Holy Mass for Priests and Seminarians (17 November 1980)

On 17 November 1980, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in Fulda for Priests and Seminarians. In his homily, the Pope said that their service was “to stay awake for the Lord,” as the Lord admonished His disciples in Gethsemane.

Venerable confreres, cardinals, archbishops and bishops who form the episcopate of your homeland!
My priests, beloved in Christ, from the presbytery of every diocesan church in Germany!
Dear deacons!
Dear alumni from the seminaries, dear theology students!

1. The words of the Apostle Peter, which we heard today in the second reading of this liturgical celebration, seem to me at the tomb of St. Bonifatius to have a special sound here in Fulda: "I admonish your elders, since I am an elder like you and a witness to the sufferings of Christ and should also participate in the glory that is to be revealed: Take care as shepherds for the flock entrusted to you of God".

Nineteen centuries have passed since these words were written, and yet they speak to us with an unchanging freshness and power; It seems to me that they are even announcing a very special message to us at this moment, since you are here, at the tomb of the bishop and martyr who is the main patron saint of Germany, you of all people, on whom, to a varying degree, Peter's exhortation refers refers to: "Care for the flock of God".

Peter, who was the first to hear such an invitation from Jesus, the Good Shepherd: “Feed my sheep”, addresses himself as a “fellow elder” to all those who, together with him, were the shepherds of the Church of his time. With what emotion do we all hear this call, as we are the Pastors of the Church today, in the second millennium of Christianity that is about to end! You who are pastors of the Church in your homeland, as bishops, priests, or deacons, according to the varying degrees of your ministry! And you too, who have heard the call of Christ and are preparing yourselves for the pastoral ministry of the coming time!

"Care for the flock of God". Be shepherds of your brothers and sisters in their faith, their baptismal grace and their hope of blessed sharing in eternal grace and love!

2. Peter in his letter reminds us of the passions of Christ and also of the Paschal Mystery of which he was a witness. With this testimony for the cross and the resurrection he then also connects the hope of participation "in the glory that is to be revealed".

The pastoral vocation of the Church, and its multifaceted ministry, always and everywhere have their roots in the universal mystery of Christ: they spring from him and lead to him; in him they find strength to grow and firm support; they serve him with the fruit of their labour.

This mystery is then accepted in genuine faith when those who serve him are like men "waiting for the return of their Lord who is at a wedding, and opening to him when he comes and knocks".

So this is about the ministry of being awake for the Lord.

When Jesus began his passion, he took the apostles with him into the Garden of Gethsemane, and led three of them further in, inviting them to watch with him. But when they fell asleep, overcome with fatigue, he came back to them and said, "Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation."

So the service that we do, dear brethren, is to stay awake for the Lord. Watching means persevering in the entrusted good. The good that has been entrusted to us is infinitely precious. We must persevere with him constantly. We must sink the roots of our faith, hope and love more and more into the "greats of God"; we must identify ever more deeply with the revelation of the Father in Christ; we must finally become ever more sensitive to the action of the Holy Spirit, which the Lord has given us and wants to continue to give through us, through our ministry, our holiness, our priestly identity.

In the same way we must have an ever deeper sense of the greatness of man revealed to us in the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption: how precious every human soul is and how rich the treasures of grace and love.

Then we will be able to respond to the indications of Peter, who exhorts us to do our ministry "not under compulsion, but voluntarily, as God wills, ... out of inclination, ... (as) examples to the flock".

3. Let us look at so many outstanding bishops and priests that have come out of this land; I will only name a few from recent history: Bishop von Ketteler and Adolf Kolping - the cardinals von Galen, Frings, Döpfner and Bengsch - Father Alfred Delp and the new priest Karl Leisner - Karl Sonnenschein and Father Rupert Mayer - Romano Guardini and Father Kentenich.

Let's take a closer look! They all show us what this "waking" means; what it means to be "girded" and to carry "a lamp in your hand"; how to “be the faithful and wise servant whom the Lord has appointed to give the people their food at the proper time.”

These and many other exemplary priests of the Church in your country can show us how underlying our vocation and all our ministry as bishop, priest or deacon is that glorious mystery of the human heart: the mystery of friendship with Christ, and how through the power of that friendship true pastoral love for man grows, a pure, unselfish love for which the world today thirsts so much, and especially the younger generation.

