Holy Mass with Priestly Ordinations (25 February 1981)

On Wednesday, 25 February 1981 the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass with priestly ordinations in Nagasaki, Japan. In his homily, the Pope spoke of the ordinands being made “stewards of the mysteries of God," a gift which they about to receive.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I thank God that he gave me the opportunity to come here to Nagasaki, a city whose history is marked by glory and tragedy, and to address you, the descendants and successors of those who achieved glory and overcame tragedy. I thank you with all my heart and with profound respect for the magnificent Catholic tradition of this local Church.

This is undoubtedly a fundamental stage of my apostolic journey to Japan, because the successor of Peter is here to ordain priests in one of the most distant places from his See of Rome, thus giving testimony to the universality of his mission.

For the Pope this is a solemn and emotional moment, but it is even more so for you, dearest children, who are about to be sacramentally consecrated, as "ministers of Jesus Christ among the pagans, exercising the sacred office of the Gospel of God" ( Rm 15,16) and “stewards of the mysteries of God” ( 1Cor 4,1).

But it will only be over the course of many years of faithfulness to the gift you are about to receive today that you will be able to gradually and increasingly understand this circumstance and its wonder. An entire life, in truth, is not enough to fully understand what it means to be a priest of Jesus Christ. Here we can reveal only some aspects of this mystery, with the help of the readings of this solemn liturgy.

1. The first phrase that concerns you is the one that the prophet Isaiah used to describe his vocation: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me" (Is 61,1 ) .

These words apply to every priest, they apply to you too. They mean that at the root of every priestly vocation, there is not a personal human initiative with its inevitable limitations, but rather a mysterious initiative of God. Regarding the priesthood of Christ, the letter to the Jews says: "In the same way Christ he attributed the glory of high priest to himself, but it was conferred on him by the one who said to him: You are my son, today I have begotten you” ( Heb 5:5). And this is true not only of Christ personally, but also of all who share his priesthood.

Every priest can say: “The Lord has consecrated me”. First of all, the Lord has consecrated me from eternity, even before I existed when he pronounced my name. Isaiah says: “The Lord called me from the womb, from my mother's womb he spoke my name” ( Is 49.1).

For a complete understanding of the priestly vocation we must go back to this preferential and consecratory love of God for a specific person even before his existence, and to the call that God addresses to him because of this love.

A priest can also say that the Lord anointed him when in childhood or youth his heart responded to the Lord's call, “follow me.”

It is not always easy to identify this moment, or indicate the event through which the call came: the example of a priest or a friend? The discovery of a void that only total service to God could fill? A desire to react to a material, moral or spiritual hardship in a valid and complete way? But whatever the circumstances, it was God who called.

Whether or not it is possible for a priest to establish the day on which he made a turning point in his life, yielding to the influence of the Lord, what the prophet Jeremiah calls "the seduction of the Lord" (Jer 20.7), he must be aware that God called him.

Third, a priest can say that God has consecrated him on the day of his Ordination, the day on which he finally and forever becomes a priest of Jesus Christ. It is the day on which he is officially consecrated by the hands of the Bishop. We priests should always keep that day in mind. Thus Paul exhorted Timothy: “I remind you to revive the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” ( 2 Tim1,6). We should always remember our Ordination, to constantly renew the initial fervor, and draw strength from its memory to live a life consistent with its profound meaning. Because today's consecration is for you, my dear children, the fleeting external sign of a permanent mark imprinted on your personality. It is the sacramental sign of a grace with which Christ the Priest consecrates you for a special mission at the service of his Kingdom, making you priests of Jesus Christ forever.

2. What are you called to do as priests? Another passage from today's liturgy gives us the answer: You are the light of the world (Mt 5:14). It is disconcerting for us, aware as we are of our littleness and misery, to hear the clear words addressed to us: "You are the light of the world". The apostles must have trembled upon hearing them as have thousands of others since then.

Yet the Lord addressed them to human beings, who He knew to be such, with their limitations and miseries. In fact, he also knew that they would be light, not with their own strength, but as a reflection and communication of his light, since he had said of himself: "I am the light of the world" (Jn 8:12; 9 , 5; cf. Jn 1,5,9; 3,19; 12,46).

