Continue to Remain Men
Simone Riva - It's with fathers and pastors that God accompanies his people through history. The model of all our possible fatherhood is the original one of Christ with the Father
In these weeks, many priests are celebrating the anniversary of their priestly ordination. I, too, met with my companions from 2008 to celebrate June 7, which, by a happy coincidence, was the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
As we sat around the table discussing our different experiences, one of us remarked, "Over the years, we've changed and matured; it's obvious. This is the most interesting thing that strikes us when we see each other. Our class is very diverse in age, background , and history, and we've continued to cherish that diversity.
Some of us have gone on missions abroad in recent years, while others live out the priesthood in "non-traditional" contexts. A friend has already gone to heaven. Despite these diverse paths, it's clear that we've become men. The edginess of our seminary years, the despair of some positions, and our ideas about the Church and the world have given way to a reality "inhabited by Christ," as one of our confreres mentioned during the homily that day.
The words Pope Francis addressed to priests on Holy Thursday 2023 are becoming increasingly true: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Each of us can say this, and it is not presumption but reality. Every Christian, particularly every priest, can make his own the words that follow: 'for the Lord has anointed me' (Is 61:1). Brothers, without merit and by pure grace, we have received an anointing that has made us fathers and shepherds in God's holy people."
The expression "fathers and shepherds," often at risk of being used poetically or as an abstract concept, now becomes flesh and blood. Everyone recognizes the beauty of God's extraordinary initiative to accompany His people throughout history in this way. Not with rules, doctrines, dreams, regrets, controllers, or doers, but with "fathers and shepherds."
We can discover the model of this fatherhood in Christ's relationship with the Father, as Fr. Julián Carrón pointed out last Lent: "How does Jesus live the truth about himself? Even Jesus, in his humanity, did not avoid facing this drama. He too was taken into the desert: 'The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert, and he remained there for forty days, tempted by Satan.'"
In the temptations, Jesus enters into the drama of human existence and is called to decide where his whole person rests and what's truly important to him in carrying out his life and mission. Jesus doesn't resist giving in to the Spirit; he isn't afraid of temptation, because every opportunity is good to show what's important to him.
Every circumstance is an opportunity to express what we value. The more we are challenged, the more we're forced to clarify our values. Each time, we see that what truly matters to Jesus is His attachment to His Father. This consciousness of being the Son enables Him to expose the falsehood of any other attraction or alternative to His relationship with the Father. Therefore, "He is the first man with the adequate and perfect awareness that his entire content as man is the presence of the Father" (L. Giussani, Giving One's Life for the Work of Another, Bur, Milan 2021, p. 33).
Every day, each of us can recognize the urgency of living life in this way — attached to what is essential. We must be aware that when discourses and opinions fade, the greatest grace that remains is the ability to continue being men, meeting "fathers and shepherds" with the heart of Christ.
Published by Simone Riva on ilsussidiario.net
Unrevised translation by the author.
