It is He who chooses, not we

[D]iscipleship, or let us just call it by its proper name of priesthood, is not something one can pick out for oneself. It is not something one can devise as a way of being able to attain security, earn one's bread, reach a social position. One cannot simply choose it as a means whereby one finds certainty, friendship, security; how one might construct one's life for oneself. It can never simply be one's own provision, one's own choice. Priesthood, if it is right, is not something one can give oneself nor seek oneself. It can only be a response to His will and to His summons.

What is always needed is that we should come out of what is simply our own will, simply the idea of being able to bring ourselves to realisation and of what we could make of ourselves and wanted to have, in order to let ourselves be led by him, indeed let ourselves be led where we do not want to go. If this basic will is not present to enter into another will and become one with this, to let oneself be led where we had not reckoned on going, then the priestly way is not being trod and could only become a disaster. Priesthood rests on having this courage to say 'Yes' to another will, to respond to the summons of the other....

--Card Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), Homily, 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 1986, Ministers of Your Joy, pp 31-32

Fertile chastity: mothers and not old maids

I am happy to meet you today and I wish to greet each one of you, thanking you for what you do to make consecrated life a constant light in the life of the Church

Dear sisters,

First of all I thank my dear brother Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, for the words which he has just addressed to me. I am also pleased to see here the secretary of the Congregation: his name is ‘Pepe’…

The theme of your conference seems to me to be particularly important for the task which has been entrusted to you: “The service of leadership according to the Gospel.” In light of this, I would like to propose three simple thoughts which I leave for you to deepen on a personal and community level.

Jesus, at the Last Supper, turns to his Apostles with these words: You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you (John 15.16) which reminds us all, not just us priests, that a vocation is always God’s initiative. It is Christ who has called you to follow Him in the consecrated life and this means making a continual ‘exodus’ from yourselves to centre your existences on Christ and his Gospel, on God’s will, letting go of your projects so that you can say with St Paul “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.” This ‘exodus from oneself means placing oneself on a journey of adoration and service. An exodus which takes us on a journey of adoration of the Lord and service to the Lord in our brothers and sisters. To adore and to serve: two attitudes which can not be separated but which must always go together. Adore the Lord and serve others, without keeping anything for ourselves: this is the ‘letting go’ of those who exercise authority. Always live and recall the centrality of Christ, the evangelical identity of the consecrated life. Help your communities to live ‘the exodus’ of self on the journey of adoration and service, first of all through the three pivots of your existence.

Obedience as listening to God's will, in the interior motion of the Holy Spirit authenticated by the Church, accepting that obedience also passes through human mediations. … Poverty, which teaches solidarity, sharing, and charity and which is also expressed in a soberness and joy of the essential, to put us on guard against the material idols that obscure the true meaning of life. Poverty, which is learned with the humble, the poor, the sick, and all those who are at the existential margins of life. Theoretical poverty doesn't do anything. Poverty is learned by touching the flesh of the poor Christ in the humble, the poor, the sick, and in children.
And then chastity, as a precious charism, that enlarges the freedom of your gift to God and others with Christ's tenderness, mercy, and closeness. Chastity for the Kingdom of Heaven shows how affection has its place in mature freedom and becomes a sign of the future world, to make God's primacy shine forever. But, please, [make it] a 'fertile' chastity, which generates spiritual children in the Church. The consecrated are mothers: they must be mothers and not 'spinsters'! Forgive me if I talk like this but this maternity of consecrated life, this fruitfulness is important! May this joy of spiritual fruitfulness animate your existence. Be mothers, like the images of the Mother Mary and the Mother Church. You cannot understand Mary without her motherhood; you cannot understand the Church without her motherhood, and you are icons of Mary and of the Church.”

We must never forget that true power, at whatever level, is service, which has its bright summit upon the Cross. … 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them ... But it shall not be so among you.'—This is precisely the motto of your assembly, isn't it? It shall not be so among you.—'Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave'.”

“Your vocation is a fundamental charism for the Church's journey and it isn't possible that a consecrated woman or man might 'feel' themselves not to be with the Church. A 'feeling' with the Church that has generated us in Baptism; a 'feeling' with the Church that finds its filial expression in fidelity to the Magisterium, in communion with the Bishops and the Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, a visible sign of that unity,” the pontiff added, citing Paul VI: “It is an absurd dichotomy to think of living with Jesus but without the Church, of following Jesus outside of the Church, of loving Jesus without loving the Church. Feel the responsibility that you have of caring for the formation of your Institutes in sound Church doctrine, in love of the Church, and in an ecclesial spirit.”

