At noon today, in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience members of the Community from the Pontifical Pius XI Regional Seminary of Puglia.
The Pope delivered impromptu remarks to those who were present and presented his prepared speech to those who were in attendance for further reflection.
Dear brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear seminarians,
I meet you with joy and I greet all of you who form the community of the Pontifical Pius XI Regional Seminary of Puglia, accompanied by the Bishops of that region. I thank the Rector for his courteous words, and I greet especially all of you, dear seminarians who, thank God, are numerous.
I wish briefly to reflect with you about something I said during the Assembly of Italian Bishops last Spring on the identity and the ministry of priests. On that occasion, I described the ministry of a priest using three ways of belonging: to the Lord, to the Church and to the Kingdom. Such a belonging, of course, is not improvised, nor does it come about after ordination, but rather before - precisely during the years spent in the Seminary - otherwise it cannot be cultivated, preserved or made to grow without great attention and a sense of responsibility. This is why, today I wish to take advantage of your visit to continue this reflection, which I think is also important for young seminarians who are preparing to be priests.
First of all, the word belonging carries within it the idea of being a part of the whole. Only if we feel that we are part of Christ, part of the Church and of the Kingdom will we continue well during the years we spend at the Seminary. In order to profit from the entire experience, you have to raise your eyes, stop and think that you do not have the rest of your lives. The first obstacle to overcoming this tendency is therefore narcissism. It is the most dangerous temptation. Everything in life does not begin and end with me, I can and I have to look beyond myself, in order to realize the beauty and the depth of the mystery that surrounds me, life that overwhelms me, faith in God that supports everything and every person, even me. How can I recognize Christ if I only look toward myself? How will I be able to enjoy the beauty of the Church if I am only preoccupied with saving myself, looking good, coming out of every situation looking good? How can I be enthused about the adventure of building the Kingdom of God if every moment of enthusiasm is controlled by fear of losing a part of myself? In this liturgical season of Advent, in which we hear strongly the invitation of the Lord to be vigilant, we are invited to keep watch over the real risk of being narcissistic, because without this vigilance, no vocational journey can really be possible.
Belonging also signifies knowing how to enter into relationship. First and foremost, we must prepare ourselves to be men of relationships. With Christ, with our brothers, with those with whom we share the ministry and our faith, with all people who we meet in life. And learning how to live these relationships well begins in the seminary! We cannot even think of journeying toward the priesthood without having made this decision in our hearts: a desire to be a man of relationships. This is of prime importance during these years, the first formative step. We can truly see, as the years progress and we draw closer to Ordination, whether we are progressing in this dimension: if our abilities to relate to others are growing and maturing or not. The building of a community, which one day must be guided by a priest, begins in the everyday life of the seminary, among you, with people you encounter along your journey. Do not feel as though you are different from your peers, do not consider yourselves better than others, learn to live with everyone, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. If tomorrow you will be priests living among the holy people of God, begin today to be young people who can live with everyone, who can learn something from every person you encounter, with humility and intelligence. And beneath every relationship, there is your relationship with Christ: as you have come to know him, as you learn to listen to him, to discover how he unites you to himself in trust and in love, make his love your love, practice this love in your relationships with others, become channels of his love by means of your mature relationships. The place where your relationship with Christ will grow most effectively is in prayer, and the most mature fruit of prayer is always charity.
Finally, belonging must be compared with its opposite, which is exclusion, rejection. Those who grow in their belonging to Christ and discover in Him a gaze that is offered to everyone, how can such a man adopt a style of life that excludes others? It all begins in the communal life that you live in the seminary: is there someone who is being excluded? Is there someone who remains on the margins? Your belonging to Christ requires you to go out to meet those who are excluded and to bring them to the centre, to help them also to feel that they are part of the community. As you grow in your sense of belonging to the Church and learn to appreciate the beauty of fraternity, you will also learn how to ask yourselves how to make efforts at forgiveness, in small things as well as great ones. If nothing in life is capable of excluding us from the merciful gaze of the Lord, why then should our eyes be able to exclude anyone else?
I know that you are a large seminary, visited by the grace of the Lord with many vocations. This abundance also presents a responsibility. We must be attentive to the quality of the journey of formation, numbers are not enough. For this reason, in order that you may make this journey surrounded with good quality of formation, I assure you of my prayer, as I also thank you for your visit. You too, I ask you please not to forget to pray for me.
