When a young man is called to the priesthood, he is called to complement in a unique manner the spiritual fatherhood of his biological father and the whole family. As a seminarian, he helps bring faith and prayer into family life in ways he could never have done if he were not a seminarian. As a young priest he will be asked to pray and celebrate the Sacraments with his immediate family and all his relatives. He will celebrate the weddings of his siblings and baptize their children. He will even hear some confessions of his family. He will inspire them to think about their own vocations. Some will come back to Christ through his priestly ministry and presence. A very beautiful part of his spiritual fatherhood will come to life.

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as he will someday celebrate the weddings of his nieces and nephews and the baptisms begin all over again. He will anoint family members when they are ill or prepare for surgery. He will be a spiritual mentor to his parents as they face older age, sicknesses, tragedies, and even death. As his parents pass away, the priest in the family will be the spiritual father for the family to guide them and prepare them for the ultimate questions and our ultimate reunion with the Lord and one another in Heaven.

As Vocation Director I often will remind a family of a seminarian of the gift of having a priest in the family and that his ministry will impact all of their spiritual lives forever. Thus, there is a profound spiritual fatherhood in any family who is blessed to have one of their young men called to the priesthood.

When the present archbishop of Milwaukee, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, was bishop of our Diocese of La Crosse, he once said to the seminarians, “The priesthood is either the most useless vocation a man could ever choose, or it is absolutely essential for the life of the Church and for the salvation of the world. It all depends on how you answer the question, ‘Who died on the Cross?’ If Jesus was only a man and nothing more, then priesthood is nothing more than remembering the death of a man who died as a criminal on a cross. But if the one who died on the Cross was truly the Son of God, who gave up his life as an act of ultimate love and redemption, and then rose from the dead and called the Apostles to be mediators of this love, grace, and Covenant, then the priesthood is absolutely essential for the life of the Church and for the salvation of the world.”
There is a saying carved into the stone of our former seminary which states, “The priest is another Christ who works daily among men and bears the Gifts of God.”

Once, while teaching a class of middle school students, I asked why they thought it would be important to be a priest. One sixth grade boy raised his hand and said, “I think it would be cool to be a priest, because then you would bless the bread and it would become the Body of Christ. You bless the wine and it would become the Blood of Christ. Then you give Jesus to the people.” How well said!
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In an age in which priesthood is often seen simply as a presidential function within a community, it is easy to lose the mystical dimension which is given by Christ himself.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis,” (CCC 1548).

It states further, “This priesthood is ministerial. That office…which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service. It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men, and the communion of the Church. The sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a ‘sacred power’ which is none other than that of Christ. The exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by love made himself the least and the servant of all,” (CCC 1551).

Quote: In the book, Called to Communion, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger writes about the nature of the priesthood: “Sacrament means: I give what I myself cannot give; I do something that is not my work; I am on a mission and have become the bearer of that which another has committed to my charge. Consequently, it is also impossible for anyone to declare himself a priest or for a community to make someone a priest by its own fiat. One can receive what is God’s only from the sacrament, by entering into the mission that makes me the messenger and instrument of another. Of course, this very self-expropriation for the other, this leave-taking from oneself, this selfdispossession and selflessness that are essential to the priestly ministry can lead to authentic human maturity and fulfillment. For in this movement away from self we are conformed to the mystery of the Trinity; hence, the imago Dei is consummated, and the fundamental pattern according to which we were created is brought to new life. Because we have been created in the image of the Trinity, the deepest truth about each man is that only he who loses himself can find himself.”

Why is the priesthood so important? Because through the hands of the priest, the very presence of Jesus Christ is mediated to all people. The sixth grade boy had it right. There is no room for entitlement nor clericalism, but only to offer oneself as a gift, a living sacrifice in love and in service.

In a race, the baton is passed from one runner to another. When an elderly priest passes his chalice on to the next priest, he passes on the symbol of the priesthood to the next man. In our diocese, we offer to the newly ordained chalices which are often old and tarnished from priests who have run the race and have died. As a young priest, I received a chalice from Father Willibald Hackner who was ordained in 1915. He died in his late nineties, a good and holy priest. Imagine how many people were given the Body and Blood of Christ through his years of celebrating the Sacraments. Father Hackner had a very important insight about life and how we live our vocation. He shared with me that in life there are.

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Two great stages:

In the first stage, God gives us many gifts and the temptation is to think that the gifts come from us and therefore we can so easily fall into pride. The test of this first stage of life is to recognize God as the Giver/Source of all that we have and are, and therefore to be humble before Him—to see ourselves as stewards before such a great and loving God.