I know countless priests of the Church in your country are experiencing the joy and happiness of such deep spiritual kinship with Jesus Christ. But I also know that hours of distress, of exhaustion and helplessness, of being overwhelmed and of disappointment are just as much part of the life of priests today. I am convinced that this is also part of the life of those priests who strive with all their might to be faithful to their mission, who respond with great conscientiousness to the tasks of their ministry. Should we really be surprised that someone who is so deeply connected to Jesus Christ in his mission also has a share in Jesus' Mount of Olives hours?

4. What medicine can I offer you in this situation? Not an outward proliferation of activity, not a frantic effort, but a deeper introspection into the heart of your vocation, that very friendship with Christ and friendship with one another. Through them, Christ himself wants to become visible as the friend of all in your midst and in the midst of your communities. "I don't call you servants, but friends!". This word, which still rings in your heart from your priestly ordination, should be the keynote of your life. I can tell my friend everything, confide everything personally: all worries and needs, including unresolved problems and painful experiences with myself. I can live from his word, from the sacraments of the Eucharist and - last but not least - penance. That's the ground you stand on.

Have trust in Jesus Christ that he will not leave you, that he will carry your ministry, even if you don't immediately see success on the outside. Believe him that he expects everything from you, but just as a friend expects of his friends.

Friendship with Jesus Christ is also the deepest reason why a life in celibacy, indeed in general in the spirit of the evangelical counsels, is so important for the priest. Having one's heart and hands free for one's friend Jesus Christ, being there undividedly for him and sharing his love with everyone is a testimony that is not immediately understood by everyone. But if we fulfill this testimony from within, if we live it as a form of existence of friendship with Jesus, then the understanding for this form of life, which is based on the Gospel, will also grow again in society.

The fruit and consequence of friendship with Jesus is friendship with one another. The priests form a presbytery around their bishop. The bishop is the one who represents Christ in a special way for you and with you. Anyone who is a friend of Christ cannot ignore the bishop's mission. Yes, he becomes sensitive not to play off his own opinions and standards against the mission that Christ has given to the bishop. Union with the bishop and union with the Successor of Peter are the firm foundation of a fidelity that cannot be lived without the friendship of Christ. This unity is also a prerequisite for our ministry, the ministry of the bishops and the pope, to be able to be open, fraternal and understanding towards you.

But this friendship demands more. It calls for that fraternal openness to one another, for that sharing of the burdens of one by the other, for that common witness in which judgements, concerns about prestige and distrust are overcome. I am convinced that if you do your service out of a spirit of friendship and brotherhood, you will achieve far more than if everyone wants to work on their own. In the power of such friendship with the Lord you will be able to "watch" as the Lord hopes of the "good servants" in the gospel.

5. This “being awake” of the servant - the friend - while waiting for the Lord refers to the ultimate future in God and at the same time to the course of this history, to every moment. The Lord can come "at midnight or also at dawn".

Through the teaching of Vatican II, the whole Church has made it clear that her mission is directed to the present, that is, to a world that is constantly evolving, and above all to the expectations of man in this world: his Joy and hope, but also his mistakes and mistakes.

The service of the alert and attentive shepherd means at the same time opening one's eyes wide for everything good and genuine, for everything true and beautiful, but also for everything difficult and painful in people's lives, and this with love, with readiness, close and to be in solidarity up to the risk of life.

Vigilant shepherding also means readiness to defend oneself from the ravening wolf - as in the parable of the Good Shepherd - or from the thief, so that he does not plunder the house. I don't mean a pastor who looks with mercilessly sharp eyes and full of distrust at the flock entrusted to him, I call for a shepherd who wants to free from sin and guilt through the offer of reconciliation, who above all uses the sacrament of reconciliation, the sacrament of penance, gives to people. "In Christ's place" the priest can and should call out to an unreconciled and seemingly irreconcilable world: "Be reconciled with God!".

In this way we reveal the heart of God the Father to people and are thus made in the image of Christ the Good Shepherd. Our whole life can then become a sign and tool of reconciliation, the "sacrament" of unity between God and man.

However, with me you will note with painful concern that the personal reception of the sacrament of Penance in your communities has greatly decreased in recent years. I cordially ask you, indeed I exhort you, to do everything so that the reception of the sacrament of penance in personal confession becomes a matter of course for all the baptized.

This is where the penitential services aim to lead, which occupy a very important place in the Church's practice of penance, but under normal circumstances cannot replace the personal reception of the sacrament of penance. - Make an effort to receive the sacrament of penance regularly.

