The Spirit of Priesthood

To witness Christ today, you must be willing to go to the other side and be challenged and enchanted by what you experience

By Fr. Gerald Curry, S.F.M.
January 2004

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Nothing is more constant than change. We live in a world of change. Some of it for the good, some of it for the not so good. Applying yesterday's norms to today may not be the wise thing to do.

Tossed about on this sea of change, what qualities and gifts must a priest missionary possess? What comes to mind are faith, respect for the other, a willingness to serve, an openness to change, a sense of thanksgiving and privilege, a hunger and thirst for justice, a willingness to risk, an interest in the signs of the times, the gift of contemplation, and the list goes on.

Indeed it is easier, when attempting to describe a priest missionary, to say like St. Paul that one must be all things to all people. St. Paul also writes about putting on the mind of Christ.

Personally, I favour the word "witness" to "missionary." The term "missionary" carries the idea of one who is trying to convert, to change the other to your way of life or thinking. Today, many people take offense at such a word and tend to turn off, to dismiss the message as well as the messenger. So, I prefer the word "witness" as used by Christ when he told his disciples, "You will be my witnesses to the ends of the Earth" (Acts 1:8). To be such a witness is the ultimate in gift, in privilege, and in responsibility.

As priest witnesses, we start off with a profound faith in God as Creator, as Redeemer, and as Sanctifier. Our Creator God dwells within us, within others and within all of Creation, all created good. It is because of this presence of God that we approach others with respect for the presence of the Divine within them and within their culture, tradition and religion. Together with them, we journey to discover our gracious God both within and without.

This journey will lead the witness of Christ to be servant. The priest witness will be involved in the joys and hopes, the concerns and anxieties of the other. He will make the other's cause his own. He will stand in solidarity with others in their struggle for a life befitting their dignity as children of God. In word and deed, the priest witness will announce a time of justice, peace and love, and denounce all that diminishes the human person.

This journey of discovery of the God among us will be ignited by a pondering, a contemplation of a God whose presence lifts up the lowly and scatters the proud. It is a contemplation that is ever watchful, able to discern God's presence in the signs of the times, and making us ever mindful of our service to truth and justice, peace and love.

To witness Christ today, we must be willing to go to the other side, and to be challenged and enchanted by what we experience. We must be compassionate, willing to include and not exclude. We must be vulnerable, yet unafraid because of our faith in the presence of Christ. The witness must be a dreamer, a visionary, a sign of unity and community.

Scarboro's prayer for missionary witness urges a strong faith, that we make our journey of discovery with confidence; an unshakable hope, that we may be joyful; and a loving heart, that we may be servants of all.

All of this attempts to describe the spirit of priesthood and of Christian witness. It is the gift, the grace, the gratitude and the generosity of being called to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God.

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