that we come from. They experience disappointments, anger, frustrations and sadness. A major challenge in the modern world is to form the people in an era where many are moving away from the Church. Priests are thinking and discerning on ways to bring Christ to the people. There are also trying to be unifiers of the diverse communities in the Church. “We experience hurts and need healing and consolation. We are wounded healers. Take time to listen. Understand your priest,” said Fr Ryan.

At Mass, we prayed for all priests and religious and also remembered those in seminaries and those discerning a vocation to the priesthood and religious life. We prayed for the souls of departed priests and religious. Fr Ryan ended his homily with this prayer:

Thou Art a Priest Forever (by Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire)
To live in the midst of the world without desiring its pleasures;
to be a member of each family, yet belonging to none;
to share all sufferings;
to penetrate all secrets, to heal all wounds;
to go from men to God and offer Him their prayers;
to return from God to men to bring pardon, peace and hope;
to have a heart of fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity;
to teach and to pardon;
to console and to bless always.
My God, what a life, and it is yours, O Priest of Jesus! Amen