567. August 4, St John Mary Vianney, Cure of Ars (III)

Meditations no. 498 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Interior life is absolutely necessary for a priest to be able to guide souls to God.

The sanctity of priests is of fundamental importance for the Church. Therefore on today’s feast of the Cure of Ars we ask God with special insistence that all priests be truly holy, that they be men of prayer and penance, who strive to identify themselves closely with Christ and dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their priestly ministry on behalf of all souls.

Personal prayer is indispensable for an authentic priestly life. St Pius X says, The priest ought to savour, preach and recommend only what leads to heaven. He should rise above the merely human and direct every action in his sacred ministry to God, inspired and guided by faith. But this close union with God is acquired and preserved only by the habit of daily meditation.

In addition, a priest must have a deep concern for the holiness of the others. The intentions found in his prayer should reflect the pressing needs of the Church and souls. In his prayer, especially at Mass, the priest takes upon his shoulders the burdens and problems of all men and women, asking God to have mercy on his children. In his own prayer life, a priest begins to live the lessons he will later teach others. Hence, writes St Gregory the Great, whoever preaches the word of God, must first consider how he should live. Then he can judge how he ought to preach.

Our Father wrote: There is a certain type of knowledge that is attained only by sanctity. And there are souls who are hidden, unknown, deeply humble, holy, with a spirit of sacrifice, who possess a marvellous supernatural outlook: I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you did hide these things from the wise and prudent, and did reveal them to little ones (Mt 11: 25). Theirs is a supernatural understanding that can seldom be found in the pompous pronouncements of presumptuous scholars. Evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum, dicentes enim se esse sapientes stulti facti sunt (Rom 1: 21-22). They became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless minds have been darkened. For while professing to be wise, they have become fools.

I am convinced from my own experience that these simple souls are powerful before God. Through their prayers they bring about apostolic wonders that pass unnoticed by men.

The ministry of the word, preaching, is an essential part of a priest’s work. By it he helps prepare the faithful to receive grace fruitfully. But if a priest himself fails to pray, his preaching will rarely be effective. Knowledge and preparation, though necessary, are insufficient. Personal holiness is essential if the priest’s words are to awaken and enkindle divine inspirations in souls.

A priestly concern for all souls.

The priest, St Gregory the Great teaches, is obliged to know the needs of his children and listen to them. As ministers of divine mysteries, priests must become all things to all men, in order to save all, renouncing any personal plans that interfere with their work for souls. We priests have no rights, our Father exclaimed. I like to feel that I am the servant of all. I am proud of that title. We only have duties, and there lies our joy. We have the duty of teaching catechism to children and to adults, the duty of administering the sacraments, that of visiting both the sick and the healthy, the duty of bringing Christ to the rich and the poor, the duty of not leaving Christ alone where he is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle under the appearances of bread, the duty of the good shepherd of souls, who takes care of the sick sheep and goes in search of the one who strays, without keeping an account of the hours spent in the confessional.

To lead such a life, the priest needs a deep pastoral concern for the souls who draw close to him. He must always make himself available, dealing with souls one by one, treating them as precious jewels for whom Christ has shed the last drop of his blood. Doctrine is always the same, but the paths by which people assimilate and come to love it are varied. As I’ve often told you, when he creates souls, God never repeats himself. Each soul is unique. Each has to be handled according to the way God has made it and the way he is leading it. Omnibus omnia factus sum, ut omnes facerem salvos (1 Cor 9: 22). We must become all things to all men. There are no cure-alls. We have to teach people, dedicating to each soul the time it needs, with the patience of a medieval monk illuminating a manuscript page by page. We have to help them be mature and form their conscience, so that each person feels free and therefore responsible.

When he acts in this way, the priest rejoices supernaturally and humanly in his divine work. And he wins the gratitude and affection of all who know him. As St Ambrose says, No one is as truly our neighbour as the person who has healed our wounds. Let us love him then, seeing our Lord in him, and let us love him as our neighbour.

Uniting ourselves to the Church’s petition, we ask that all priests may imitate the example of St John Vianney. Father of mercy, you made St John Vianney outstanding in his priestly zeal and concern for your people. By his example and prayers, enable us to win our brothers and sisters to the love of Christ and come with them to eternal glory.

The priests of the Work are the Good Shepherd for us.

My dear daughters and sons, once more I want to speak about how we make use of the beautiful means of sanctification instituted by Jesus Christ that is the sacrament of penance. This sacrament is at the same time a means for spiritual guidance, and manifests the Work’s motherly concern for us.

Our Father often explained the allegory of the good shepherd, applying it to our situation in this sheepfold of Christ that is Opus Dei. Our Lord has chosen the Father to be the ‘shepherd’ of these sheep, along with those who receive this mission from the Father, namely the directors and priests of the Work. Ordinarily it is not given to anyone who does not belong to the Work. Persons outside of our family are not good shepherds for my sheep, although they may be very good shepherds for their own, for those who belong to their own flock.

The Good Shepherd for us is the person who knows and lives our spirit and has received this mission from the one who can give it. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice (Jn10: 3-4). Therefore if the members of Opus Dei really want to be faithful, a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers (Jn 10: 5).

Couldn’t others look for the sheep and feed them well and bring them back to the fold? No! Our Lord tells us emphatically, alienum autem non sequuntur (Jn 10: 5). The sheep will not follow a stranger.

Those who have not received a mission from the Father or from the regional directors cannot be good shepherds, since the priest who hears confession is not only a judge but also a teacher, a physician, a father: in a word, a shepherd. How could anyone fulfil these roles well without knowing what God expects of us in accord with the vocation he has given us? How could anyone do so, if he does not have our spirit, if he has not received the lawful mandate and consequently the special grace to exercise his mission well?

Today we ask Holy Mary to obtain for us the common and supernatural sense needed to always approach the Good Shepherd as faithful sheep of Christ’s flock, in every circumstance of our life. My daughters and sons, you will always go to your brothers, and especially when your soul is sick and needs a doctor. You will open your heart wide to him, with sincerity and a genuine desire to be cured. You will do this in your talk with the director, who is a lay man, or woman in the case of my daughters, and also in your confession to the priests appointed by the Counsellor.

By acting in this way, with the loving care that has been lived in the Work from the beginning, spiritual guidance will be given effectively. Souls will be sanctified: they will be and do Opus Dei in joy and peace.