Editor: This presentation by Fr. Ray P. Carey, a Clinical Psychologist from the Diocese of Portland, originally titled, “Transformational Spirituality of the La Salette Priest” was delivered at one of our La Salette Provincial Assemblies. I have edited it for length and content. Of course, much of this material applies equally to laity and other priests as well.
Fr. Ray Carey, a Clinical Psychologist, travels widely to consult and lead workshops; photo: St. Patrick Parish, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2017.La Salette priests in various parts of the world have found an interest, a hunger, and even a measure of fearfulness in addressing the issues related to La Salette priestly spirituality. Uncharted waters by definition invite some degree of fearfulness.
We will address the issue of La Salette priestly spirituality under the rubric of eight icons, images representing key components of priestly spirituality, which certainly also apply to Diocesan priests. They are offered to continue an important conversation, not to suggest a definitive view. Priests serving in parish assignments will probably find much in the following listing that reflects the rhythms of their own lives.
As we begin some reflections on priestly spirituality, it may be helpful to define what I mean by spirituality. By spirituality we can understand that as an “inner moon” which governs the tides of our relationship with God, neighbor, self and environment.
At the very heart of priestly spirituality lies our commitment to the person of Jesus Christ risen and anointed by God as savior. Our utter, radical faith in Jesus as the One sent by the living God is the source of all vibrancy, meaning and efficacy in his ministry. By his faith in Jesus we share the fundamental baptismal call to holiness that unites all others in the assembly.
Like the earliest disciples of Jesus, we must make a fundamental decision to risk it all on Jesus, to bet our life on Jesus. As well, we must nurture a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer, service and the life of the believing community. Further, we must unite with the inclusive heart of Jesus, for whom the reign of God was open to all. With all others who have accepted Jesus’ challenge to love without limit and to tender mercy without measure, we find the fundamental moral imperative of our life.
For us as priests, being a preacher becomes part of our ecclesial DNA, our genetic code. In many ways, the charge to be a preacher is a defining mandate for us and, therefore, essentially linked to our spirituality.
Diaconate Ordination of Lamartine Eliscar, M.S. on May 17, 2010Preaching, at its heart, is an act of profound interpersonal trust between us and the people whom we serve. A community is at the same time at great risk with a preacher since our efforts can be violence or grace. Ask us priests how carefully we select a preacher for a Parish Mission or retreat. Regarding our preaching as an experience of interpersonal trust, it can help us reverence as well as enjoy the task.
Our spirituality has at its roots the practice of loving service. Deep respect and reverence for persons can guide our prayer, daily activity, pastoral planning, visits to the sick, rituals of burial and grieving and rituals of joy and celebration. Our spirituality begins with and is filtered through the loving service of our people... In the end, our spirituality is ultimately rooted in Jesus’ own ministry of hospitality.
Our spirituality has at its roots the practice of loving service and reverence for others. Deep respect and reverence for persons guides our prayer, daily activity, pastoral planning, visits to the sick, rituals of burial and grieving and rituals of joy and celebration. Our spirituality begins with and is filtered through the loving service of people. Our personal prayer is frequently prompted by the needs of the people with whom we share our life and ministry.
Even more broadly, our energies are rooted in the needs of the people in a local community as well as in the global village. Service on hospital boards, school boards, pastoral councils, ecumenical committees and the countless other activities of a presbyter’s life begins and ends with the needs of others. Our voice on behalf of the poor, the displaced, the discarded and the disrespected gives concrete expression to the compassion of Christ and the teaching of the Church. A presbyter’s spirituality, then, is bound to be influenced by the daily efforts to reverence persons in the name of Jesus.
Our spirituality as priests demands a rich reflective diet. Each day’s activities and events bring a challenge for our reflective efforts. We tend to ask ourselves: What needs to happen in this parish that is not happening now? What may be taking place that is not helpful to the Church’s mission? Whom are we missing? Who is not being served by the outreach of this local community?Filipino Novices and Seminarians in 2005
Authentic pastoral planning assumes sound theological reflection. As well, so does proper supervisory oversight over religious education, evangelization, justice and peace ministry, youth ministry, and sacramental preparation. The point is that good pastoring is both a cause of and a product of some measure of sound theological reflection. In turn, sound faith-centered reflection affects our spirituality. Without our contemplation there is no growth.
