THIS past week, 330 of us priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, along with Archbishop Jose Gomez and his auxiliary bishops, were in La Quinta for a four-day convocation. The two-fold goal of this gathering was to strengthen our fraternity as priests and to renew our priesthood.
The conference was successful. It allowed us to share our joys and hopes and our struggles and challenges through table conversations and testimonies of some of our brother priests. It also inspired us because we realized that we’re not alone in the ministry.
First, we have parishioners who energized us with their faith and their love for the Church and their priests.
Second, we have one another as brother-priests in the ministry during this critical period of the Church, which Fr. Ronald Rolheiser referred to as the “best time to be a priest.”
Indeed, the gathering made us profoundly appreciates the love and support of the People of God. We thank God for their unwavering faith and love for the Church. In this critical period of the Church, we realized that we need the gifts and service of our people to strengthen our relationship as a family and a church community.
It’s the same thought that I told my parishioners during my installation as their pastor. I said to them that I have no reasons to fail, to worry, and to fear. It’s because I have a talented and dedicated staff and parishioners. I also have the encouragement and wisdom of Christ and the intercession of Mary and all the saints.
It takes humility to keep this attitude—to understand that without the power of Christ, we are nothing. Anne Osdieck wrote the following prayer to speak about our “nothingness” without the love of God transpiring in our relationships.
Humilis, “lowly”
Literally, “on the ground.”
From Latin humus, “earth.”
We emerge from the earth.
And back to it we go.
With nothing when we come
and nothing to carry with us as we leave.
Nothing but love.
When we have nothing but your love,
we have it all, everything.
Lord, give us that one thing that is necessary.
May we be humble to accept our poverty in spirit—that we cannot do our work without the power of God’s love and one another!
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Fr. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas is the pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale, California.
