Catholic priesthood: Gift and mystery (II)

Continued from last week Also in the priesthood there are vocations within the vocation. Some priests are in the Army as chaplains, there are priests who are professors, teachers and hospital administrators. We have priests who are comfortable to be rural parish priests; simply saying the mass, hearing confessions, administering the sacraments and counseling the […]

Continued from last week

Also in the priesthood there are vocations within the vocation. Some priests are in the Army as chaplains, there are priests who are professors, teachers and hospital administrators. We have priests who are comfortable to be rural parish priests; simply saying the mass, hearing confessions, administering the sacraments and counseling the faithful. There are others who are social commentators and they struggle to shape the moral life of the community and nation. Everyone functions as the Lord gives him the special vocation within the vocation to the priesthood. Sometimes we hear non Catholics and sometimes some ill informed Catholics saying about a priest who is into social works and commentary, why can’t he face his priesthood and leave this government people alone? Some people who feel aggrieved because of the rebuke of the priest angrily shoots back at him, “if you think this is easy, why can’t you leave the priesthood and join us in the politics?” This is not strange to the priests because it has always being part of cross they face daily. The people of Israel would cry to God for the gift of a priest and prophet who will tell them the mind of God and when there is none, they agonize. “Now there is no priest, no prophet and a place to call upon your name”. No priest chooses any of these vocations within his vocation for anything but service. It is not because he believes it will give him any special financial advantage than a wider audience of service. The priest may be called upon to serve in committees, boards and institutions which the ordinary hustling Nigeria will celebrate as an opportunity to feather his economic and financial nest, but not so for a priest who does not have the need and so saves for his children’s children. It is this practice of saving for family, children, grand children and offspring that has caused much damage to Nigerian’s economy, fanning the fire of corruption.
A young man with whom I grew up in the village became a Pentecostal pastor in the town where I was parish priest. He came visiting one day in the parish house. He saw the huge crowd of parishioners who came for various devotional prayers and meetings in the compound. He sat in the large parish house living room. He said to me; “Waooooooo! How did you do this? See the crowd outside the compound. How did you gather them? See the big house you are living in, how did you become this successful? I didn’t know you are this powerful. Are the people in our village aware of your enormous power and charisma to be able to gather people like this? Please I will invite you to my next crusade”. I told him that I did not build the house. In fact the house was built by a missionary priest from Ireland long before I was born. And that the priest who built it has died. Subsequent priests who worked in that parish lived in and enjoy the fruit of another priest’s labor. I did not gather the people but they gathered to seek the face of God not because of my powers. I left that parish just after two years and the crowd he spoke about has not diminished.
It is the same with every priest and Bishop. They try to make impression by building edifices for their use while they are there and for those after them. The Church people and other people who share in the vision and mission of the priest or Bishop know this and they are always happy and generous in contributing to his mission and vision. The Bishop’s house and the parish house and other buildings are not properties of the one who builds them. When he is transferred, he takes his mass box, cartons of books and box of personal and clerical dress to a new place where he will be ready to begin afresh. He is in the city today, in the village tomorrow and he remains happy because his Priesthood is a Gift and Mystery.       

Rev. Fr. Ojaje Idoko, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria