A priest in New Mexico advised a class of about-to-be-ordained seminarians, “Always remember, you are ordained to serve God, not the people.”
Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, always an eager spokesperson for liberal American Catholics, was horrified at these words and published a check-list on how a new priest might indeed serve “the people.” The list admonishes the new priest to read annually the “reforms” (her word) of Vatican II – which indicates immediately sister’s mentality. She labels Vatican II a “reform” of church teaching rather than a re-affirmation of 20 centuries of Christian insight. She goes on to urge interfaith bridge-building, openness toward the laity especially woman and homosexuals, interest in current events, interaction with parishioners, and a concern for social justice. Sister Chittister suggests ignoring the lessons learned in the seminary in favor of on-the-job training. She even proposes ditching any seminary notes on parish life. Finally she counsels that creativity is more important than conformity.
While Sister Chittister’s thoughts clearly indicate the horizontal frame of mind that overwhelmed the American church in the 1960s, several of her individual directives are laudable. Would that every priest had actually pondered the documents of Vatican II reflectively. And the 21st century is indeed a wider world that demands attention be given to other faiths, to social needs, to women, to homosexuals and certainly to the laity. Few are the priests who escape these challenges nowadays. But to understand these contemporary challenges to be in competition with or even opposed to a life of faith, the practice of prayer, the celebration of the sacraments, an appreciation of celibacy, a respect for the hierarchy, and a knowledge of tradition is profoundly to mistake the nature of the priesthood.
The anonymous priest in New Mexico was correct when he counseled the superiority of worship over fellowship in the life of the priest.
The priest is indeed ordained to serve God and from that service will flow an abundance of authentic concern, compassion and creativity toward the people.
With all due respect to the good sister and with a tip of the biretta to the New Mexican preacher, worship is the primary ministry of the Catholic priest. A priest is ordained to worship God through the unique sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A priest is ordained to gather the people of God around him as they collectively praise God through Christ. A priest is ordained to instill the mind of Christ in his worshipping people so that the fatherhood of God may be paramount to them as it was to Christ. A priest is ordained to reflect authentic sonship in his own life by his orientation toward the Father and by his eager concern to draw others into this same authentic sonship. The greatest service a priest can render to his people is to love and serve their common God. The church is not a community action program. The church is not a social service agency.
The church is a family of believers drawn together by Christ for the worship of God the Father, intent on sharing this relationship effectively with the whole world. For Christians, service ultimately benefits faith. There is no charity, no service greater than introducing a neighbor to Christ and hence to Christ-like worship of the Father. Such is the primary task of the priest – and of the whole church for that matter.
American parishes have endured 50 years of community building guided more by the headlines in the daily newspapers than by the science of the saints. American Catholicism must recapture its appreciation of being a worshipping people, a people of praise, a community focused on the Father through Christ. The eucharistic celebration, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, in which the priest is sacramentally and dramatically central, should form the check-list by which the American Catholic community evaluates itself. People, priest, Christ, the Father – this is the path of worship and the corridor of service that the Catholic Church in the 21st century must rediscover for itself.
To embrace earth and disregard heaven, to prefer community service over sacramental worship, to welcome the children and neglect their Father is a complete reversal of the Christian Gospel. Christ himself came into this world out of obedience to the Father and he still effectively and enduringly and essentially serves people by introducing them to the Father.
