Catholic Men The blessings of moving shepherds

Jul 4, 2011

July is often a time of transition in parishes as bishops assign newly ordained priests for the first time, and veteran priests also receive new assignments.

Such rearrangements are never easy. The physical demands of moving the earthly possessions of parish priests require organizing muscle and volunteer manpower. The parish faithful, however, usually find the emotional strains of moving a parish priest to be much heavier lifting. Even after parishioners may admit hurts incurred from some past disagreements, the vivid reality hits them that the man departing has been an integral part of parish and family life for years, if not decades. Together, priests and parishioners have shared not just the sacraments, but also the joys of new life, the happiness of birthdays, anniversaries and graduations, as well as the sorrows of families losing loved ones.

When a priest is given a new assignment by the bishop, the parish isn’t simply losing a community leader. Its people, many for the last time, are saying goodbye to the spiritual father of their parish family.

My own parish received a double dose of this news recently. But through the tears and heartaches shared by parishioners and the departing priests, the Holy Spirit began to nourish and strengthen the parish as it moved forward. Specifically, the transition allowed time to reflect more deeply on the meaning of the priesthood. For my family, the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” proved quite helpful in this regard in its teaching about the meaning and reality of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Holy Orders provides a particularly special grace as well as a service mission in the Church. Christ himself entrusted the Apostles with the priestly mission, one that men ordained to the priesthood will continue to exercise until the end of time. The Holy Spirit endows priests with a “sacred power” in “the name and with the authority of Christ” (CCC, 1538). Priests exercise such sacred authority by preaching the Gospel, celebrating divine worship (most notably the Eucharist), and shepherding the People of God through the sacraments.

The Catechism further tells us how an ordained priest pursues his ministry in an “intimate sacramental brotherhood” with all other priests, and bears the responsibility of parish life in “communion with the bishop” (1568). As many priests leave for new parish assignments this month, it helps to remember the
deep relationship shared between bishops and parish priests. The priest not only leads and feeds the faithful of a local parish family, but participates and lives in a global, sacred family led by bishops. The Catechism explains this bond vividly:

“Priests can exercise their ministry only in dependence on the bishop and in communion with him. The promise of obedience they make to the bishop at the moment of ordination and the kiss of peace from him at the end of the ordination liturgy mean that the bishop considers them his co-workers, his sons, his brothers and friends, and that they in return owe him love and obedience.” (1567)

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once observed that “a priest is not his own” in sacrificing himself as a “holy victim” like Christ. A priest is also never our own. He is an indelibly marked sacramental collaborator and brother of the bishop, who shares spiritual gifts received through the Sacrament of Holy Orders with our parishes, across our dioceses, and around the world. Let us give thanks for the blessing of getting to know such shepherds, and pray for a Church blessed with many more.