Question 4.69
4.69 Does that mean that there are books on the one side and prayer on the other?
Certainly not. But the interior life is without a doubt the light and the salt of priestly life. It is not a question of neglecting the intellectual preparation of seminarians. Nevertheless, this aspect must not be the sole concern.
A priest who has interiorized his priestly life is careful to communicate his encounter with God in a comprehensible way. He will be capable of speaking simply. Some have intellectualized and complicated the Christian message so much that a great number of people are no longer touched by or interested in the teaching of the Church. God is not a rational argument, for the Father is in the heart of every man. That is where he waits to reveal himself to us: âYou were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with youâ, Saint Augustine writes in his Confessions. The Fathers of the Church knew how to express themselves in a moving way and succeeded in converting whole populations to Christ. Through vivid expressions and beautiful images, they merely communicated their own spiritual experiences.
Even today, pastors must speak in a way that their sheep can understand. We are insistently invited to follow the great example given to us by Pope Francis, with his simple, concise, direct language. A hermetic Christianity that claims to be âscientificâ would be an aberrant Christianity. And yet, how many self-assured, empty, and arrogant formulas do we hear so often in our churches. âŚ
Nowadays the unity of the Church is threatened at the level of revealed doctrine, for there are many who consider their own opinion to be the real doctrine!
One of the major difficulties at present is found in ambiguities or personal statements about important doctrinal points, which can lead to erroneous and dangerous opinions. These bad habits disorient many of the faithful. Sometimes contradictory answers to very serious questions are given by the clergy and the theologians. How can the people of God help but be disturbed by such behavior? How can the baptized be certain of what is good or bad? Confusion about the right direction to take is the worst malady of our era.
The Church is holy in her mystery. But if she resembles a tower of Babel, there is no chance that she will manage to meet the major challenge of contemporary relativism. We can thank Benedict XVI for his keen discernment of what he named âthe dictatorship of relativismâ. Contrary to the surrounding subjectivism, the Church must know how to tell the truth, with humility, respect, and clarity. I think that men, like trees, need roots that can be nourished by the best soil, which is quite simply the heritage and millennial tradition of Christianity. The variety of opinions in a society that is flooded with news ought not to make us forget the centuries-old tradition of the Church. The best way to understand and transmit it is the interior life in God!
The men who have received a responsibility from God himself through their vocations must not lose their souls, for that would be an incalculable betrayal. God did not ask us to create personal projects but to transmit the faith. Men of God are conveyors, not interpreters; they are faithful messengers and stewards of the Christian mysteries. Much will be demanded of those who have received much.