Each priest realizes that he can illuminate those in darkness only to the extent that he himself has accepted the light of the Master Jesus Christ. He is, however, shrouded in dangerous shadows and unable to enlighten others when he turns away from the only source of true light. For this reason, my dear children, you must always remain united to Christ the Priest, assiduously listening to his Word, celebrating his mysteries in the Eucharist, and always living in intimate friendship with Him. The people will recognize your communion with Him by your ability to be true light for the whole world too often in darkness.

3. As a final analysis, it is not enough for a priest to reflect the light of Christ in a more or less imperfect way; he must overshadow himself and let Christ shine directly. “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord”...And the God who said: let the light shine out of the darkness, shine in our hearts, to bring to light the knowledge of the divine glory that shines in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4 ,5.6).

As priests, you will be ministers of the light that shines from the face of Christ through faith.

For this reason your first and most important mission is to guarantee that preaching from which faith comes from hearing (cf. Rom 10:17). The Second Vatican Council defines priests as “educators in the faith” ( Presbyterorum Ordinis , 6). Your fundamental service is to proclaim to each one the Christ Truth and the truths of faith; to nourish this faith constantly, to strengthen it when it is weak and to defend it against every threat.

It goes without saying that you will be better educators in faith to the extent that you yourselves have a deeply rooted, mature, courageous and contagious faith. The evangelists describe the years that Jesus spent in the company of the twelve as a process destined to nourish their faith: "Jesus... manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him" (Jn 2:11; cf. Jn 11 , 15). You, like the twelve, spent years with Jesus before reaching this moment; you must be disciples with a tested and mature faith, firmly anchored in the words of the Master, and ready for combat. Never cease to join the humble and fervent prayer of the apostles: "Increase our faith" ( Lk17.5) and may you listen to a reply to what Christ said to Peter: "I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail" ( Lk 22.32). Only in this way will you be prepared to lead many others to faith.

There is a special obligation for each priest, and for the presbyterate itself, to promote vocations to the priesthood. In this regard prayer is essential. But it is also essential that young people are supported by the example of holiness and joy that they see in their priests. For this reason, this morning Jesus Christ actually entrusted young priests with an important role, that of influencing the hearts of young people by example.

4. I would now like to say a few words to the families of the new priests and to all the Christian families in Japan.

I remember with great emotion the meeting that took place here in Nagasaki between a missionary who had recently arrived and a group of people who, after having verified that he was a Catholic priest, told him: "We have been waiting for you for centuries!". They had remained without priests, churches or public celebrations for over two hundred years, and yet, despite the adverse circumstances, the Christian faith had not died out. It had been passed down in families from generation to generation. Thus the Christian family has shown its immense importance for the vocation to be Christian.

The Christian family is also extremely vital for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Most of them are born and develop in deeply Christian families. This is why the Second Vatican Council called the family the “first seminary” (cf. Optatam Totius , 2). I am also certain that the numerous vocations in the "little flock" of the Catholic community in Japan were born and raised in families animated by a spirit of faith, charity and piety.

I, successor of Peter, as I ordain new priests for your country, also exhort every Christian family in Japan to truly be a "domestic church", a place where God is thanked and praised, a place where his Word is listened to and its law practiced, a place where one is educated in the faith, and where faith is nourished and strengthened, a place of fraternal charity and mutual service, a place of openness towards others, especially the poor and needy.

Be open to the vocations that develop within you. Pray that as a sign of special love the Lord will call one or more of your members to serve him. Live your faith with the joy and fervor that encourages such vocations. Be generous if your son or daughter, brother or sister, decides to follow Christ on this special path. Allow their vocation to grow and strengthen. Give your full support to a freely made choice.

Let us now continue, we who are gathered here, the Eucharistic celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus the Priest, with faith and devotion. Remembering the Japanese priests, religious and lay people, who gave the supreme testimony of their lives in this place, for the love of Jesus Christ, we pray for the Christian families of this country so that they can live their Christian vocation with intensity.

We ask the Lord that many priests like those who today begin their life and their priestly ministry, as well as many religious, come from their midst, for the glory of Jesus Christ and for the salvation of the world. Amen.
 

© Copyright 1981 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Copyright © Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana