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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On the Priest's Mission as Teacher
"In the Church, Christ is Never Absent"
H.H. Benedict XVI
April 14, 2010
www.zenit.org
Dear friends,
In this Easter season, which leads us to Pentecost and also directs us
to the celebrations closing the Year for Priests, planned for next June
9, 10 and 11, I cherish dedicating again some reflections to the topic
of the ordained ministry, pausing on the fruitful reality of the
priest's configuration to Christ the Head, in the exercise of the three
"munera" he receives, that is, the three offices of teaching,
sanctifying and governing.
To understand what it means to act "in persona Christi Capitis" -- in
the person of Christ the Head -- on the part of the priest, and to
understand also what consequences stem from the task of representing the
Lord, especially in the exercise of these three offices, it is necessary
to clarify first of all what is intended by [the word] "representation."
The priest represents Christ. What does it mean, what does it signify to
"represent" someone? In ordinary language it means -- generally -- to
receive a delegation from a person to be present in his place, to speak
and act in his place, because the one who is represented is absent from
the concrete action.
We ask ourselves: Does the priest represent the Lord in the same way?
The answer is no, because in the Church, Christ is never absent, the
Church is his living body and he is the Head of the Church, present and
active in it. Christ is never absent; in fact he is present in a way
totally free of the limits of space and time, thanks to the event of the
Resurrection, which we contemplate in a special way in this Easter
season.
Hence, the priest who acts "in persona Christi Capitis" and in
representation of the Lord, never acts in the name of someone who is
absent, but in the very Person of the Risen Christ, who makes himself
present with his truly effective action. He really acts and does what
the priest could not do: the consecration of the wine and the bread so
that they will really be the presence of the Lord, [and] the absolution
of sins. The Lord makes present his own action in the person who carries
out such gestures. These three tasks of the priest -- which Tradition
has identified in the different mission words of the Lord: teach,
sanctify, govern -- in their distinction and in their profound unity,
are a specification of this effective representation. They are in
reality the three actions of the Risen Christ, the same one who today
teaches in the Church and in the world and thus creates faith, gathers
his people, creates the presence of truth and really builds the
communion of the universal Church; and sanctifies and guides.
The first task of which I wish to speak today is the "munus docendi,"
namely, that of teaching. Today, at the height of the educational
emergency, the "munus docendi" of the Church, exercised concretely
through the ministry of each priest, is particularly important. We live
amid great confusion about the fundamental choices of our life and the
questions about what the world is, from where it comes, where we are
going, what we must do to carry out the good, how we must live, what are
the really pertinent values. In relation to all this there are so many
contrasting philosophies, which arise and disappear, creating confusion
about the fundamental decisions, how to live, why we do not know more,
ordinarily, from what thing and for what thing we were made and where we
are going.
Fulfilled in this situation is the word of the Lord, who has compassion
on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd (cf. Mark
6:34). The Lord had made this confirmation when he saw the thousands of
people who followed him in the desert because, in the diversity of
currents of that time, they no longer knew the true meaning of
Scripture, what God was saying. The Lord, moved by compassion,
interpreted the word of God, he himself is the Word of God, and thus he
gave guidance. This is the function in persona Christi of the priest: to
render present, in the confusion and disorientation of our times, the
light of the Word of God, the light that is Christ himself in this our
world. Hence the priest does not teach his own ideas, a philosophy that
he himself has invented, has found and that pleases him; the priest does
not speak of himself, does not speak by himself, to create perhaps
admirers or his own party; he does not say his own things, his own
inventions, but, in the confusion of all the philosophies, the priest
teaches in the name of Christ present, he proposes the truth that is
Christ himself, his word, his way of living and of going forward. True
for the priest is what Christ said of himself: "My teaching is not mine"
(John 7:16); that is, Christ does not propose himself, but, as Son, is
the voice, the word of the Father. The priest must also speak and act
like this: "My doctrine is not mine, I do not propagate my ideas or what
pleases me, but I am the mouth and heart of Christ and make present this
unique and common doctrine, which the universal Church has created and
which creates eternal life."
This fact -- that the priest does not invent, does not create and does
not proclaim one's own ideas inasmuch as the doctrine he proclaims is
not his, but Christ's -- does not mean, on the other hand, that he is
neutral, almost like a spokesman who reads a text which, perhaps, he
does not appropriate. Also in this regard Christ's example is
applicable, who said: I am not of myself and I do not live for myself,
but I come from the Father and I live for the Father. That is why, in
this profound identification, the doctrine of Christ is that of the
Father and he himself is one with the Father. The priest who proclaims
the word of Christ, the faith of the Church and not his own ideas, must
also say: I do not live from myself and for myself, but I live with
Christ and from Christ and because of this all that Christ has said to
us becomes my word, even if it is not mine. The life of the priest must
be identified with Christ and, in this way, the word that is not his own
becomes, however, a profoundly personal word. On this topic, St.
Augustine said, speaking of priests: "And we, what are we? Ministers (of
Christ), his servants; because all that we contribute to you is not
ours, but we bring it out from his storeroom. And we also live from it,
because we are servants like you" (Discourse 229/E, 4).
