Today we support the Holy Father in his charitable works. The Peter’s Pence Collection is taken up worldwide in an effort of solidarity to support the most disadvantaged: victims of war, oppression, and natural disaster and others in need of emergency assistance. Pope Benedict XVI has said, “God’s love . . . gives us the courage to continue seeking and working for the benefit of all” (Caritas in Veritate, no. 78). Cast the love of Christ upon the world—please be generous in today’s Collection.

Fr. Juan Carlos Aguirre will be celebrating his 11th Anniversary to the Priesthood on June 5, 2010.

He will celebrate with a Mass of Thanksgiving and Reception will follow after words.

Come join him in a afternoon of thanks, goodness, and joy.

-Admin

I found myself recently going through our parish archives and I came across an inspiring essay by the late Coach Phil Atwood, of Santa Cruz Valley High School, (1962-1968). His description of Eloy reads:

“For many years I have known of Eloy, Arizona, and like many, my concept of the town was that of a lawless town out of the past. It had the outward appearance of a degraded town of which there was little or no value. It was only when I became part of the community that I realized how wrong myself and many others had been. I found the people friendly; attitudes good; the city progressive; and the history fascinating.”

I believe the vision of Coach Atwood is shared by many who come or move to Eloy and are not sure of what they are moving in to! It has certainly been my experience. One only needs to look deep into the people of this community to find that Faith in God has animated the life and culture of the people of Eloy, and the Santa Cruz Valley from its inception.

From the encounter between that faith and the Native descendants of Hohokam, the Pimas and Papagos, there has emerged the rich Christian culture of the valley expressed in art, music, literature, and above all, in the religious traditions and in the peoples’ whole way of being, united as we are by a shared history and a shared creed that gives rise to a great underlying harmony, despite the diversity of cultural backgrounds and languages.

This same faith has serious challenges to address, because the harmonious development of society and the Christian identity of our people might be in jeopardy.

At the beginning of the New Millennium, Pope John Paul II challenged the growing culture of pessimism and nihilism with his vision to “Remember the past with gratitude; live the present with passion and build the future with hope.” We can apply these same principles into our Parish Community.

“Remember The Past With Gratitude”.

The history of St. Helen’s Parish embodies the missionary nature of the Catholic Church. As Catholics, we believe that in all people there is a silent longing for a Savior and that Christ is the Savior for whom all people silently seek. Pope Benedict XVI said that authentic cultures are not closed in upon themselves, nor are they set in stone at a particular point in history, but they are open, or better still, they are seeking an encounter with other cultures, hoping to reach universality through encounter and dialogue with other ways of life…in which the diversity of expression is always respected as well as the diversity of their particular cultural embodiment.”The vision of intercultural embodiment is what first inspired Fr. Patrick Murphy on December 12^th, 1936 to establish the first Mission of St. Anthony’s Parish on 4^th Avenue in Eloy.

The new mission church was named after St. Helen (d. 330 AD), the mother of the emperor Constantine. From the time of her conversion, she had an earnest Christian life and by her influence and liberality favored the wider spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. She assisted not only individuals but entire communities. The poor and destitute were the special objects of her charity. During her travel to the Holy Land, she brought many relics; one of them believed to be a relic of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. Our Parish is named St. Helen of the Cross because of St. Helen’s achievement in 4^th century archeological investigations. She is, for that very reason, the Patron Saint of Archeologist. In our parish, we possess a certified relic of the Wood of the Cross from which hung the Savior of the World.

On the very wet and windy day of December 5^th, 1951, Msgr. Sylvio Ross broke ground on a piece of land donated by Mr. John Alsdorf to build the current church building. On October 1952, Fr. Paul Rook became the first pastor, as St. Helen became a parish. Later that year the first Mass was celebrated on the Feast of Christ the King by Fr. Ross. After numerous bake sales and much volunteer participation, the Youth Hall was completed and dedicated in 1954.

Many priests have served St. Helen as their pastor.

1. Fr. Paul J. Rook+ (1952-1961)

2. Fr. Gaspar L. Parente+ (1961-1967)

3. Fr. Charles Towner+ (1967-1970)

4. Msgr. James T. Stapleton+ (1970-1973)

5. Fr. Joseph Gorsuch+ (1973-1998)

6. Fr. Martin Martinez (1998-2004)

7. Fr. Mathew Asemangema (2004-2005)

8. Fr. Juan Carlos Aguirre (2005-present)

More recently Fr. Wally Balduck served as Administrator Pro-Tem and Fr. Madhu George as Parochial Vicar.

