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The role and the task of a Priest:
("Priestly Existence Today”)

The priest as a guide, organizer and companion on the way of becoming mentally and spiritually self-reliant

 

1. God’s kingdom is realized, among other things, by developing that the believers become mature in an holistic way. The biblical basis for this is:

 

Mt 23:8-10

“As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi' … teacher … father … 'Master' …”

 

Jer 31:33-34 (Promise of the "New Covenant"):
33. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

 

An important impulse of the Second Vatican Council (GS ch 17):

“Man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and prompted from within, not under blind internal impulse nor by mere external pressure. …

 

From the post-synodal letter "AMORIS LAETITIA" ch 37:

“We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them.”

 

Impulse from the Sacrament of Baptism:

Christians are anointed to be "priest, king and prophet".

 

2. All believers are called to realize this dimension of God’s kingdom and therefore are invited to walk the path of mental and spiritual maturity. 

3. What is important to become mature and self-reliant?

 

(1) In order to live independently and "from within", self-knowledge and self-confidence are needed.

(2) To develop self-knowledge and self-confidence, I think a healthy faith is very important; but what is a healthy faith?

For me, it means that I know myself to be looked at with loving eyes by the origin of my life and the origin of all reality, which some call God, and to know myself to be affirmed comprehensively and fundamentally.

(3) This enables me to perceive my own life story with its light and dark sides and to say YES to the whole of my own development.

(4) This allows me to “live” gladly and attentively in myself, i.e. in my body and in the world of my feelings.

(5) When I am "at home in myself" and stop evaluating or fighting my feelings, but learn to understand their signals - possibly through conversations with trusted people - and learn to deal with them responsibly, I will begin to live "from within".

(To say goodbye to the evaluation of feelings: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-understanding-feelings.htm)

(6) Since the feeling of compassion is often at odds with the feeling of fear of falling short and with rational considerations, it is important to develop the inner dialogue of head, heart and stomach, because these three different physical-spiritual-mental perception centers allow for a more holistic view than analyzing problems and making decisions using only one method of perception.

 

(7) In order to become mature, it is important to recognize mental blockages caused either by repressions of feelings in childhood or by unconsciously taking over emotional burdens from ancestors, and to dissolve them.

(More detailed: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/therapeutische-uebungen.htm)

(8) In order to become mature, it is also important to refrain from devaluing other people and to be able to defend oneself against devaluations by other people without devaluing others by oneself.

The rules of the game for constructive arguing and fair criticism are helpful for this:

https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-streit.htm

https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-criticism.htm

  (9) In this context, I think it is important to know and observe the basic truths of the Christian view of man:

- As a "Child of God" and as "God's image," every human being is called to comprehensive maturity and freedom.

- God has entrusted creation to man and shown him that he should love and respect other people as his sisters and brothers:
Therefore, man has a responsibility for the common good, for his fellow human beings in need, and for the preservation and development of nature.

- Every person, as a "Child of God," is an absolute original and is so different from every other person that he cannot fully understand himself or any other person, nor can he raise the claim to be fully understood.

Therefore, human coexistence requires respect for each other and respect for the mystery that each person embodies. On the other hand, it is part of love for one another that one strives to understand one another better and better - even if one knows that one will never come to the end of it.

- Humans are social beings; as such, they are created for one another. They can be God's mediators for one another, that is, they can make God's comprehensive affirmation of life tangible for one another. Despite their differences, they can experience a deep connectedness and unity through dialogue, love, appreciation, trust and respect.

- As "Children of God" and sisters and brothers, they reject all paternalism, incapacitation, oppression and injustice - and likewise an obedience associated with such forms of relationship.

 

- They try to perceive the voice of God in their conscience, by which they feel fully affirmed and which gives them the inner strength to recognize the path of comprehensive self-reliance and to move forward on this path. In this way, they listen to God and also to the people who help them in the same way.

- In order to help others to become self reliant, one should let them search for what is important to them and, by asking specific questions, help them to perceive and realize the various aspects of a responsible and self-reliant way of life.

 

4. When the Gospel says: "Do not be called …teacher …!" (Mt 23:10) and in the book of the prophet Jeremiah: “No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen” (Jer 31:34), then the question naturally arises as to what "teaching mission" the authorities of the Church, pope, bishops, priests and catechists, still have.

Now, self-reliance is not a given characteristic of Christians, even if they were all anointed at their baptism to be "priest, prophet and king". For the path to self-reliance is a process that must first be set in motion. And it is precisely to this that the teaching activity of the authorities in the Church, which is still necessary, is reduced:  

To tell the faithful that they are called to full self-reliance and that it is their central and irreplaceable task as Christians to follow this path. In addition, it is important to describe "self-reliance " in more detail and to make aware of the tasks that arise on the way there, and to offer appropriate help to those who feel fear and uncertainty on this path.

Since Christians do not only make decisions for their own lives, but the Church has to make communal decisions at the various levels, it is clear from the considerations so far that these can only be made through a synodal process.

Thus, whether it concerns proclamation, liturgical celebrations, or the organizational structures of the Church, everything must be oriented toward the self-reliance and responsibility of all.

 

5 Abuse of power and spiritual abuse are the opposite and prevent the way to full self-reliance of the faithful. Therefore, the orientation of the pastoral care and pastoral workers towards the self-reliance of the faithful is an essential element to prevent the abuse of power and spiritual abuse and, consequently, sexual abuse

 

6. The Eucharist and the other sacraments are to be designed as celebrations and impulses on the way to self-reliance: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/eucharist-celebration-of-the-new-covenant.htm

Unfortunately, this has not yet been done.

 

7) Therefore, it should be an essential part of the priest's understanding of his vocation to be a guide, organizer and companion on the path to self-reliance of the faithful.

 

8 The primary selection criterion for the priestly professions should not be willingness for a celibate lifestyle or gender, but the ability to accompany well the people and the religious community of a parish on the path of mental and spiritual self-reliance.

 

9 The German Bishop Otto Spülbeck (1904-1970):

"The pilgrim Church is the Church of the laity. It is not a Church of priests and pastors, but a Church of the people, above all of the laity. We are called to your service. An essential element of the vocation of bishops and priests, therefore is to make the baptized to be self-reliant Christians and enable them to serve in the Church and society.”

From: https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/31452-das-visionaere-kirchenverstaendnis-von-bischof-otto-spuelbeck

 

>>> The Eucharist as "Celebration of the New Covenant"

>>> Does our Christian worship correspond to Jesus' intention?

 

Manfred Hanglberger (www.hanglberger-manfred.de)

 

LINK to share: https://www.hanglberger-manfred.de/en-priestly-vocation.htm

 

 

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