Chapter Four
LOVING PASTORS OF THE FLOCK
"The Good Shepherd lays
down his life for his sheep" (John 10, 11)
1. With
Christ, incarnating and spreading the mercy of the Father
"The
Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy
— the most stupendous attribute of the creator and of the Redeemer — and when
she brings people close to the sources of the Savour's mercy, of which she is
trustee and dispenser"(81). This reality essentially distinguishes
the Church from other human institutions dedicated to the promotion of
solidarity and philanthropy. Even when imbued with a religious spirit, by
themselves, such institutions cannot effectively dispense the mercy of God. The
mercy of God as offered by the Church, in contrast with secularized concepts of
mercy which fail to transform man interiorly, is primarily forgiveness and
salvific healing. Its effectiveness on man requires his acceptance of the
entire truth concerning his being, his action and his guilt. Hence derives the
need for sorrow and encounter with the proclamation of mercy and the fullness
of truth. Such affirmations are vitally important for priests who are called to
a particular vocation, by the Church and in the Church, to reveal and effect the
mystery of the Father's love in their ministry, lived in charity according to
the truth (Ef 4, 15) and in docility to the promptings of the Holy
Spirit.
The mercy
of God, manifested by His paternal love, is encountered in Christ. He reveals
his messianic role (cf. Lk 4, 18) as the Father's mercy for all who are
in need, especially sinners who need forgiveness and interior peace. "It
is especially for these last that the Messiah becomes a particularly clear sign
of God who is love, a sign of the Father. In this visible sign the people of
our time, just like people then, can see the Father".(82) God
"who is love" (1 John 4, 16) cannot but reveal Himself as
mercy.(83) Through the sacrifice of His Son, God the Father, in His
love, implicated Himself in the drama of man's salvation.
While in
the preaching of Christ mercy acquires many striking characteristics which
surpass human realization — as emerges in the parable of the Prodigal Son (cf. Lk
15, 11-32) — it is in his sacrifice on the cross that its meaning is most
especially revealed. The crucified Christ is the radical manifestation of the
Father's mercy, of that "love which goes against the very source of evil
in human history: countering sin and death".(84) The Christian
spiritual tradition regards the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which draws priestly
hearts to itself, as a profound, mysterious synthesis of the Father's infinite
mercy.
The
soteriological dimension of the entire priestly munus pastorale is
centered on the eucharistic Sacrifice, the memorial of Jesus' offering up of
his life. "There exists, in fact, an intimate rapport between the
centrality of the Eucharist, pastoral charity and the priest's unity of life.
He finds in this rapport the decisive indications for the way to holiness to
which he has been specifically called... If the priest lends to Christ, Most
Eternal High Priest, his intelligence, will, voice and hands so as to offer
through his own ministry the sacrifice of redemption to the Father, he should
make his own the dispositions of the Master and, like him, live those gifts
for his brothers in the faith. He must therefore learn to unite himself
intimately to the offering, placing his entire life on the altar of sacrifice
as a revealing sign of the gratuitous and anticipatory love of God".(85)
In the permanent gift of the eucharistic Sacrifice, memorial of the death and
resurrection of Jesus, priests have sacramentally received the unique and
singular ministerial capacity to bring the witness of God's infinite love to
men, which will be confirmed as more powerful than sin in salvation history.
The paschal Christ is the definitive incarnation of mercy and its living sign,
both in salvation history and eschatologically.(86) According to the
Curé d'Ars, the priesthood is "the love of the heart of Jesus".(87)
In virtue of the consecration and their ministry, with Christ, priests are
living and effective signs of this great love, described by St. Augustine as
the "amoris officium".(88)
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