Live The Present With Passion

We live in a culture that values diversity, but that at times promotes polarization between peoples. We might avoid the conflicts of diversity by simplifying labels.

The Catholic Church teaches that “Ultimately, it is only the Truth that can bring unity, and the proof of this is love.” This is why Christ, as the Truth of God, is not alien to any culture, or to any person, or language or background. In the Church we do not measure “progress” with the movement of a pendulum between two poles. What the Church wants is to unite humanity and at the same time respecting the wealth of diversity, opening people everywhere to growth in genuine values that promote the dignity of the human person.

The older generation of parishioners, the new residents that move into the area, and those who are to come in the near future form the great mosaic which is the precious treasure of St. Helen of the Cross parish.

Each group contributes with different gifts and talents that enrich the Catholic and Missionary nature of our Church. This mosaic of diverse contributions to our faith must be protected, promoted and when necessary purified.

By contemplating our past with gratitude, we can live the present with passion. Today in Eloy and the Santa Cruz Valley area, there is a notable degree of maturity in faith among the many active lay men and women devoted to the Lord. Members of both Pastoral and Finance Councils. Altar Servers, Choir Girls, liturgical servers as lectors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. There are also many generous catechists. There are many young people, and ecclesial movements, like the Altar Society, those who assist with the Bingo, Spanish Prayer Group and the Knights of Columbus. Yet, as Pope Benedict XVI said, “it is true that one can detect a certain weakening of Christian life in society overall and of participation in the life of the Catholic Church due to secularism, indifferentism and the search for immediate gratification amongst our younger generations. Understanding that faith is an important aspect of our cultural experience, as Church we must ask ourselves some very basic questions: Who knows God? For the Church, God knows God! …In Jesus Christ, the Father is revealed to us. Hence, as Christian community we hold Christ dear to our hearts.

Without God, without Christ, our lives, our reality of life is transformed into an indecipherable enigma; there is no way, and without a way, there is neither life nor truth.

When the disciple arrives at an understanding of this life of Christ “to the end”, he cannot fail to respond to this life with a similar love: “I will follow you wherever you go” (Lk 9:57).

Faith in Christ gives us a family, the universal family of God in the Catholic Church. Faith releases us from the isolation from the “I”, because it leads us to communion. Our encounter with God is, in itself, an encounter with our brothers and sisters, an act of convocation, of unification, of responsibility towards the other and towards others. How do we introduce people, especially our youth, into this important mystery of faith?

“Build the Future With Hope”

I believe we must strive to change our paradigm—world view. We cannot mold the future of our community by fermenting polarizing ideas. Thus we need to build our future with hope.

In 2005 the Board of Directors of our Parish, supported by the Pastoral Council supported me in what has become known as the Pastor’s Appeal. This appeal is not only of financial significance for the improvement and betterment of our future, the Pastor’s Appeal is a comprehensive pastoral approach to the bring the Good News of Salvation to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sunday Mass, Center of Christian Life. We give priority to pastoral programs that appreciate the importance of Sunday Mass. The participation of parents with their children at Sunday Mass is an effective way of teaching the faith and it is a close bond that maintains their unity with one another.

The Family. The family was and is the school of faith, the training – ground for human and civil values, the heart in which human life is born and is generously and responsibly welcomed. There has to be intense and vigorous pastoral care of families. By promoting sacramental marriage as the best environment to raise a Christian child.

The lay faithful must consider themselves jointly responsible for building society according to the criteria of the Gospel, with enthusiasm and boldness, in communion with their Pastors. All members of our parish are active when they take initiative in outreach programs. They assist in uniting the members of the Church and strive to be examples of Christian living for others.

Young people. I believe that we under estimate the potential of young people. The youth is not afraid of sacrifice, but of a meaningless life. Young people want to make a difference in our world, and their ideas must be taken seriously. They don’t want to be told how wrong they are, they want some one to teach them how to do what is right. To build their future with hope, young people must treat life as a continual discovery, never allowing themselves to be ensnared by current fashions or mentalities, but proceeding with profound curiosity over the meaning of life and the mystery of God, the Creator and Father, and his Son, our Redeemer, within the human family.

