210. Why are Priests so Persecuted?
My friends on Twitter and Facebook know me as “the Saints Lady” because I open up my posts with “Today’s Saint” which is immediately followed by a quote from Shakespeare. However both these post threads have been the cause of loss of a not an indifferent number of followers and procured me a few insults and some slander, which in my view is more due to the Saints than to the Bard.
The point is, that in my list of Saints there are quite a few priests who have been continuously persecuted through time. Only the other day I came across Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer who had been dishonoured, thrown into jail and exiled from his native Vienna. Not to mention that priests in Great Britain still can’t wear a cassock beyond six yards of the church grounds, without taking into account the Jesuits who probably have always had the worst of the brunt.
Therefore, I ask myself, what on earth have these darned priests done to draw upon themselves the force of anger and malediction of so many people? As it happened, last Tuesday our Bishop from Vittorio Veneto, Corrado Pizziolo came to our parish in Sarmede to tell us why.
A Priest is persecuted by unbelievers:
Because a Priest presides at the celebration of Mass and therefore he greets, welcomes and invites us to a meeting with God.
Because a Priest solicits the faith and repentance.
Because it is God who welcomes us; the community is summoned by God and because the Priest is the sign, the servant of this welcome, he is at the service of the communion, that is, the reunion of the community summoned from on high.
Because the community summoned is the call that comes from on high and not from our own plans or of an ordinary meeting and to show there is a difference the Priest begins with the sign of the Cross and the words “The Lord be with you.” Which reminds us by whom we are gathered.
Because the Priest is the servant born from on high even outside Mass- who recalls the community to be a Christian one, a community that loves one another, united in this communion.
Because the Priest makes this communion grow, which at times is wounded and solicits repentance to heal the wound.
Because the Priest receives the Gospel, lives, believes and proclaims the Word of God. Therefore the liturgy of the Word is the community which lives by heeding the Word of God that speaks and illuminates.
The Priest is persecuted because we, the faithful answer the Lord, believe in what He has told us, which has been transmitted to us through a succession of people that takes us as back as far as the Apostles.
Because the Priest proclaims the word of God- all revolves around the Word- because he guides his helpers in spreading this Word, and is the teacher of prayer.
Because the Priest consecrates the bread and wine and distributes the Body of the Lord- a representation of what Jesus did at the Last Supper: “I leave you my body and blood, make your life a gift as I have done of mine.” Which through the power of the Holy Spirit becomes indeed He, Jesus Himself.
The Priest is persecuted because he puts this Sacrament of the Eucharist in the hands of the Christians.
Because the Priest takes care of the liturgy and the sacraments. Because the Priest is the minister and not the master of the liturgy and the sacraments.
Because the Priest cares for Charity: “Do this in memory of me. Do with your life as I have done with mine.” And therefore the Priest takes care of the poor, the suffering... caring for that Charity that is born from the celebration of thus.
Because the Priest reminds the faithful that we celebrate the Eucharist with truth, and if you are divided, you are not sincere, and condemn yourselves for celebrating falsely.
Because the Priest in his farewell greeting he does so through a blessing, an invitation to live with the strength of the Lord outside the walls of the church, live among others what we have celebrated- it is a mission.
Because the Priest is a gift, he has been called by the love of God for us.
Because the Priest was created as a pot of clay, with a human body, he is frail and therefore has need of us, has need of our support; furthermore knowing this weakness no one says that he will not make mistakes and least of all claim that he is perfect.
But above all, the Priest is persecuted because of this, because he celebrates the Eucharist- because without the Eucharist there cannot be a Christian community.
Therefore, if you are called, it would be well for you to listen, because it is God that calls on behalf of His people that He loves so well and will not leave orphaned.
Think about it.
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