The teaching that the priest is called to give, the truth of the faith,
must be internalized and lived in an intense personal spiritual journey,
so that the priest really enters into a profound, interior communion
with Christ himself. The priest believes, accepts and tries to live,
first of all as his own, all that the Lord has taught and the Church has
transmitted, in that journey of identification with the very ministry of
which St John Mary Vianney is an exemplary witness (cf. Letter for the
proclamation of the Year for Priests). "United in the very same charity
-- affirms again St. Augustine -- we are all hearers of him who is for
us in Heaven the only Teacher" (Enarr. in Ps. 131, 1, 7).
Consequently it is not rare that the voice of the priest might seem the
"voice of one crying in the desert" (Mark 1:3), but precisely in this
consists his prophetic force: in not ever being homologated, or
homologable to some prevailing culture or mentality, but in showing the
unique novelty capable of bringing about an authentic and profound
renewal of man, namely that Christ is the Living One, and the nearby
God, the God who operates in the life and for the life of the world and
gives us truth, the way to live.
In the careful preparation of his Sunday preaching, without excluding
the weekday preaching, in the effort of catechetical formation, in
schools, in academic institutions and, in a special way, through that
unwritten book that is his own life, the priest is always "docent," he
teaches. But not with the presumption of one who imposes his own truth,
rather with the humble and happy certainty of one who has found the
Truth, who has been gripped and transformed, and because of this, can do
nothing less than proclaim it. In fact, no one can choose the priesthood
for himself, it is not a way to arrive at security in life, to win a
social position; no one can give it to him, or seek it by himself. The
priesthood is response to the call of the Lord, to his will, to become
heralds not of a personal truth but of his truth.
Dear brother priests, the Christian people ask to hear from our
teachings the genuine ecclesial doctrine, by which to be able to renew
the encounter with Christ who gives joy, peace, salvation. Sacred
Scripture, the writings of the Fathers and doctors of the Church, the
Catechism of the Catholic Church constitute, in this regard,
indispensable points of reference in the exercise of the munus docendi,
so essential for conversion, the journey of faith and the salvation of
men. "Priestly ordination means: being immersed [...] in the Truth"
(Homily for the Chrism Mass, April 9, 2009), that Truth which is not
simply a concept or a whole of ideas to transmit and assimilate, but
which is the Person of Christ, with which, by which and in which to
live. And thus, necessarily, is also born the timeliness and
comprehensibility of the proclamation. Only this awareness of a Truth
made Person in the incarnation of the Son justifies the missionary
mandate: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every
creature" (Mark 16:15). Only if it is the Truth is it destined to every
creature, it is not an imposition of something, but the opening of the
heart to that for which it is created.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord entrusted a great task to priests:
to be heralds of his Word, of the Truth that saves; to be his voice in
the world to carry that which helps the true good of souls and the
authentic journey of faith (cf. Corinthians 6:12). May St. John Mary
Vianney be an example for all priests. He was a man of great wisdom and
heroic strength in resisting the cultural and social pressures of his
time to be able to lead souls to God: simplicity, fidelity and immediacy
were the essential characteristics of his preaching, the transparency of
his faith and of his holiness. The Christian people were edified and, as
happens with authentic teachers of every era, recognized in him the
light of Truth. Recognized in him, in a word, was that which must always
be recognized in a priest: the voice of the Good Shepherd.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Pope then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he
said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As the Year for Priests draws to its close, I would like to devote the
catecheses of this Easter season to a series of reflections on the
ordained ministry. I wish to speak in particular of the priest's
configuration to Christ, the head of the Church, through the exercise of
the three "munera" of teaching, sanctifying and governing. In their
ministry priests act in persona Christi, "in the person of Christ." The
three "munera" are in fact actions of the Risen Christ, who even today,
through his priests, continues to teach, sanctify and govern his Church.
The first of the three "munera" is that of teaching, so important for
our times. The priest is called to preach and teach not himself, but
Jesus Christ and his revelation of the Father. This teaching, far from
abstract doctrine, is a living proclamation of the person of Christ, who
is himself Truth, the source of our joy, peace and spiritual rebirth.
The priest's "munus docendi" demands that his whole life testify to the
truth of the message that he proclaims, in harmony with the apostolic
tradition and often in opposition to the spirit of the dominant culture.
Following the example of the great Cure of Ars, may every priest
proclaim Christ faithfully and speak in such a way that all can hear in
him the voice of the Good Shepherd.
I welcome all the English-speaking visitors present in today's Audience,
especially those from England, Wales, Scotland, Denmark, Finland,
Norway, Sweden, Korea, Canada and the United States of America. Upon you
and your families I cordially invoke the joy and peace of the Risen
Christ!
©Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[In Italian, he said:]
I turn, finally to young people, the sick and newlyweds. May the joy of
the Risen Lord inspire renewed ardor in your life, dear young people, so
that you are faithful disciples; may it be encouragement for you, dear
sick, so that you can face with courage every trial and suffering; may
it sustain you in your mutual love, dear newlyweds, so that in your home
the peace of Christ will always reign.
My thoughts go to China and to the peoples stricken by a strong
earthquake, which has caused numerous losses of human life, [many]
wounded and enormous damages. I pray for the victims and am spiritually
close to the persons tried by such a grave calamity; for them I implore
from God relief from suffering and courage in this adversity. I hope
that common solidarity will not be lacking.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Look
at the One they Pierced!
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