When ministry is reduced to performance

IN a recent priestly ordination, I heard a comment that
struck me. I have heard more or less the same comment a number of
times already, giving me an idea of a trending attitude of priests
about a certain aspect of the priestly life and ministry. I’m rather
disturbed by it.

            The comment was: with this ordination, we now have a glut
of priests. We lack parishes to put them or assignments to give them.

            Frankly speaking, the comment shocked me. To me, such
comment indicated a poor appreciation of the priestly life and
ministry. How can there be an excess of priests when just by
considering numbers alone, the ratio goes something like one priest
per thousands of faithful to be attended to?

            To be sure, the challenge is not only a matter of handling
the quantitative dimension of the priest’s work, which is already
overwhelming. What is more arduous, requiring a lot of time and
energy, not to mention, a lot of prayers and sacrifices, study and
patience, is the spiritual and moral dimension. Here, the priest is
expected not only to be competent, but also and first of all to be
truly holy!

            What immediately came to mind was the impertinent thought
that maybe many priests consider their ministry as simply saying as
many Masses as possible if only to gain some money. I wanted to
dismiss the thought, but each time I hear the same comment, it comes
back all the stronger.

            With that frame of mind, obviously the more priests there
are, the less the chances are of saying Mass and of gaining some
income. That’s when one can feel that the field is getting
overcrowded. I call it a mercenary frame of mind.

            The ugly thought is somehow reinforced by the fact that
many people also share the same observation. They complain about
Masses hastily said, with hardly any semblance of solemnity in them.
Homilies are poorly prepared and are delivered as if the celebrant is
simply shooting from the hip. There’s so much improvisation and going
in circles, with exhortations that are repetitive, predictable, too
generic and bland.

            What is worse is when the ministry is reduced to mere
performance that relies simply on human means and natural gifts, like
the talents for oratory, acting and singing, etc. Even totally
uncalled for gimmicks are employed. The church becomes a theater, and
the worshiping is reduced to entertainment.

            I now feel that this observation has to be acknowledged as
a real issue, without prejudice to the question about the need for
more parishes and assignments to be given to a growing number of
clerics, which in itself as a good problem to have.

            There is great need to review the formation plans for
priests more deeply and thoroughly. There has to be better way of
helping priests individually and personally, especially in the aspect
that really matters most—their spiritual life, their pursuit for
holiness. They should be less of simply being bureaucrats,
administrators, officials, and more of pastors, priests through and
through who can inspire holiness in others.

            Given the temper and the signs of the times, with many
difficult issues emerging due to the rapid technology-induced
developments around, we need to see to it that priests have the
substance and the grit to tackle the challenges.

            . Priests have to get out of their comfort zones and
complacency. In this regard, it has to be noted that there is great
danger to justify wallowing in comfort and complacency because of the
heavy toxic load that priests can have and also because of the
celibate status, even if poorly lived, that exempts them from problems
usually associated with married people who have families to support.

            That’s the reason why the Church has been preaching about
the centrality of the cross of Christ in everyone’s life, and
especially in that of priests who are expected to lead the way and to
walk their talk. I remember that in one talk given to my batch while
preparing for our ordination, we were told that we should be ready to
be crucified. A priest who is afraid of the cross would not be a good
priest.

            Priests have to shun special privileges and entitlements
as much as possible, something that can be a very formidable
temptation, since many people can be all too willing to spoil them
with these perks. They have to learn to give themselves completely,
while passing unnoticed, and knowing also how to detach themselves
from the people.

            People should see only Christ in every priest. That’s the ideal.