Pope Francis, Spiritual Life, & Future Priests

On Jan. 25 Pope Francis addressed a group of seminarians studying here in Rome. Reading through the text there were a couple points that jumped out at me which I would like to share.

Early on in the discourse, he said “you also are preparing ourselves to follow the impulse of the Spirit, to be the ‘future of the church’ according to God’s heart; not according to the preferences of each one or the fashions of the moment, but as the proclamation of the Gospel requires. To prepare oneself well one must work in depth, but above all one must undergo an interior conversion, which daily roots the ministry in Jesus first call, and revives it in a personal relation with him…”

I think that these words serve as an apt reminder of what is at the core of the spiritual life, namely following the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. He also reminds us that whatever our vacation, whatever walk of life I am following, it is essential not to forget my experience of God’s call in my life. That goes for husbands and wives just as much as it goes for priests, seminarians, and religious. Remembering this initial call entails, as the Pope says, a daily, interior conversion which revives my personal relationship with Jesus. The Pope shared these remarks on the Feast of the conversion of Saint Paul, which provides a perfect visual of this experience.

Later on, the Pope said that a pastor can only proclaim the words of life “if he makes of his own life a constant dialogue with the Word of God, or, better, with God who speaks to us.” This is nothing other then a development of that relationship spoken of above.

The whole discourse was not very long and can be read in a short amount of time. The whole your father also touched on other points of interest and if you would like to read it for yourself you can find it in its entirety here:

http://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-pontifical-lombard-seminary

What's Worth Giving it All?

I love basketball. I also love Kevin Garnett. I grew up in Minnesota and KG, to this day, was the most franchise player the Timberwolves ever had. Kevin Love is making a case, but he is not there yet. I remember in one interview Garnett said that it could even be night time but as long as you have a ball, a hoop, and a light, you can keep on playing and playing. I loved that in high school. There are people out there who find something they love and give it everything they've got.

We recently saw the movie Snitch here in the seminary. There was an undercover cop in the movie played by Barry Pepper whom you may recognize from his roles in Saving Private Ryan or the new True Grit. As an undercover cop he has crazy hours- actually, he doesn't really have hours. He is another example of someone totally dedicated, like 100%, to what he is doing, so much so that he does not have a family and does not even consider the possibility since it would not mesh with his lifestyle.

This also reminded me of Russell Crowe's character in American Gangster. He tried to live the life and have the family but, sadly, it did not work out. It got me thinking...

There are some vocations/lifestyles, like being a spouse and parent or like the examples above, which are so consuming, demanding, and fulfilling that they require giving everything. You know, I think that the priesthood fits into that category. A great example of that is Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ (click for wikipedia). Check out his book He Leadeth Me if you want to be blown away.