The Pope delivered impromptu remarks to those who were present and presented his prepared speech to those who were in attendance for further reflection.
Prepared speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with the Seminarians from Puglia
Dear brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear seminarians,
I meet you with joy and I greet all of you who form the community of the Pontifical Pius XI Regional Seminary of Puglia, accompanied by the Bishops of that region. I thank the Rector for his courteous words, and I greet especially all of you, dear seminarians who, thank God, are numerous.
I wish briefly to reflect with you about something I said during the Assembly of Italian Bishops last Spring on the identity and the ministry of priests. On that occasion, I described the ministry of a priest using three ways of belonging: to the Lord, to the Church and to the Kingdom. Such a belonging, of course, is not improvised, nor does it come about after ordination, but rather before - precisely during the years spent in the Seminary - otherwise it cannot be cultivated, preserved or made to grow without great attention and a sense of responsibility. This is why, today I wish to take advantage of your visit to continue this reflection, which I think is also important for young seminarians who are preparing to be priests.
First of all, the word belonging carries within it the idea of being a part of the whole. Only if we feel that we are part of Christ, part of the Church and of the Kingdom will we continue well during the years we spend at the Seminary. In order to profit from the entire experience, you have to raise your eyes, stop and think that you do not have the rest of your lives. The first obstacle to overcoming this tendency is therefore narcissism. It is the most dangerous temptation. Everything in life does not begin and end with me, I can and I have to look beyond myself, in order to realize the beauty and the depth of the mystery that surrounds me, life that overwhelms me, faith in God that supports everything and every person, even me. How can I recognize Christ if I only look toward myself? How will I be able to enjoy the beauty of the Church if I am only preoccupied with saving myself, looking good, coming out of every situation looking good? How can I be enthused about the adventure of building the Kingdom of God if every moment of enthusiasm is controlled by fear of losing a part of myself? In this liturgical season of Advent, in which we hear strongly the invitation of the Lord to be vigilant, we are invited to keep watch over the real risk of being narcissistic, because without this vigilance, no vocational journey can really be possible.
Belonging also signifies knowing how to enter into relationship. First and foremost, we must prepare ourselves to be men of relationships. With Christ, with our brothers, with those with whom we share the ministry and our faith, with all people who we meet in life. And learning how to live these relationships well begins in the seminary! We cannot even think of journeying toward the priesthood without having made this decision in our hearts: a desire to be a man of relationships. This is of prime importance during these years, the first formative step. We can truly see, as the years progress and we draw closer to Ordination, whether we are progressing in this dimension: if our abilities to relate to others are growing and maturing or not. The building of a community, which one day must be guided by a priest, begins in the everyday life of the seminary, among you, with people you encounter along your journey. Do not feel as though you are different from your peers, do not consider yourselves better than others, learn to live with everyone, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. If tomorrow you will be priests living among the holy people of God, begin today to be young people who can live with everyone, who can learn something from every person you encounter, with humility and intelligence. And beneath every relationship, there is your relationship with Christ: as you have come to know him, as you learn to listen to him, to discover how he unites you to himself in trust and in love, make his love your love, practice this love in your relationships with others, become channels of his love by means of your mature relationships. The place where your relationship with Christ will grow most effectively is in prayer, and the most mature fruit of prayer is always charity.
Finally, belonging must be compared with its opposite, which is exclusion, rejection. Those who grow in their belonging to Christ and discover in Him a gaze that is offered to everyone, how can such a man adopt a style of life that excludes others? It all begins in the communal life that you live in the seminary: is there someone who is being excluded? Is there someone who remains on the margins? Your belonging to Christ requires you to go out to meet those who are excluded and to bring them to the centre, to help them also to feel that they are part of the community. As you grow in your sense of belonging to the Church and learn to appreciate the beauty of fraternity, you will also learn how to ask yourselves how to make efforts at forgiveness, in small things as well as great ones. If nothing in life is capable of excluding us from the merciful gaze of the Lord, why then should our eyes be able to exclude anyone else?
I know that you are a large seminary, visited by the grace of the Lord with many vocations. This abundance also presents a responsibility. We must be attentive to the quality of the journey of formation, numbers are not enough. For this reason, in order that you may make this journey surrounded with good quality of formation, I assure you of my prayer, as I also thank you for your visit. You too, I ask you please not to forget to pray for me.
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