Last Friday on the Feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus our Holy Father inaugurated the Year of the Priests.  In an address to the members of the congregation for the clergy he stated: …to encourage priests in the striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends, I have decided to establish a special 'Year of the Priests' that will begin on 19 June and last until 19 June 2010.  In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Cure of Ars, John Mary Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock…the priest's mission…is carried out 'in the Church'.  This ecclesial, communal, hierarchical and doctrinal dimension is absolutely indispensable to every authentic mission and alone guarantees its spiritual effectiveness.  The four aspects mentioned must always be recognized as intimately connected:  the mission is 'ecclesial' because no one proclaims himself in the first person, but within and through his own humanity every priest must be well aware that he is bringing to the world another, God Himself.  God is the only treasure which ultimately people desire to find in a priest.  The mission is 'communal' because it is carried out in a unity and communion that only secondly has also important aspects of social visibility.  Moreover, these derive essentially from that divine intimacy in which the priest is called to be expert so that he may be able to lead souls entrusted to him humbly and trustingly to the same encounter with the Lord.  Lastly, the 'hierarchical' and 'doctrinal' dimensions suggest reaffirming the importance of the ecclesiastical discipline (the term has a connection with 'disciple') and doctrinal training and not only theological, initial and continuing formation…The true dynamic centre of the mission is here:  in Jesus Christ, precisely.  The centrality of Christ brings with it the correct appreciation of the ministerial priesthood, without which there would be neither the Eucharist, nor even the mission nor the Church herself."

 

Benedict XVI chose well when he focused our attention upon the Cure of Ars.  In his life we priests have a true model of what the Pope sees necessary in our lives and ministry.  (This patron of parish priests I recall in each Eucharistic prayer I celebrate)  John Vianney was born into a nation whose foundation was Catholic but whose history showed an antagonism towards the faith especially as the Enlightenment  dawned and  the French Revolution took place.  His family was not to be dissuaded from practicing their religion no matter what the danger.  From the start he showed a great concern for the welfare of others.  Though his own education was interrupted by civil unrest and wars he sought to teach others what he had learned.  After seminary he was ordained on August 13, 1815.  His first years were spent serving with a man he deeply respected who had been his teacher:  a Father Balley.  After this holy man's death, Father Vianney became the pastor of Ars, a remote town near Lyon.  Because of persecution as well as a spirit in some of laxity, few in the town took their religious obligations seriously.  By his example and sacramental presence he was soon able to reverse the trends he had found.  Greater participation in the Sunday Eucharist as well as use of the Sacrament of Penance could be noted.  His fame spread well beyond the boundaries of his parish.  Many thousands came from distant lands to hear the gentle shepherd, to receive words of spiritual comfort, and to be reconciled to God, through his exercise of priestly grace.  Threatened with illness in 1843 he prayed for a miracle which would spare his life.  That was granted to him and as he continued to serve the people of God many benefited from the miracles of healing he performed especially in the confessional. On the one hundredth anniversary of his death Pope John XXIII in Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia wrote of the patron of parish priests:   "With firm confidence that the merciful God will never fail to offer the help that human weakness calls for, let sacred ministers think over the offices and burdens they have assumed by looking at St. John M. Vianney as if he were a mirror. 'A terrible disaster strikes us Cures' -the holy man complained -'when our spirit grows lazy and careless'; he was referring to the harmful attitude of those pastors who are not disturbed by the fact that many sheep committed to them are growing filthy in the slavery of sin.  If they want to imitate the Cure of Ars more closely, who was 'so convinced that men should be loved, so that we can do good to them' then let these priests  ask themselves what kind of love they have for those whom God has entrusted to their care and for whom Christ has died!...

 

…Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius XII was perfectly right in not hesitating to offer this country Cure as a model for the preachers of the Holy City…The clear , lofty, living thoughts of his mind were reflected in the sound of his voice and shone forth from his glance, and they came out in the form of ideas and images that were so apt and so well fitted to the thoughts and feelings of his listeners and so full of wit and charm that even St. Francis de Sales would have been struck with admiration.  This is the kind of speaker who wins the souls of the faithful.  A man who is filled with Christ will not find it hard to discover ways and means of bringing others to Christ….All that remains for Us to do is to recall at a little greater length the pastoral ministry of St. John M Vianney, which was a kind of steady martyrdom for a long period of his life, and especially his administration of the sacrament of Penance, which calls for special praise for it brought forth the richest and most salutary fruits. 'For almost fifteen hours each day, he lent a patient ear to penitents.  This work began early in the morning and continued well on into the night'  And when he was completely worn out and broken five days before his death and had no strength left, the final penitents came to his bed.  Toward the end of his life, the number of those who came to see him each year reached eighty thousand according to the accounts"…"  Let the example of the Cure of Ars stir up those who are in charge of souls to be eager and well-prepared in devoting themselves to this very serious work, for it is here most of all that divine mercy finally triumphs over human malice and that men have their sins wiped away and are reconciled to God."

 

 

Let us heed the pontiffs past and our present shepherd in honor of  St. John Vianney and let us all pray for priests that their service might give honor to God and witness to His people.

 

Vivat Jesus

 

Fr. Brian