As a parish we must offer our youth programs that assist them in the discovering their potential and give them the tools needed to challenge the trends of secularism in our social environment. We must pass on to them the missionary zeal and love of Christ that led our predecessors build our parish many years ago.

Someone asked me in regards to methods to reach our children: “As we celebrate Mass in English or Spanish to reach out to people…can we celebrate Mass in “Kid”? I believe we must make the Sacrament of the Eucharist more accessible to our youth, and invite them to be active participants in the life of faith of the Church. Since May, with the help of Lourdes Ramirez, Annie Aguirre, and Mirna Muniz, we invited children to participate more actively at the 11:00 am Mass on Sundays. The “children’s Mass” is intended to promote participation of children and teach them how to behave at Mass. It also assists parents to be more devoted during mass as they are not as distracted by their children.

In Conclusion, some of you may say, “How idealistic is Fr. Juan Carlos.” “Perhaps he is just dreaming…we cannot do all that.” There are some who might be pessimistic about this plan. But I am sure that we have the potential.

We must remember that ideals must be placed high, so to meet them half way. I am constantly reminded that the Lord seeks from us to maintain a steady course towards him. We are seeking progress, not perfection. St. Paul told us: “God has given us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery, the plan he was pleased to decree in Christ. A plan to be carried out in Christ, in the fullness of time, to bring all things into one with him, in the heavens and on earth” (Ephesians 1:3-5).

May the Wisdom of God guide us and our parish family.

Fr. Juan Carlos Aguirre www.elpadrejc.org

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed a Jubilee Year of the Priesthood on the 150^th Anniversary of the Birth of St. John Mary Vianney (The Cure of Ars) and invited all people of Good Will to pray for the continuing conversion of priests. The Year of the Priesthood began on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 19, 2009 and it will end on the same feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2010.

The Pontiff also elevated St. John Vianney as the Patron Saint of All Priests in the Universal Church. Before his elevation, St. John Vianney was the patron Saint of parish priests.

It is very important to pray for your brother priests. St. John Vianney constantly reminded us of the supreme importance of the priesthood in the Church and the importance to pray for our priests. Priests are the bridges between Heaven and Earth. Priests are the Images of Christ. And even in our frail humanity, when we are weak we can still show forth the image of the Cross to those around us.

Pope Benedict reflected on the words of St. John Vianney in his letter to priests.

“The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?”

Yet the expression of Saint John Mary also makes us think of Christ’s pierced Heart and the crown of thorns which surrounds it. I am also led to think, therefore, of the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister. How can we not also think of all those priests who are offended in their dignity, obstructed in their mission and persecuted, even at times to offering the supreme testimony of their own blood?

“O, how great is the priest! … If he realized what he is, he would die… God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host…”. Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he would say: “Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest… After God, the priest is everything! … Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is”. These words, welling up from the priestly heart of the holy pastor, might sound excessive. Yet they reveal the high esteem in which he held the sacrament of the priesthood. He seemed overwhelmed by a boundless sense of responsibility: “Were we to fully realize what a priest is on earth, we would die: not of fright, but of love… Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth… What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods … Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and they will end by worshiping the beasts there … The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you”. (Pope Benedict XVI, Letter to Priests 2009)

The Holy Father wants all Bishops, Priests, Deacons and the Faithful to join him in prayer for all priests. Our Parish of St. Helen of the Cross will promote the year of the priesthood in various ways.

With the help of some donors we will Bless and Enthrone a Statue of St. John Mary Vianney for public veneration. I invite all the faithful of St. Helen of the Cross to join us in making this Year a Prayerful Year of Priesthood. Please pray for all the priests who have served Eloy in the past, especially Fr. Martin Martinez (1998-1994), Fr. Mathew Asemangema (2004-2005) and Fr. Walter Balduck (2007) and Fr. Madhu Geroge, who so graciously have served our parish in recent past and continue serving the Church in various ways.

Please pray also for me, your pastor. Christ is counting on me to bring His Word to you. May I follow the steps of previous pastors and let myself be enthralled by Christ, our High Priest. In this way, I pray I too may be a good herald of hope, reconciliation and peace to those entrusted to my care.

May our prayers this year plant the seed in the life of those young people who will follow on the footsteps of Christ and become priests of the Church in the future.

With Prayers and best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours,

Fr. Juan Carlos Aguirre

Pastor

For more information on prayerful activities planned during the Year of the Priesthood, please visit our website at www.sthelenchurch.com or my personal blog at www.elpadrejc.org.

Pope Benedict XVI

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE
BENEDICT XVI
PROCLAIMING A YEAR FOR PRIESTS
ON THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE “DIES NATALIS”
OF THE CURÉ OF ARS

Dear Brother Priests,

On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 – a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy –, I have decided to inaugurate a “Year for Priests” in celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the “dies natalis” of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?

I still treasure the memory of the first parish priest at whose side I exercised my ministry as a young priest: he left me an example of unreserved devotion to his pastoral duties, even to meeting death in the act of bringing viaticum to a gravely ill person. I also recall the countless confreres whom I have met and continue to meet, not least in my pastoral visits to different countries: men generously dedicated to the daily exercise of their priestly ministry. Yet the expression of Saint John Mary also makes us think of Christ’s pierced Heart and the crown of thorns which surrounds it. I am also led to think, therefore, of the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister. How can we not also think of all those priests who are offended in their dignity, obstructed in their mission and persecuted, even at times to offering the supreme testimony of their own blood?

There are also, sad to say, situations which can never be sufficiently deplored where the Church herself suffers as a consequence of infidelity on the part of some of her ministers. Then it is the world which finds grounds for scandal and rejection. What is most helpful to the Church in such cases is not only a frank and complete acknowledgment of the weaknesses of her ministers, but also a joyful and renewed realization of the greatness of God’s gift, embodied in the splendid example of generous pastors, religious afire with love for God and for souls, and insightful, patient spiritual guides. Here the teaching and example of Saint John Mary Vianney can serve as a significant point of reference for us all. The Curé of Ars was quite humble, yet as a priest he was conscious of being an immense gift to his people: “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy”.He spoke of the priesthood as if incapable of fathoming the grandeur of the gift and task entrusted to a human creature: “O, how great is the priest! … If he realized what he is, he would die… God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host…”. Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he would say: “Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest… After God, the priest is everything! … Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is”. These words, welling up from the priestly heart of the holy pastor, might sound excessive. Yet they reveal the high esteem in which he held the sacrament of the priesthood. He seemed overwhelmed by a boundless sense of responsibility: “Were we to fully realize what a priest is on earth, we would die: not of fright, but of love… Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth… What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods … Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and they will end by worshiping the beasts there … The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you”.

He arrived in Ars, a village of 230 souls, warned by his Bishop beforehand that there he would find religious practice in a sorry state: “There is little love of God in that parish; you will be the one to put it there”. As a result, he was deeply aware that he needed to go there to embody Christ’s presence and to bear witness to his saving mercy: “[Lord,] grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer whatever you wish, for my entire life!”: with this prayer he entered upon his mission. The Curé devoted himself completely to his parish’s conversion, setting before all else the Christian education of the people in his care.

Dear brother priests, let us ask the Lord Jesus for the grace to learn for ourselves something of the pastoral plan of Saint John Mary Vianney! The first thing we need to learn is the complete identification of the man with his ministry. In Jesus, person and mission tend to coincide: all Christ’s saving activity was, and is, an expression of his “filial consciousness” which from all eternity stands before the Father in an attitude of loving submission to his will. In a humble yet genuine way, every priest must aim for a similar identification. Certainly this is not to forget that the efficacy of the ministry is independent of the holiness of the minister; but neither can we overlook the extraordinary fruitfulness of the encounter between the ministry’s objective holiness and the subjective holiness of the minister. The Curé of Ars immediately set about this patient and humble task of harmonizing his life as a minister with the holiness of the ministry he had received, by deciding to “live”, physically, in his parish church: As his first biographer tells us: “Upon his arrival, he chose the church as his home. He entered the church before dawn and did not leave it until after the evening Angelus. There he was to be sought whenever needed”.

The pious excess of his devout biographer should not blind us to the fact that the Curé also knew how to “live” actively within the entire territory of his parish: he regularly visited the sick and families, organized popular missions and patronal feasts, collected and managed funds for his charitable and missionary works, embellished and furnished his parish church, cared for the orphans and teachers of the “Providence” (an institute he founded); provided for the education of children; founded confraternities and enlisted lay persons to work at his side.

