LAST Sunday after my Mass in a parish, a Nicaraguan woman spoke to me. She said, “Father, our new priest is wonderful. He is good. He says Mass with a great deal of reverence and proper pace; he transmits spirituality without any air of superiority or arrogance; he preaches and connects well with us. He reaches out to everyone; he is kind and compassionate. He is not afraid to say the truth. He is really a man of prayer!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear,” I responded, knowing who she was talking about. He’s one of our recently ordained priests! Of course, I felt good about hearing this report. It says a lot about our priestly formation at St. John’s Seminary.
“No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher,” the Gospel says (Luke 6:40). Isn’t this what we expect—that our seminarians will put into practice what they learn in the seminary; that they will be as good as their teachers or better than them?
When you think about what the Nicaraguan woman said, she was not really talking about the body of knowledge or wisdom that this new priest has. She was talking about the kind of priest he is: genuinely holy, kind, compassionate, sensitive, courageous and truthful to the Gospel. The priest’s character inspires and evangelizes parishioners. His actions and ministry reveal the Splendor of the Truth and his intimate relationship with the Great Teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Of course, parishioners want priests who can articulate the knowledge of our faith, who can guide them to the truth of the Person of Christ and his Gospel. You cannot have a blind person leading another blind person, as the Gospel says (Luke 6:41). But more than this, they want priests who live the truth, who practice the truth of the Gospel in their own lives.
Archbishop Gomez even addressed the three new auxiliary bishops in the same way during their ordination last Tuesday. Aside from the call to holiness, prayer and prudence and their ministry of teaching, sanctifying and community building, he reminded the new bishops to be examples to their flock. They must lead by example to show the people the face of Christ. He said that there is power in the practice of our faith.
In order to do this, I realize that we priests need a daily examination of our own lives; an intentional consciousness or awareness of how we relate with people. We can’t be pointing wrongdoings of other people without reflecting first on our own wrongdoings. The Gospel is clear. We must notice the wooden beam in our own eyes first before noticing the splinter in other people’s eyes (Luke 6:42).
The retired pope, Benedict XV1, talks about the importance of credibility in priestly ministry. He said, “What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people… capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life.” (Porta Fidei, #15)
Indeed, may all people become credible witnesses to the truth of the Gospel!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
