Don’t Be Accountants of the Spirit,’ Pope Tells Priests

‘Don’t Be Accountants of the Spirit,’ Pope Tells Priests

During Mass for Sacred Heart of Jesus, Francis Tells Clergy to Dirty Hands, Forget Timetables, Don’t Think of ‘Overtime’

JUNE 3, 2016
DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOVJUBILEES AND SPECIAL YEARS, PAPAL TEXTS
Www.zenith.org

Priests are to forget themselves, and their timetables, and ask themselves constantly whether their hearts are directed toward the Lord.

Pope Francis stressed this during Holy Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus this morning in St. Peter’s Square, which also concluded the Jubilee for Priests, June 1-3.

This Jubilee celebration on this solemn feast day, the Pope noted, invites us all to turn to the heart, the core of each person, contemplating two in particular: the Heart of the Good Shepherd and our own heart as priests.

The Heart of the Good Shepherd, Francis explained is not only the Heart that shows us mercy, but is itself mercy. It is where the Father’s love shines forth and demonstrates that God loves us beyond our sins and limitations. In contemplating the Heart of Christ, the Jesuit Pope continued, clergy are faced with the fundamental question of their priestly life: Where is my heart directed?

In the midst of the plans, projects, and activities filling priestly ministry, Francis stressed, “It’s a question that we priests must ask ourselves many times every day, every week: Where my heart is directed?”

What’s distancing us …

“There are weaknesses and sins in all of us,” the Pope deviated from his script to say. “But let’s go deeper, to the roots: Where is the root of our weaknesses, our sins, that is to say what precisely is that ‘treasure’ that distances us from the Lord?”

The great riches of the Heart of Jesus are two: the Father and ourselves, the Pope explained, noting Jesus’ days were divided between prayer to the Father and encountering people. Similarly, Francis compared, priests’ hearts are to embrace two “directions”: the Lord and His people.

Since the priest’s heart is pierced by the Love of God, Francis underscored, “He should no longer look at himself.”

“It is no longer ‘a fluttering heart,’ allured by momentary whims, shunning disagreements and seeking petty satisfactions. Rather, it is a heart rooted firmly in the Lord, warmed by the Holy Spirit, open and available to our brothers and sisters.”

The Pope then gave the priests three tools to help them imitate the Good Shepherd: seeking out, including and rejoicing.

Seek out

The Pope recalled that the prophet Ezekiel reminds us that God himself goes out in search of his sheep.

“Without delaying, he leaves the pasture and his regular workday,” without worrying “about overtime,” Francis said. “He does not put off the search. He does not think: ‘I have done enough for today; I’ll worry about it tomorrow.’”

“Instead,” Francis said, “he immediately sets to it; his heart is anxious until he finds that one lost sheep. Having found it, he forgets his weariness and puts the sheep on his shoulders, fully content.”

Not an Accountant of the Spirit

“A shepherd after the heart of God has a heart sufficiently free to set aside his own concerns. He does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked: he is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need.”

The Pope stressed that priests are shepherds to their flock, not “inspectors,” and must not devote themselves “50 or 60 percent to the mission,” but instead, “with all they have.”

“Woe to the shepherds who privatize their ministry!” he said, noting, “a heart that seeks out does not set aside times and spaces as private, a heart that is not jealous of its legitimate quiet time and never demands that it be left alone.”

This heart takes risks to imitate the Lord, and doesn’t worry about protecting its comfort zone, Francis said.

Include

Christ loves and knows His sheep, Francis stressed, noting how He gives His life for them.

“He is not a boss to be feared by his flock, but a shepherd who walks alongside them and calls them by name (cf. Jn 10:3-4). He wants to gather the sheep that are not yet of his fold (cf.Jn 10:16). So it is also with the priest of Christ. He is anointed for his people, not to choose his own projects but to be close to the real men and women whom God has entrusted to him.”

A priest, the Argentine Pope said, must be ready to “dirty his hands,” without worrying about gloves.

Rejoice

God is “full of joy,” the Pope reminded the clergy gathered, which stems from forgiveness and mercy. “The joy of Jesus the Good Shepherd is not a joy for himself alone, but a joy for others and with others, the true joy of love. This is also the joy of the priest. He is changed by the mercy that he freely gives.”

“In prayer he discovers God’s consolation and realizes that nothing is more powerful than his love. He thus experiences inner peace, and is happy to be a channel of mercy, to bring men and women closer to the Heart of God.”

The Pope concluded, inviting the priests to rediscover their identity as shepherds each day.

Mercy Isn’t a Way of Life, But the Way of Life, Says Pope in Final Meditation for Priests...

Mercy Isn’t a Way of Life, But the Way of Life, Says Pope in Final Meditation for Priests...

Calls priests to learn to have a father’s gaze

JUNE 2, 2016
KATHLEEN NAAB
POPE AND HOLY SEE
Www.zenith.org

Being merciful, and especially for a priest, is not about doing isolated acts of mercy. Being merciful, instead, is not only “a way of life”, but “the way of life”. There is no other way of being a priest.

This was part of the reflection that Pope Francis offered in his final meditation this afternoon for the Jubilee of priests and seminarians.

The final meditation was titled “The Good Odor of Christ and the Light of His Mercy,” and he gave it at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls at 4 pm

It followed on the two earlier meditations the Holy Father gave, starting in St. John Lateran at 10 a.m., and then at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore at noon.

In the lengthy meditation, that was both reflective and practical, the Pontiff considered facets of Jesus’ mercy as seen in the Gospels, particularly in consideration of the woman caught in adultery.

His talk emphasized that each of us, priests as well, are the poor ones in need of mercy.

“In the Church we have, and have always had, our sins and failings. But when it comes to serving the poor by the works of mercy, as a Church we have always followed the promptings of the Spirit. Our saints did this in quite creative and effective ways. Love for the poor has been the sign, the light that draws people to give glory to the Father,” he observed.

The Pope exhorted the priests to learn from their seminary days to have the heart of a father.

“To see needs and to bring immediate relief, and even more, to anticipate those needs: this is the mark of a father’s gaze,” he said. “This priestly gaze – which takes the place of the father in the heart of Mother Church – makes us see people with the eyes of mercy. It has to be learned from seminary on, and it must enrich all our pastoral plans and projects. We desire, and we ask the Lord to give us, a gaze capable of discerning the signs of the times, to know ‘what works of mercy our people need today’ in order to feel and savour the God of history who walks among them.”

Confessors

Speaking specifically of the sacrament of confession, Pope Francis reminded the priests that they are signs and instruments.

As signs, they have to be effective and attractive, that is, inviting people to the encounter with God through confession.

As well, they mustn’t be self-referential. A sign doesn’t exist for itself, he pointed out, but is meant to lead beyond itself.

Finally, priests have to be available.

“In my country,” the Pope recounted, “there was a great confessor, Father Cullen. He would sit in the confessional and do one of two things: he would repair worn soccer balls for the local kids, or he would thumb through a big Chinese dictionary. He used to say that when people saw him doing such completely useless things like fixing old soccer balls or trying to master Chinese, they would think: ‘I’m going to go up and talk to this priest, since he obviously doesn’t have much to do!’ He was available for what was essential. He got rid of the obstacle of always looking busy and serious.”

The Pope also offered two bits of practical advice to the priests as confessors: never look like a bureaucrat or a judge, and don’t be curious.

Culture of mercy

Pope Francis exhorted the priests to create a “culture of mercy.”

“Once we begin, we sense immediately that the Spirit energizes and sustains these works,” he said. “He does this by using the signs and instruments he wants, even if at times they do not appear to be the most suitable ones.”