His example naturally leads me to point out that there are sectors of cooperation which need to be opened ever more fully to the lay faithful. Priests and laity together make up the one priestly people and in virtue of their ministry priests live in the midst of the lay faithful, “that they may lead everyone to the unity of charity, ‘loving one another with mutual affection; and outdoing one another in sharing honour’” (Rom 12:10). Here we ought to recall the Second Vatican Council’s hearty encouragement to priests “to be sincere in their appreciation and promotion of the dignity of the laity and of the special role they have to play in the Church’s mission. … They should be willing to listen to lay people, give brotherly consideration to their wishes, and acknowledge their experience and competence in the different fields of human activity. In this way they will be able together with them to discern the signs of the times”.

Saint John Mary Vianney taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of his life. It was from his example that they learned to pray, halting frequently before the tabernacle for a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. “One need not say much to pray well” – the Curé explained to them – “We know that Jesus is there in the tabernacle: let us open our hearts to him, let us rejoice in his sacred presence. That is the best prayer”. And he would urge them: “Come to communion, my brothers and sisters, come to Jesus. Come to live from him in order to live with him… “Of course you are not worthy of him, but you need him!”. This way of educating the faithful to the Eucharistic presence and to communion proved most effective when they saw him celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Those present said that “it was not possible to find a finer example of worship… He gazed upon the Host with immense love”. “All good works, taken together, do not equal the sacrifice of the Mass” – he would say – “since they are human works, while the Holy Mass is the work of God”. He was convinced that the fervour of a priest’s life depended entirely upon the Mass: “The reason why a priest is lax is that he does not pay attention to the Mass! My God, how we ought to pity a priest who celebrates as if he were engaged in something routine!”. He was accustomed, when celebrating, also to offer his own life in sacrifice: “What a good thing it is for a priest each morning to offer himself to God in sacrifice!”.

This deep personal identification with the Sacrifice of the Cross led him – by a sole inward movement – from the altar to the confessional. Priests ought never to be resigned to empty confessionals or the apparent indifference of the faithful to this sacrament. In France, at the time of the Curé of Ars, confession was no more easy or frequent than in our own day, since the upheaval caused by the revolution had long inhibited the practice of religion. Yet he sought in every way, by his preaching and his powers of persuasion, to help his parishioners to rediscover the meaning and beauty of the sacrament of Penance, presenting it as an inherent demand of the Eucharistic presence. He thus created a “virtuous” circle. By spending long hours in church before the tabernacle, he inspired the faithful to imitate him by coming to visit Jesus with the knowledge that their parish priest would be there, ready to listen and offer forgiveness. Later, the growing numbers of penitents from all over France would keep him in the confessional for up to sixteen hours a day. It was said that Ars had become “a great hospital of souls”. His first biographer relates that “the grace he obtained [for the conversion of sinners] was so powerful that it would pursue them, not leaving them a moment of peace!”. The saintly Curé reflected something of the same idea when he said: “It is not the sinner who returns to God to beg his forgiveness, but God himself who runs after the sinner and makes him return to him”. “This good Saviour is so filled with love that he seeks us everywhere”.

We priests should feel that the following words, which he put on the lips of Christ, are meant for each of us personally: “I will charge my ministers to proclaim to sinners that I am ever ready to welcome them, that my mercy is infinite”. From Saint John Mary Vianney we can learn to put our unfailing trust in the sacrament of Penance, to set it once more at the centre of our pastoral concerns, and to take up the “dialogue of salvation” which it entails. The Curé of Ars dealt with different penitents in different ways. Those who came to his confessional drawn by a deep and humble longing for God’s forgiveness found in him the encouragement to plunge into the “flood of divine mercy” which sweeps everything away by its vehemence. If someone was troubled by the thought of his own frailty and inconstancy, and fearful of sinning again, the Curé would unveil the mystery of God’s love in these beautiful and touching words: “The good Lord knows everything. Even before you confess, he already knows that you will sin again, yet he still forgives you. How great is the love of our God: he even forces himself to forget the future, so that he can grant us his forgiveness!”. But to those who made a lukewarm and rather indifferent confession of sin, he clearly demonstrated by his own tears of pain how “abominable” this attitude was: “I weep because you don’t weep”, he would say. “If only the Lord were not so good! But he is so good! One would have to be a brute to treat so good a Father this way!”. He awakened repentance in the hearts of the lukewarm by forcing them to see God’s own pain at their sins reflected in the face of the priest who was their confessor. To those who, on the other hand, came to him already desirous of and suited to a deeper spiritual life, he flung open the abyss of God’s love, explaining the untold beauty of living in union with him and dwelling in his presence: “Everything in God’s sight, everything with God, everything to please God… How beautiful it is!”. And he taught them to pray: “My God, grant me the grace to love you as much as I possibly can”.

In his time the Curé of Ars was able to transform the hearts and the lives of so many people because he enabled them to experience the Lord’s merciful love. Our own time urgently needs a similar proclamation and witness to the truth of Love: Deus caritas est (1 Jn: 4:8). Thanks to the word and the sacraments of Jesus, John Mary Vianney built up his flock, although he often trembled from a conviction of his personal inadequacy, and desired more than once to withdraw from the responsibilities of the parish ministry out of a sense of his unworthiness. Nonetheless, with exemplary obedience he never abandoned his post, consumed as he was by apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls. He sought to remain completely faithful to his own vocation and mission through the practice of an austere asceticism: “The great misfortune for us parish priests – he lamented – is that our souls grow tepid”; meaning by this that a pastor can grow dangerously inured to the state of sin or of indifference in which so many of his flock are living. He himself kept a tight rein on his body, with vigils and fasts, lest it rebel against his priestly soul. Nor did he avoid self-mortification for the good of the souls in his care and as a help to expiating the many sins he heard in confession. To a priestly confrere he explained: “I will tell you my recipe: I give sinners a small penance and the rest I do in their place”. Aside from the actual penances which the Curé of Ars practiced, the core of his teaching remains valid for each of us: souls have been won at the price of Jesus’ own blood, and a priest cannot devote himself to their salvation if he refuses to share personally in the “precious cost” of redemption.

In today’s world, as in the troubled times of the Curé of Ars, the lives and activity of priests need to be distinguished by a forceful witness to the Gospel. As Pope Paul VI rightly noted, “modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses”. Lest we experience existential emptiness and the effectiveness of our ministry be compromised, we need to ask ourselves ever anew: “Are we truly pervaded by the word of God? Is that word truly the nourishment we live by, even more than bread and the things of this world? Do we really know that word? Do we love it? Are we deeply engaged with this word to the point that it really leaves a mark on our lives and shapes our thinking?”. Just as Jesus called the Twelve to be with him (cf. Mk 3:14), and only later sent them forth to preach, so too in our days priests are called to assimilate that “new style of life” which was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and taken up by the Apostles.

It was complete commitment to this “new style of life” which marked the priestly ministry of the Curé of Ars. Pope John XXIII, in his Encyclical Letter Sacerdotii nostri primordia, published in 1959 on the first centenary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney, presented his asceticism with special reference to the “three evangelical counsels” which the Pope considered necessary also for priests: “even though priests are not bound to embrace these evangelical counsels by virtue of the clerical state, these counsels nonetheless offer them, as they do all the faithful, the surest road to the desired goal of Christian perfection”. The Curé of Ars lived the “evangelical counsels” in a way suited to his priestly state. His poverty was not the poverty of a religious or a monk, but that proper to a priest: while managing much money (since well-to-do pilgrims naturally took an interest in his charitable works), he realized that everything had been donated to his church, his poor, his orphans, the girls of his “Providence”, his families of modest means. Consequently, he “was rich in giving to others and very poor for himself”. As he would explain: “My secret is simple: give everything away; hold nothing back”. When he lacked money, he would say amiably to the poor who knocked at his door: “Today I’m poor just like you, I’m one of you”. At the end of his life, he could say with absolute tranquillity: “I no longer have anything. The good Lord can call me whenever he wants!”. His chastity, too, was that demanded of a priest for his ministry. It could be said that it was a chastity suited to one who must daily touch the Eucharist, who contemplates it blissfully and with that same bliss offers it to his flock. It was said of him that “he radiated chastity”; the faithful would see this when he turned and gazed at the tabernacle with loving eyes”. Finally, Saint John Mary Vianney’s obedience found full embodiment in his conscientious fidelity to the daily demands of his ministry. We know how he was tormented by the thought of his inadequacy for parish ministry and by a desire to flee “in order to bewail his poor life, in solitude”. Only obedience and a thirst for souls convinced him to remain at his post. As he explained to himself and his flock: “There are no two good ways of serving God. There is only one: serve him as he desires to be served”. He considered this the golden rule for a life of obedience: “Do only what can be offered to the good Lord”.