In the second stage of life, the Lord begins to take away each gift one by one. As we begin to lose our physical strength, eyesight, etc., it is very difficult to give up what has been ours for so long. Each gift is slowly taken back by the Giver until we stand naked before Him. At that point the temptation is to be bitter and frustrated. The test at this stage is to stand naked before our God in a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude. Father Hackner used to tell the stories of all that he did as a young priest, strong and talented. In his old age I saw him lose his ability to walk, to see, to hear, and finally he lost so much of his memory that he no longer recognized me. Yet, in spite of all the loss, he held his rosary tight and spent his days praying and persevering. Father Hackner died running the race of humility, gratitude, and holiness. He gave me his chalice. As I celebrate Mass with his chalice—the baton of his priesthood, I know that I too will pass through the same stages as he did. I hope to run the race learning how to see God as the Source of all and to be humble, and finally when all is returned, to be thankful as I stand empty and naked of my talents before my God.

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“Host” comes from the word “hostia” which means victim, sacrifice, or holocaust. Jesus became a victim for our salvation. When we receive Holy Communion, we are called to participate in Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Saint Paul says this when he writes, “And now, my brothers, I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect,” (Romans12:1-2). What is the priest saying “yes” to when he consecrates the sacred species in the Mass? What is he saying as he receives first and then leads the people to do the same?
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Dorothy Day was an American Mother Teresa of the 20th Century. She worked with the poor for forty five years and established the Catholic Worker Houses across America. A classmate of mine from seminary knew her personally and shared this story in class one day:

“Dorothy Day used to come to my family’s home and spend several days at a time. One night she asked me to wake her up early the next morning for Mass. The next day came and I did not want to interrupt her sleep as she was a very elderly person at the time, so I didn’t get her up. When she awoke, she told me never to do that again. She shared with me some of her own prayer life. She said that in her work she had many who admired her work, and she had many who complained and criticized her apostolate and mission. She said that every time she went to Mass, it is as if she heard the Lord speak to her at the moment of Consecration. As the priest consecrates the bread into the Body of Christ, it is like the Lord said, ‘Dorothy, this is My Body broken for you. Will you let your body be broken for me and for others today?’ When the priest consecrated the wine into the Blood of Christ, it was like the Lord said, ‘Dorothy, this is My Blood poured out for you. Will you let your blood be poured out for me and for others today?’”

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As a priest I think of these words at every Mass. In the Mass the Lord invites us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him and for others. There are countless examples of this in the lives of the saints.

“…The modern world boasts of the enticing door which says: everything is permitted. It ignores the narrow gate of discernment and renunciation. I am speaking to especially you, young Christians…. Your life is not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay on the surface, but go to the heart of things! And when the time is right, have the courage to decide! The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his good hands.” (Excerpt from John Paul II’s Book of Saints, Edith Stein, p. 22)

Anima Christi: What is the mind of Christ? It is to be totally emptied out in the service of the Father. This was the decision of our Lord. “Though he was in the form of God…[he] emptied himself, taking the form of a servant”(Phil 2.6-7). He poured himself out. That is what the Scriptures tell us is the mind of Christ, the soul of Christ, the principle of the human life of Christ. And so, when we pray: “Anima Christi, sanctifícame,” we are indeed making a very bold and dangerous prayer, a tremendously exacting prayer. We are saying that we want to be emptied out, to experience our own kenosis as Christ experienced his, totally given, totally spent. “Soul of Christ, sanctify me.” It will not be painless. No passion ever was. (Anima Christi, Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., p. 19-20)

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There is a saying attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “You are the only Bible most people will ever read.” Through the universal call to holiness, we are each called to encounter Christ and to allow Him to live and work through us. St. Augustine wrote that “we are to make Jesus incarnate through our lives of discipleship.” Parents are called to be Jesus for their children. There is also a special call to the priest to be Jesus for the people they serve through their role as spiritual father
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Story example: Priests are “alter Christus” in the giving of the Sacraments to the people. There is also a wider understanding and awareness that the priest has through his role as father of the community. I share two examples:

a) Jason was a little boy about one year old when I was assigned to his parish. From as early as I can recall he would come with his dad at communion and cross his arms for a blessing. After the blessing he would say, “I love you, Jesus.” This went on for about seven years every Sunday. As he prepared for his First Holy Communion, I mentioned to his father how I always admired his prayer to Jesus at communion time. His father then said, “Father, for the longest time Jason said that because he thought you were Jesus.”

b) While visiting one of my relatives, my aunt was taking care of her grandchildren. One of the little boys, Josh, came running into the room and out again when my aunt said, “Josh, you need to stop and say hello. Do you know who this person is who is visiting?” The little boy stopped, looked up, and without missing a beat, he said, “Yes, he is Jesus.” And then he said hello to me.

Many priests have shared with me the same kind of experiences of being called Jesus. As priests we have a very special privilege of not just being Christ for others in the Sacraments, but in all aspects of our life. These two examples have often come to me as reminders of the need to live in communion with Jesus in prayer, in thought, and in the actions of every day. Our lives as priests have such a deep and lasting influence on others as we carry out our daily mission. What a great privilege and blessing. What a gift, a mystery of God’s incarnate presence working through us as fragile human vessels consecrated to the Lord.

