It’s important to have a standard in life by which to gauge your process in grace and in ministry. Here is something I came across the other day that I found helpful. I thought you might too.
The Perfect Pastor
The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes.
He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings.
He works from 8am until midnight and is also the church janitor.
The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car,
buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church.
He is 29 years old and has 40 years’ experience.
Above all, he is handsome.
The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens.
He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church.
He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed.
The perfect pastor always has time for pastoral council, the finance council and all parish committees.
He never misses the meeting of any church organization and is always busy evangelizing the unchurched.
The perfect pastor is always in the next parish over!
If your pastor does not measure up, simply send this notice to six other churches that are tired of their pastor, too. Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of the list.If everyone cooperates, in one week you will receive 1,643 pastors.
One of them should be perfect!
There are many things that I have learned after 25 years of priesthood.
On of them is that I am NOT the perfect pastor. Nor perhaps even a perfect Christian.
But I hope, at the very least, that I am a faithful one.
There are many things that I could speak about.
But in order that we might get to the party sooner, I will simply share with you some lessons I have learned over the past 25 years. Some are practical; some are spiritual.
I’ve learned
1) Never answer the first question a person asks.
It’s never the one they want the answer to.
I learned to
2) Appreciate the thanks of the People of God, but not to create my ministry around it.
Homily praise is good when you can get it, especially when you are Fr. Young Priest. But there was a humbling moment, when I simply greeting people after Mass one day. A fellow came up, vigorously shook my hand and said, “Wonderful homily, Father! Great job!” Despite the fact that I had not preached that weekend.
While one’s our personal support comes from family, friends, and other priests, one cannot be a priest without the spiritual support comes from People of God who hold you in prayer.
I’ve learned that
3) As a priest, the divine plan of God doesn’t depend on me.
This is marvelously liberating. I supposed God could probably save souls through a rock if he wanted to,
[come to think of it, in one way he has…]
But he doesn’t want to.
Instead, he chooses some of us to share in a very special way in his ministry.
– to bring glad tidings to the poor.
– to proclaim liberty to captives
– to celebrate the sacred mysteries
– to forgive sins.
– to preach the Good News.
Through it all, none of it depends on me.
As Isaiah said,
See, I place my words in your mouth.
Sometimes in a homily, on a whim, I’ll go off script and say a particular thing, and then after Mass someone will come up and say, “You know, Father, that particular thing you said? That was exactly what I needed to hear today!”
For a while, St. Andrew’s had a thrift store. The woman who ran it was something special. Behind the counter above the cash register there was a sign that simply read:
“Owned by God, run by us.”
I’ve learned that
4) the Church is best when it is personal, not institutional.
The Church needs a face.
What do I mean?
We love to institutionalize everything in the Church.
[Father, there’s a woman who lives next door to me…
…the parish ought to buy a van.]
The prayer on the back of my Holy Card.
Lord, make me into the icon of your love
Give me your eyes, that I may see as you see.
Give you your ears that I may hear as you hear.
Give me your heart, that I may love as you love.
Give me your hands that I may embrace your people.
Thus, having molded this weak clay into the image and likeness of your Divine Self
When they look at me, may they see you.
When they listen to me, may they hear your Word.
When they reach out to me,
may they be embraced by your love.
In the end, it’s not about choosing the priesthood, it’s about being chosen BY Christ for the priesthood.
It is a marvelous life. It really is.
There is no greater challenge in the present age.
There is no higher calling in any age.
I will simply close with the thoughts of someone much smarter than I am. This is a poem by the Jesuit Karl Rahner, whose theological investigations helped to shape the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
THE PRIEST by Karl Rahner, SJ.
The priest is not an angel
Sent from heaven
He is a man
Chosen from among men,
A member of the Church,
A Christian.
Remaining man and Christian,
He begins to speak of you
The Word of God.
The word is not his own.
No, he comes to you
Because God has told him
To proclaim God’s Word.
Perhaps he has not entirely
Understood it himself.
Perhaps he adulterates it.
But he believes,
And despite his fear
He knows he must communicate
God’s Word to you.
For must not some of us
Say something about God,
About eternal life;
About the majesty of grace
in our sanctified being?
Must not some one of us
Speak of sin,
The judgement and mercy of God?
So, my dear friends,
Pray for him,
Carry him,
So that he might be able
To sustain others by bringing to them
The mystery of God’s love
Revealed in Jesus Christ. — Karl Rahner S.J.