Guiding souls

THIS is quite a tough job. To guide souls is indeed a very

delicate job. It requires nothing less than entering into the inner

life of a person with the intention of helping and of eventually

leading that person to God. But how can this be?

            Priests are supposed to be sacramentally configured to

Christ as head of the Church and therefore as the ultimate guide of

souls, the redeemer of mankind. They are supposed to have the very

mind and sentiments of Christ. And if they are truly vitally

identified with Christ, they will also share in the power of Christ.

            But is this possible at all? If we have faith, the answer

is yes. The sacrament of Holy Orders configures one to Christ with an

effectivity that is called in Latin as “ex opere operato.”

            It means that by the mere reception of the sacrament and

as long as there is no formal impediment to such reception, that

sacramental configuration is achieved, not so much by the qualities

and dispositions of the recipient as by the power of Christ himself.

            Would we think that the apostles had the qualities and

dispositions of becoming the first bishops in the Church? If we are to

go by our human standards, we would have serious doubts about that.

But Christ made them our first bishops, and bishops they were.

            The priestly ideal of being another Christ as head of the

Church will certainly demand everything from them. But given that

priests are men, with their own share of weaknesses and all that, that

ideal will be pursued in stages at best, with its own ups and downs,

its twists and turns, its drama.

            We, priests, should do our part of resembling more and

more like Christ with our daily effort to be faithful to our identity

and ministry. This can never be overemphasized. And everything should

be done so that at least its approximation can be gained.

            As guide of souls, we should learn how to deal with all

kinds of souls with their respective consciences. There are those with

a certain and delicate conscience, those with erroneous, doubtful, lax

or scrupulous conscience, etc. Of course, these consciences bring with

their own lifestyle. We have to learn how to deal with each one as he

is and help him in the way that is proper to him.

            Nowadays, we have to deal with people who, on the one

hand, are over-pious as to be self-righteous, and those, on the other,

who are hostile to God and religion, those in irregular marital and

family situations, those affected by all sorts of addictions and

ideologies. The priest as guide of souls has to be prepared to handle

each case.

            Indeed, the priest should strive with God’s grace and his

effort to be all things to all men, as St. Paul once said, in order to

save all. This will require of him to forget himself and just try his

best to have the very mind and heart of Christ whose love for us is

universal and for always. He really should be humble so that he can

always be open to new possibilities rather than put limits because of

his subjective standards.

            Obviously, he has to study and go deep into the sciences

that deal with the care of souls. Hopefully, he can see even the

subtle distinctions between what is true holiness and the many forms

of fake sanctity and give guidance accordingly.

            That is why the formation of priests will always be

ongoing, and especially these days when with so many developments

around, there are also many new things to learn and to tackle.

            It also pays that the priest is always willing to go to

where the Spirit leads him as he guides souls.