A question which is often asked of us as priests is whether the priesthood is a lonely life. I am quick to reply that “the priesthood is very…very…lonely…if you are a bachelor.” I say it with a lot of feeling and the other person looks so quizzical at me. Then I complete the statement, “…but if you are a father…then it is anything but lonely.” Every man has a natural desire to be a father, to give life, to want to teach the next generation, to make a difference in someone else’s life. That is why if you are a bachelor—which means—that you are more focused on your life, your fulfillment, your needs being met, your comfort, your self-actualization, then you will be lonely in the priesthood, as you will be lonely as well in marriage or being unmarried as a bachelor. But, if you are a man for others…<!–more–>

…who wants to give his life away, to make a difference, to give life, to be a father, then your life is difficult, challenging, but not boring nor without meaning. The question is not, am I called to be a father? Every man is called to be a father. The question is not, am I called to be married. Every man is called to marriage. The question is what kind of father is God calling me to be? To which marriage is the Lord calling me?

Scripture: I Corinthians 4.14-18: St Paul speaks of his spiritual fatherhood in the Corinthian community.

See Appendix 11 for more details.

There is a paper trick which we use in the classroom and on retreats. There is a good person and a bad person and they both arrive at the Gate of Heaven. St. Peter is collecting the tickets. The bad person, realizing that people with no tickets go through the door on the left (Hell), lies to the good person and tells him that he really does have a ticket but lost it while praying on the edge of the cloud—thus it dropped over the edge and was lost. He, the bad person tricks the good person to share some of his ticket and he ends up ripping off two pieces. The bad person then sneaks to the head of the line and tries to get into Heaven. St. Peter tells him that his ticket looks troublesome and the bad person says..

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“Look St. Peter—this is my ticket. I earned it and I deserve it.” St. Peter tells him that Jesus desires the salvation of all people, but we have to cooperate with God’s grace. Therefore, according to our cooperation with the Lord or lack thereof, we write our own ticket. St. Peter opens the ticket, and it spells the word HELL. St. Peter reminds him that Jesus is sad, because He had a place for the bad person, but it is we who choose our destiny by the kind of life we choose to lead. The good person comes later in line and with tears hands in his broken ticket. St. Peter has him say the same, “This is my ticket. I earned it and I deserve it.” St. Peter tells him that if he was trying to follow Jesus, the Lord would read his heart. St. Peter opens the ticket and it is a Cross. The good person enters Heaven.

For Discernment: The lesson is that we have only one ticket—only one life. Don’t waste your life thinking that you can live a wayward life now and “someday” turn around. Don’t gamble with the one life you have. The way we cooperate or not with God’s grace, will lead us to our destiny. You only have one life—How will you choose to give yours?

Scripture: Galatians 5.16-26: Live in accord with the Spirit in order to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 7.12-23: “None of those who cry out ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of God but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.”

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I walk into a classroom with a Pepsi can and a Chalice. I pretend to be ready to pour Pepsi into the Chalice. I stop short of doing it and ask the students if this would be good or bad? They answer it would be bad and disrespectful, because the Chalice is sacred and the Pepsi is only ordinary. I teach them the saying, “Treat ordinary things in an ordinary way. Treat sacred things in a sacred way.” Then I ask them, “Which is more sacred, the chalice or you?” Seventh grade and under usually answer that the Chalice is more sacred, because it is blessed. I ask if they are blessed. They answer that they were blessed at Baptism. I tell them that the Chalice with its blessing cannot attain Heaven. “Can you?

They answer that with their blessing of Baptism, their destiny is Heaven. Then I ask them again which blessing they would rather have. They say Baptism. “Which is more sacred, you or the Chalice?” They will answer back, “But the Chalice holds the Blood of Christ.” I answer, “And what do you hold when you receive Holy Communion?—You hold the Body and Blood of Christ… Which is more holy?” They answer now that they are holier than the Chalice.

For Discernment: The main point is that if we are going to discern our vocation in Christ, we must have the starting point that we are sacred. We are called as sons and daughters of a loving Father. Only when I see myself as sacred can I truly begin to discern my Call and Mission.

Scripture: I Cor. 6.19-20: “You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within—the Spirit you have received from God. You are not your own. You have been purchased, and at a price! So glorify God in your body.” Col 3.10: “Put on a new man, one who grows in the knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator.”

See Appendix 2 for other topics to cover.

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Listen to the questions people ask. Leaders ask different questions than followers. Saints ask different questions than those who are caught up in lives of selfishness. The questions you ask determine the direction of your life.
Continue reading What Are the Questions You Ask? →

St. John Bosco used tricks and acrobatics to bring young people to Christ. Learn a trick either with string, rope, cards or whatever, and then when you do that trick with young people, they are engaged by the mystery of what they just saw. Inevitably they ask to know the secret. (You might show them a trick later in the retreat, but not yet. For now they need to wrestle with the mystery of not knowing.
Continue reading Get in Touch with the Source →