“The centrality of Christ and his Gospel, authority as a service of love, and 'feeling' in and with the Mother Church: [these are] three suggestions that I wish to leave you, to which I again add my gratitude for your work, which is not always easy. What would the Church be without you? She would be missing maternity, affection, tenderness! A Mother's intuition.”

--Pope Francis
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/08/pope_meets_with_heads_of_womens_religious_communities/en1-690219 of the Vatican Radio website

SHOW ME THE WAY!

Let us return to our Psalm. There we read: “He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me” (23[22]:3ff.). The shepherd points out the right path to those entrusted to him. He goes before them and leads them. Let us put it differently: the Lord shows us the right way to be human. He teaches us the art of being a person. What must I do in order not to fall, not to squander my life in meaninglessness? This is precisely the question which every man and woman must ask and one which remains valid at every moment of one’s life. How much darkness surrounds this question in our own day! We are constantly reminded of the words of Jesus, who felt compassion for the crowds because they were like a flock without a shepherd. Lord, have mercy on us too! Show us the way!

--Benedict XVI, Homily, Closing of the Year for Priests, 11 June 2010

The sacrifice of Abraham

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together. Isaac himself carries the wood for his own holocaust: this is a figure of Christ. For Christ carried the burden of the cross himself, and yet to carry the wood for the holocaust is really the duty of the priest. So Christ is then both victim and priest. This is the meaning of the expression: they set out together. For when Abraham, who was to perform the sacrifice, carried the fire and the knife, Isaac did not walk behind him, but with him. In this way he showed that he exercised the priesthood equally with Abraham.

What happened next? Isaac spoke to his father Abraham, ‘Father’ he said. This plea from the son was at that instant the voice of temptation. For do you not think the voice of the son who was about to be sacrificed struck a responsive chord in the heart of the father? Although Abraham did not waver because of his faith, he responded with a voice full of affection: ‘Yes, my son’ he replied. ‘Look,’ said Isaac, ‘here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering’.

The careful yet loving response of Abraham moves me greatly. I do not know what he saw in spirit, because he did not speak of the present but of the future: God himself will provide the lamb. His son asks what is to happen now, but Abraham’s reply concerns the future. Indeed the Lord himself provided a lamb, in Christ.

Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ Abraham replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God’. Compare this to what St Paul says when he speaks of God: He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. God emulates man with magnificent generosity. Abraham offered to God his mortal son who did not die; God gave up his immortal Son who died for all of us.

Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. We said before that Isaac is a type of Christ. Yet this also seems true of the ram. It is worth understanding how both are figures of Christ – Isaac who was not killed and the ram which was. Christ is the Word of God, but the Word became flesh.

Christ therefore suffered, but in the flesh. Christ, the bodily Christ, endured death; and the ram signifies that body and that death. As John said: Behold the lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. The Word, on the other hand, remained incorruptible. This is Christ according to the spirit, and Isaac signifies that spirit. Therefore, Christ himself is both victim and priest according to the spirit. For he offers the victim to the Father according to the flesh, and he is himself offered on the altar of the cross.

--Origen's homilies on Genesis
(Origen (Greek: Ὠριγένης Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, c. 185–254) was an early Christian scholar and theologian)

TRUTH HEALS THE SOUL

Lastly, I would like to point out another small but important statement of St Peter. Right at the beginning of his Letter he tells us that the goal of our faith is the salvation of souls (cf. 1: 9). In the world of language and thought of the Christianity of today this is a strange, and for some, perhaps even shocking assertion. The word "soul" had fallen into discredit. It is said that this could lead to a division of man into spiritual and physical, body and soul, whereas in reality he would be an indivisible unit. In addition, "the salvation of souls" as a goal of faith seems to indicate an individualistic Christianity, a loss of responsibility for the world overall, in its corporeity and in its materiality. Yet none of this is found in St Peter's Letter. Zeal for the witness in favour of hope and responsibility for others characterizes the entire text. To understand what he says on the salvation of souls as a destination of faith, we must start from another angle. It remains true that the lack of care for souls, the impoverishment of the inner man, not only destroys the individual but threatens the destiny of humanity overall. Without the healing of souls, without the healing of man from within there can be no salvation for humanity. To our surprise, St Peter describes the true ailment of souls as ignorance, that is, not knowing God. Those who are not acquainted with God, or at least do not seek him sincerely, are left outside true life (cf. 1 Pt 1: 14). Yet another word from the Letter could be useful to understand better the formula "salvation of souls". "Purify your souls by obedience to the truth" (cf. 1: 22). It is obedience to the truth that purifies the soul and it is coexistence with falsehood that pollutes it. Obedience to the truth begins with the small truths of daily life that can often be demanding and painful. This obedience then extends to obedience without reservations before the Truth itself that is Christ. This obedience not only purifies us but above all also frees us for service to Christ and thus for the salvation of the world, which nevertheless always begins with the obedient purification of one's own soul through the truth. We may point out the way towards the truth only if by obedience and patience we let ourselves be purified by the truth.