One of the major ecclesiological revolutionary changes in Vatican II was the Council Fathers’ insistence that not only does Baptism call one to worship, but it also calls one to ministry. Ministry is not a prerogative of the ordained nor a proprietary right of the ordained. All the baptized are called to share in the mission of loving service.
Once we truly grasp the need to engage the people of God in ministry because it is their baptismal right, not because of a “shortage” of priests, we are prepared to understand and enjoy authentic collaborative ministry. Collaboration is not about abdication of responsibility; it is about the radical giving and receiving of ministry that nourishes the Church’s mission to be a leaven of grace in the world.
The spirituality of priests is intricately linked with receiving the ministry, the faith, the talents, the skills, the hopes and dreams of others, not just in support of others, but because our hearts need to be nourished and changed by others.
A most sacred function of priests is to gather with the people of God around the Eucharistic table of the Lord. In Jesus’ name we offer the Celebration of the Eucharist with fullest faith and confidence in Jesus’ own words “that sins may be forgiven” (Luke 22:28b). With profound praise and perfect thanksgiving to God, the Eucharistic Assembly, remembering the death of the Lord, experiences once again the tender mercy of Christ.
Window in Church in Apple Valley, California
The reconciling ministry of La Salette priests is primarily motivated from our charism of reconciliation and extends as well to our roles as Presiders for the Sacraments of Reconciliation as well as for the Anointing of the Sick. In each sacramental event, we represent the presence of Christ in the name of the community, celebrating the healing, reconciling grace of the risen Christ.
Being a reconciler in the community is an extraordinary privilege and an ever-present reality for us. It cannot help but be an important component of our spirituality. How can we be engaged in proclaiming mercy, celebrating forgiveness, witnessing to Jesus’ saving invitation to come to the living waters without taking seriously conversion of heart in our own life? Even beyond sacramental ministry, however, we experience being a reconciler on a daily basis. A good measure of our energy goes into facilitating the ministry of staff and others in a parish...
The God of Jesus is a God of covenantal love, not a God of minimal limits. Thus Jesus at the close of his teaching on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), the charter of discipleship, tells all who hear his words, “Be perfect, then, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
In the same spirit, priests have a fundamental ethical mandate to strive for the highest quality of loving service possible. The modeling of Jesus’ own servant leadership compels priests to use authority and power to serve, never to dominate.
The ethical principle of Christian trust reflects that core value of Jesus. All priests, by the very fact we are serving the Church as priests, have responsibility to do two key things: first, to give the highest quality of service possible; and second, to do no harm to those whom one serves or supervises... Doing our best in service of the gospel can in fact bring that joyful experience of the "hundredfold" of which Jesus speaks.
Priestly celibacy is the context for our being called to be a genuine lover, as Jesus asks us to be. Thus once we expand and deepen our intimacy skills, our priestly ministry takes on a whole different meaning. We are invited to see our life as one of enjoying loving service in the Church.General Council visit with local La Salettes in La Reunion in 2009
Interpersonal intimacy skills include skills for compassion, for caring presence, for generosity, for being other-centered, for appropriate confiding, for interpersonal trust, for loyalty, for appropriate expression of affection, for developing inclusive relationships, for fidelity and for commitment. Our celibate loving has an extraordinary potential to facilitate joy in our life, and, thereby, a more meaningful anchor for our spirituality.
Also, the exact same intimacy skills suggested for priests also apply, with appropriate contextualization, to marriage. One healthy implication of such a finding is that, in regard to sexuality, celibates have more in common with married sisters and brothers than differences with them.
It seems remarkably true that La Salette priests around the world seem to have similar needs — no matter if they are from Myanmar or Madagascar, from Poland or Providence. The same themes seem to play in the seasons of our priestly life and we have briefly named some of these themes — these icons.