In this context of a spirituality nourished by the practice of the evangelical counsels, I would like to invite all priests, during this Year dedicated to them, to welcome the new springtime which the Spirit is now bringing about in the Church, not least through the ecclesial movements and the new communities. “In his gifts the Spirit is multifaceted… He breathes where he wills. He does so unexpectedly, in unexpected places, and in ways previously unheard of… but he also shows us that he works with a view to the one body and in the unity of the one body”. In this regard, the statement of the Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis continues to be timely: “While testing the spirits to discover if they be of God, priests must discover with faith, recognize with joy and foster diligently the many and varied charismatic gifts of the laity, whether these be of a humble or more exalted kind”. These gifts, which awaken in many people the desire for a deeper spiritual life, can benefit not only the lay faithful but the clergy as well. The communion between ordained and charismatic ministries can provide “a helpful impulse to a renewed commitment by the Church in proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel of hope and charity in every corner of the world”. I would also like to add, echoing the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis of Pope John Paul II, that the ordained ministry has a radical “communitarian form” and can be exercised only in the communion of priests with their Bishop. This communion between priests and their Bishop, grounded in the sacrament of Holy Orders and made manifest in Eucharistic concelebration, needs to be translated into various concrete expressions of an effective and affective priestly fraternity. Only thus will priests be able to live fully the gift of celibacy and build thriving Christian communities in which the miracles which accompanied the first preaching of the Gospel can be repeated.

The Pauline Year now coming to its close invites us also to look to the Apostle of the Gentiles, who represents a splendid example of a priest entirely devoted to his ministry. “The love of Christ urges us on” – he wrote – “because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died” (2 Cor 5:14). And he adds: “He died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them” (2 Cor 5:15). Could a finer programme be proposed to any priest resolved to advance along the path of Christian perfection?

Dear brother priests, the celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the death of Saint John Mary Vianney (1859) follows upon the celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the apparitions of Lourdes (1858). In 1959 Blessed Pope John XXIII noted that “shortly before the Curé of Ars completed his long and admirable life, the Immaculate Virgin appeared in another part of France to an innocent and humble girl, and entrusted to her a message of prayer and penance which continues, even a century later, to yield immense spiritual fruits. The life of this holy priest whose centenary we are commemorating in a real way anticipated the great supernatural truths taught to the seer of Massabielle. He was greatly devoted to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin; in 1836 he had dedicated his parish church to Our Lady Conceived without Sin and he greeted the dogmatic definition of this truth in 1854 with deep faith and great joy.” The Curé would always remind his faithful that “after giving us all he could, Jesus Christ wishes in addition to bequeath us his most precious possession, his Blessed Mother”.

To the Most Holy Virgin I entrust this Year for Priests. I ask her to awaken in the heart of every priest a generous and renewed commitment to the ideal of complete self-oblation to Christ and the Church which inspired the thoughts and actions of the saintly Curé of Ars. It was his fervent prayer life and his impassioned love of Christ Crucified that enabled John Mary Vianney to grow daily in his total self-oblation to God and the Church. May his example lead all priests to offer that witness of unity with their Bishop, with one another and with the lay faithful, which today, as ever, is so necessary. Despite all the evil present in our world, the words which Christ spoke to his Apostles in the Upper Room continue to inspire us: “In the world you have tribulation; but take courage, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Our faith in the Divine Master gives us the strength to look to the future with confidence. Dear priests, Christ is counting on you. In the footsteps of the Curé of Ars, let yourselves be enthralled by him. In this way you too will be, for the world in our time, heralds of hope, reconciliation and peace!

With my blessing.

From the Vatican, 16 June 2009.

BENEDICTVS PP. XVI

© Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

“’Peace be with you. … And when he said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

This picture I painted when I was in fourth grade. My theological perspective at the time, as my artistic talent, was limited. In the picture, Jesus is at the Right hand of God. His arms, unlike the Father’s, form a bridge between Heaven and Earth. Virgin Mary contemplates the action of the Father and the Son from a distance. The rays of light comming down upon the world are a sign of God’s Holy Spirit raining grace upon the whole world. Well, that was my world. And it was not perfect. The Holy Spirit comes not only from the Father, but from the Father AND the Son. 

Upon taking possession of the Chair of St. Peter, as Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI gave a wonderful reflection on the meaning of that First Pentecost and its implication for those called by the Lord to serve him in the Church. As we can read, his reflection Centers on Christ: the Spirit of the Lord springs from the Love of Christ for those whom the Father had given him. The coming of the Holy Spirit’s arrival at Pentecost is a continuation of the Ministry of Jesus. Moreover, Pentecost is the coming of the Lord Jesus himself to continue his ministry of giving himself out of love for us.