(Benedict XVI, Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul, 29 June 2009)

Q: Holy Father, I am Fr. Gulliermo M. Cassone, of the Community of Schoenstatt Fathers in Rome, and pastoral vicar in the parish of the Patron Saints of Italy, St. Francis and St. Catherine, in Trastevere. After the Synod on the Word of God, reflecting on proposition 55, ‘Mary Mother of God and Mother of Faith,’ I asked myself how to improve the relationship between the Word of God and Marian piety, both in the spiritual life of the priest and also in pastoral activity. Two images helped me: the Annunciation for hearing, and the Visitation for proclamation. I would like to ask, Holiness, that you illuminate us with your teaching on this theme. Thank you for this gift.

Benedict XVI:

It seems to me that you’ve already given the answer to your question. Really, Mary is the gift of hearing: we see it in the encounter with the Angel, and we see it again in all the scenes of her life, from the wedding at Cana, all the way to the Cross and to the day of Pentecost, when she is among the Apostles to welcome the Spirit. She is the symbol of opening, of the Church which awaits the coming of the Holy Spirit.
In the moment of the Annunciation, we can already glean the attitude of hearing – a true hearing, a hearing of interiorization, which does not simply say ‘yes,’ but assimilates the Word, takes the Word – and then follows it with true obedience, as if it were an interiorized Word, that is, it has become Word in me and for me, almost as the form of my life. This seems to me very beautiful: To see this active hearing, a hearing which attracts the Word in such a way that it enters in me and becomes Word in me, reflecting on it and accepting to the depths of the heart. Thus the Word becomes incarnation.

We see the same thing in the Magnificat. We know that it’s a fabric woven from the words of the Old Testament. We see that Mary truly is a woman of hearing, who conserves the Scripture in her heart. She not only knows the words of certain texts, but she was so identified with the Word that the words of the Old Testament become, in synthetic form, a song in her heart and on her lips. We see that her life was truly penetrated by the Word: she entered into the Word, she assimilated it and it became life in her, transforming itself anew in a Word of praise and of proclaiming the greatness of God.

It seems to me that St. Luke, referring to Mary, says at least three times, perhaps four times, that she assimilated and conserved the Words in her heart. She was, for the Fathers, the model of the Church, the model of the believer who conserves the Word, who carries in herself the Word; who not only reads it, interpreted with the intellect for knowing what it meant in that time and what the philological problems are and so on. All this is interesting and important, but it’s more important to hear the Word that must be conserved and that becomes Word in me, life in me, and the presence of the Lord. Thus, to me the connection seems important between Mariology and theology of the Word, regarding which the synodal fathers spoke, and about which we too will speak in the post-synodal document.

It’s obvious: ‘Madonna’ is a word of hearing, a word of silence, but also a word of praise, or proclamation, so that the Word of hearing becomes flesh anew and becomes the presence of the greatness of God.

(Benedict XVI, Q&A With Priests of Rome, 26 Feb 2009)

The example of Jesus from the Cross

Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act.

It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.

If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.

If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.

If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.

If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.

If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.

Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honours, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, for in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

(St Thomas Aquinas)

As for your insistence to be relieved of your position, you should reflect on how you began in it and how God has blessed you in it, and so (…) you should bear it with courage and when in difficulty, trust in Him. That is what I ask of you, until his divine goodness should arrange matters otherwise. [pp. 70-71]

(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)

As for saying that you have a certain liking for superior, why, I hardly dare think such a thing! Alas! That is not the way to be happy. Those who are burdened with office groan under the load(…). You know, Monsieur, that God's gifts are various and that he shares them out as he sees fit; one man is a scholar, but not fit to govern; another is progressing towards holiness but is not good at leading others; and consequently it is for divine Providence to call us to the work for which he has given us the talent and not for us to feel inclined towards this or that (…). [pp. 69-70]

(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)

"Authority" … "obedience". To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a "stumbling stone" for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ -- "the way and the truth and the life" -- we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Lk 17:33). True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. "In his will is our peace".

(Benedict XVI, Homily, Mass at Yankee's Stadium, New York, 20 April 2008)

Mother Teresa wanted to act immediately upon her inspiration. Yet because she had consecrated her life to God through a vow of obedience, she could proceed only with the approval of her superiors. To her, their blessing was not a mere formality but a protection and assurance that God's hand was in her undertaking. Only their permission would give her the certainty that this call was indeed God's will and not some delusion.

(Fr Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC, The Private Writings of the "Saint of Calcutta")