6. The vigilance of the Good Shepherd is expected of you for the heart of every priestly activity, the celebration of the sacred liturgy. Especially after the comprehensive reorganization of the forms of worship, important pastoral tasks arise for you. You must first acquire the individual approved rites for yourselves through study and careful practice. You should be able, as liturgists, to serve the deeper faith, the firmer hope and the greater love in the people of God. I would like to thank you for all the effort you have already made towards these important goals and the good fruits of which I have been able to experience myself among you. It is all the more regrettable that the celebration of the mystery of Christ here and there, instead of bringing about unity with Christ and with one another, causes division and strife.

I ask you, my priestly brothers and friends, to take responsibility for the path that the Church has decided to take today, faithful to its ancient tradition, and to keep it free from all falsifying subjectivism. However, I would also like to emphasize that the special liturgical regulations that the German bishops requested for pastoral reasons were granted by the Apostolic See and are therefore legal.

Above all, in a reverent and faithful celebration of worship, in harmony with the whole community of the Church, strive to proclaim Jesus Christ, to whom you are yourselves bound in friendship.

7. Venerable brothers, dear sons in the Lord! How we must love our ministry and our calling! I say this to all of you: you elderly, who may already be tired and exhausted under the burden of work, you who are still at the height of your strength, and you who are just beginning your priestly journey. I also mean it for you young people who hear the mysterious call of Christ within you: I would like to encourage you to accept this call even more firmly and deeply in your life and to follow it definitively and forever.

The first reading of the liturgy from the prophet Jeremiah speaks to us particularly clearly about the miracle of this vocation. An unprecedented but real dialogue between God and man.

God - Yahweh - says: ”Even before I formed you in the womb, I chose you; before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you; I have made you a prophet to the peoples".

The man - Jeremiah - answers: "Oh, my God and Lord, I can't talk, I'm still too young".

God - Yahweh - replies: "Don't say: I'm still too young! Wherever I send you, you shall go, and what I command you, you shall proclaim. Don't be afraid of them; because I am with you and will protect you”.

How deep is the truth that lies in this dialogue! We should definitely make them the truth of our own lives! We must grasp it with both hands and with all our hearts, live it, make it our prayer and become one with it through and through!

Here we are told the theological and psychological truth about our life at the same time: the person who recognizes his vocation and mission speaks to God of his weakness.

8. Today, the various exponents of an image of the priest, different from that developed by the Church and preserved mainly in the Western tradition, often seem to make this weakness the fundamental principle of everything else, almost making it a human right explain.

Christ, on the other hand, taught us that man has above all a right to his own greatness, a right to what really surpasses him. Because it is precisely here that special dignity is shown; Here the glorious power of grace is revealed: our true greatness is a gift of the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ man is now entitled to such greatness. And the Church, through the same Christ, is entitled to the gift of this man: a gift by which man gives himself totally to God, in which he also chooses celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" in order to become the servant of all .

Man and the Church have a right to this. We should not weaken this certainty and conviction in us! We must not undo this lofty heritage of the Church and impede it in the hearts of young people. Do not give up trust in God and in Christ! The Lord says: “Do not fear them; because I am with you and will protect you”. After these words, the Lord touches the mouth of man and says: "I put my words into your mouth". Didn't we experience the same thing? Doesn't he put his words - the words of the Eucharistic consecration - into our mouths during the ordination to the priesthood? Does he not seal this mouth and the whole man with the power of his grace?

With us are also the saints of the Church: the patron saints of your dioceses, the great ministers of your country, the famous women of charity and, above all, Mary, Mother of the Church.

When the Evangelist Luke describes the community of disciples after the Lord's Ascension, their persistent and unanimous prayer, he expressly mentions: "With Mary, the mother of Jesus". She, the Mother of the Lord, the Mother of all believers, the Mother also of the priests, wants to be with us so that we can be sent into this world and to people with their needs again and again in the Holy Spirit.

9. Venerable confreres, dear sons in the Lord!

Finally, the liturgical readings of this celebration tell us the reward for the shepherds who remain awake. The apostle Peter speaks of the "everlasting crown of glory".

Even more impressive are the words of Christ in the parable of the watchful servants: “Blessed are the servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Amen, I tell you, he will gird himself, seat them at the table, and serve them in turn. And if he comes at midnight or at dawn and finds them awake, blessed are they."

Let me leave these words as they are and add nothing. But I would like to cordially entrust them to your prayer and contemplation. Amen.

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana