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INTENTION : |
That priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively to a solidarity with those who are most poor.
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Priests in Solidarity with the Poor
A younger priest once asked an older priest this question: "Do you find your work meaningful?"
The older priest, a man already in his sixties, gave an answer which, in effect, amounted to this: "The priests of my generation never had the luxury to ask your question. We didn't think like that, in terms of meaning or meaningless work. However, since you ask the question I will give you my answer: Most of my work is not meaningful. Ninety-five percent of what I do is straight rote, duty, hard work. I do it because it's my job, just like everyone else. Why should I get a free ride? Only about five percent of what I do is creative and gives me energy.
But that is not so bad. That ninety-five percent, all those hours when I have to work and it gives me no energy is my solidarity with the poor. The poor don't have meaningful work. They work to make a living, to eat, to pay their mortgages. They work because they have to. Why should I be different! To be a human being is to work for your living, whether it's meaningful or not. The poor know this.
My father went to work every day for forty years carrying a lunch pail, doing manual labour for somebody else. He did it to make a living, not because he drew meaning from it. He drew his meaning from other things: his family, sports, community life, politics, the church. My work is mostly tedious duty, but it puts me in solidarity with the poor, with my dad and mother who were poor, and the millions of others who have to work for a living without having the luxury of having their work give them much meaning."
There is a wisdom in the older priest's answer which, if properly understood, could save us from much frustration and restlessness and, as this priest suggests, put us into a more genuine solidarity with the poor.
Poverty is not just about economics. It is about power, that is, about not having any. It is about being forced - in order to eat, live, and raise a family; to get up early in the morning, pack a lunch, and go to do some work with somebody else as boss, which you do not find very meaningful and you are doing because that is your only option. This is one of the key definitions of poverty: to not have meaningful work.
By Ron Rolheiser
Priest for others - to be in solidarity with the poor
Our vocation is a call to love others. Therefore, to paraphrase St John Mary Vianney: a man is not a priest for himself - he is a priest for others. Just as Jesus called and appointed men to follow Him as His apostles, God calls men today to lay down their lives so that others may have life. The priesthood is not a career, it is way of being. It is a life of sacrifice and service because it is the life of our Lord. No man deserves to be a priest. Like every grace, this vocation can only be accepted as an unmerited gift from God. What all priests share in common is the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, serving all people, especially the poor, with the heart of Jesus.
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