“As the living Word of God, Jesus told his disciples everything, and God can give no more than himself. In Jesus, God gave us his whole self, that is, he gave us everything. As well as or together with this, there can be no other revelation which can communicate more or in some way complete the Revelation of Christ.”

“In him, in the Son, all has been said to us, all has been given.” …“But our understanding is limited: Thus, the Spirit’s mission is to introduce the Church, in an ever new way from generation to generation, into the greatness of Christ’s mystery. The Spirit places nothing different or new beside Christ; no pneumatic revelation comes with the revelation of Christ - as some say -, no second level of Revelation.”

In this way the Holy Father addresses the issue of those who use Pentecost as a sort of excuse of a new revelation, brought to us to fulfill what the Spirit of history in the Church has been unable to fulfill. Even in St. Helen, my parish in Eloy, which would be considered a “small” community, the awaiting for a new Pentecost gives raise to a search in people for a different ecclesial community: one that would have the new spirit. This spirithas led some to leave the church. To make things a little more complex, there are some, who remain, to convert the old spirited church into the new spiritual reality the world demands from God.

This mindset, is, after all, a gross misrepresentation of what the role of the Holy Spirit is in the Church. The Spirit of Pentecost is the same Spirit that comes from the Father and the Son. To expect a new Pentecost is to expect a new Spirit.

Jesus, in the Gospel of John, had already say that the Spirit of Truth  “will have received from me…” (Jn 16: 14). “And as Christ says only what he hears and receives from the Father. Thus the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Christ.”

“He will have received from me”.

Pope Benedict continues saying that the Holy Spirit

“does not lead us to other places, far from Christ, but takes us further and further into Christ’s light. Consequently, Christian Revelation is both ever old and new. Thus, all things are and always have been given to us. At the same time, every generation, in the inexhaustible encounter with the Lord - an encounter mediated by the Holy Spirit - always learns something new. “

“The Holy Spirit, therefore, is the power through which Christ causes us to experience his closeness.”

 “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”

“The Risen Christ needs witnesses who have met him, people who have known him intimately through the power of the Holy Spirit; those who have, so to speak, actually touched him, can witness to him. It is through witnesses that the Church was built - starting with Peter and Paul and the Twelve, to the point of including all who, filled with Christ, have rekindled down the centuries and will rekindle the flame of faith in a way that is ever new. All Christians in their own way can and must be witnesses of the Risen Lord.”

“Witnesses—Saints, through the Holy Spirit, reveal to us more deeply the Mystery of Christ. But this chorus of witnesses is also endowed with a clearly defined structure: The successors of the Apostles, the Bishops, who are publicly responsible for ensuring that the network of these witnesses survives. The power and grace required for this service are conferred upon Bishops through the sacrament of Episcopal Ordination. In this network of witnesses, the Successor of Peter has a special task.”

“It was Peter who, on the Apostles’ behalf, made the first profession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16: 16).”

“As the Father has sent me, so I send you”

The Church is rightly called Teacher (Magistra). This ability, or power, of the Church to teach the Word of God is, at times, not well received by many who consider Christianity as a religion of the ignorant and naïve. For that reason, the Holy Father believes that,

“This power of teaching frightens many people in and outside the Church. They wonder whether freedom of conscience is threatened or whether it is a presumption opposed to freedom of thought.

It is not like this. The power that Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors is, in an absolute sense, a mandate to serve. The power of teaching in the Church involves a commitment to the service of obedience to the faith. The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism.

I believe the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, and that such Spirit is ever ancient and ever new. The search for a new spirit is a projection of those who, for whatever reason, remain at the threshold of conversion, requesting a new sign from the Lord to earn his trust.

I think those who continue their search for the new spirit are afraid of realizing and accepting the challenges the Holy Spirit, in Christ Jesus, has already presented to them. In other words, the Holy Spirit has given them what Christ promised, i.e. A Cross. But they have a hard time accepting that Cross and search frantically for a new cross.

We pray the Spirit of Pentecost will strip the spirit of fear from their hearts, so that the Spirit of God, dwelling in them, is united once again to the Spirit of Truth that animates the Church of Christ, making them True Pentecostal Disciples of Christ as they promote the life of grace and the sacraments.

Fr. J.C.