Priestly Way

It was a special day for the priests, when they together with their Shepherd, the Bishop, celebrated their priesthood, on the occasion of the Chrism mass every year. And this year it was held yesterday, and it was a joy to see so many priests assembled for the occasion. My rough estimate was about 200 priests, young and old, from the city and from afar. It gave me a sense of belonging to this privileged group of people, who had been consecrated to be the ministers of the Word and the mission entrusted to them by the Lord. How unworthy I am to belong to this select group, who had been specially called to re-present the Lord to his people! All my pride and arrogance melt the very moment when I recall to mind how the Lord had chosen me to be his minister, despite my many weaknesses and frailties. The wounded healer, that is what I am, and am honored to be part of this special assembly.

What happened during the two hour ceremony is a routine affair, and I had earlier attended quite a few Chrism masses, and by now know the order of the mass, and about the special homily when the Bishop addresses his ordained ministers, reminding them of their commitment to the Lord and his people. But every year while attending this mass, I feel the grace of the Lord freely flowing over simple and even sinful people that we are. I know at least half the priests who had gathered, and had been meeting them here and there on several occasions. Not all of them are worthy of their call, this I can say with all humility, the same way I feel about my own call. Sometimes I even feel that the priests go down in their sanctity and holiness after their ordination, and a lot of worldly values possess them, which is a sad part.

Just after the mass, when we were having supper, one of my diocesan friends approached me to complain to me about our new priest whom I had arranged to keep him in that parish for a few months of pastoral experience. This young man, specialized in a particular field of ministry, had been telling the priests that he was specialized in a particular ministry and so he should not be asked to take up other responsibilities in the parish or the attached school. I was told that he had been telling the diocesan priests that the Jesuits don’t behave in the way the diocesans do. I know my friend and the priests in the parish were concerned about the welfare of the new priest, but I was surprised to hear such complaints about him, and now I wonder how I could tackle him, and help him to open himself to correction, and learn from the seniors.

Unfortunately we are living in a world where young people do not want to learn from the seniors; this is the world of self-help learning, and there are all means available at the click of the mouse button, and the young feel it is boring and even annoying to learn from the old, who are out of touch with the present day reality. I have been experiencing this on other occasions too, and therefore sometimes I shut my mouth and let the young do what they want; however at times I feel also guilty for not correcting the young when they make obvious errors, and still refuse to be open for correction. We have come a long way from the traditional gurukul system of teaching and learning, and it is time that we return to the cherished values of that system.

But let these bad feeling not dampen my spirit as we celebrate our special calling; it is a privileged moment, and that is why we celebrate our call with a fairly good dinner (despite it falling in the season of Lent), and I am sure coming together as members of this kind of fraternity is essential to support one another, and feel consoled that I am not alone at this arduous journey; I am walking along with other priests who have more worries to handle, more burden to shoulder, and more responsibilities to share. We are overshadowed by our burdens most of the time that we fail to take time to celebrate our life as ministers of the Lord, and I wish we take time off more often to celebrate our call, because this is sure to have a positive effect in our lonely journey, reaching out to the needy and the helpless.