When talking about priests the phrase ‘men set apart’ is often used. The trouble is that such an image can expresses superiority – not servants but masters. And when the cracks and failings of human finiteness show in priests, waves of shock, horror and uncertainty ripple through the people of God.

‘Men set apart’ is not enough. Let me explain. In the Preface of Sundays in Ordinary Time ‘1’, we use the words:

‘… we are called to the glory that has made us
a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people set apart.’

This extends to the whole Church. We are left with the notion that we are apart, above, better than the rest… and how often have Catholics felt and expressed that superiority! Yet if we look at the source of these words… the first letter of St Peter chapter 2 verse 9, we find it has been cut short. Peter is talking about all of us being part of the holy priesthood, chosen and royal, and finishes with the words ‘a people set apart to sing the praises of God‘. This puts a very different slant on the quotation – a choir whose ‘singing’ will lead others to turn towards God. Ours is the responsibility to proclaim the love of God to the world by the way we live. We are called to serve the will of the Father in this… not to be superior but to be humble encouragers of our fellow human beings.

So, when we talk about priests being ‘men set apart’, should we stop there or is there something else to add? Of course there is. The responsibility of the whole Church is to bring the love of Christ to the world. The responsibility of priests is to break open the Word of God with and for the Church (our second reading – Romans 10:9-18), and to celebrate the sacraments with and for the Church, to encourage, uplift, exhort and heal the people of God to enable them to fulfil their role in the world.

So at the heart of the Church we have ordinary men involved in doing extraordinary things, things that do not make him superior because he is indispensable, but make him servant as he ‘serves’ those extraordinary things to the faithful. Listen to some words of Pope John Paul II (Magnificat p72):

Priests are called to prolong the presence of Christ, embodying his way of life and making him visible in the midst of the flock entrusted to their care… Priests are there to serve the faith, hope and charity of the laity. They recognise and uphold, as brothers and friends, the dignity of the laity as children of God and help them to exercise fully their special role in the overall context in the Church’s mission… Priests have become living instruments of Christ the Eternal Priest so that through the ages they can accomplish his wonderful work of reuniting the whole human race with heavenly power… The priest should be able to know the depth of the human heart, to perceive difficulties and problems, to make meeting and dialogue easy, to create trust and cooperation, to express serene and objective judgements… Through his daily contact with people, his sharing in their daily lives, the priest needs to develop and sharpen his human sensitivity so as to understand more clearly their needs, respond to their demands, perceive their unvoiced questions, and share the hopes and expectations, the joys and burdens which are part of life: thus he will be able to meet and enter into dialogue with all people… All the difficult circumstances which people find in their path as Christians are fraternally lived and sincerely suffered in the priest’s heart. And he, in seeking answers for others, is constantly spurred on to find them first of all for himself… People need to come out of their anonymity and fear. They need to be known and called by name, to walk in safety along the paths of life, to be found again if they have become lost, to be loved, to receive salvation as the supreme gift of God’s love. All this is done by Jesus the Good Shepherd – by himself and by his priests with him.

All I can say to that is ‘God help us’. Ordinary human beings called to be channels, conduits of extraordinary graces to our brothers and sisters so that they can bring the love of Christ to the world… God help them, too.

In some ways, our first reading reminds us that for a priest to stand on the sanctuary to celebrate Mass is to bring the faithful to the threshold of heaven:

Almighty Father,
we pray that your angel may take this sacrifice
to your altar in heaven.
Then as we receive from this altar
the sacred body and blood of your Son,
let us be filled with every grace and blessing.

What humility should fill the heart of anyone entrusted with this task!

Then there is the ‘Breaking of the Word’ so that people who are part of the chosen race and a holy nation, who share in the royal priesthood, can grow in the knowledge and love of God and their vocation to sing the praises of God.

But not every man ordained to the ministerial priesthood is blessed with being a great preacher, an inspirational teacher; not everyone can be a highly charismatic figure stirring the people to great actions. The majority of priests are but ordinary men, proclaiming the Word, preaching the word through action more than words. They have an eye for the needs of the people whom they serve. They see where the ‘body’ needs healing, encouragement and support to carry out its mission of singing the praises of God to the world. Much of what a priest does is unseen by the majority and is only appreciated by those who receive his ministry. From letters received, it is clear that Fr Joseph really did care for the sick and housebound, truly did encourage family life, took great care in preparing people for the reception of the sacraments and, in his own way, tried to foster a parish community spirit.

So, though it is not his exclusive responsibility, a priest’s role is to prepare the people of the Church to fulfil their role of making Christ present in the world by singing the praises of God in the way they think, speak and act towards those among whom they live.

If they are men set apart, they are set apart to serve, to be the humble servants of that part of the Church in their care. If the whole of our priestly ministry is lived like that, even though the latter years might be in a nursing home, then we will be ready when the Master comes and knocks… as indeed, through our ministry (service), will those of the royal priesthood of Christ whom we serve.

Fr Michael Marsden