What’s It Like to be a Priest
in Washington?
It’s an adventure! Being a priest anywhere
is a great spiritual adventure because priests have
an up-close view of how God deals with human beings
and how they respond. If God were a golfer, the priest
would be His caddy. He sees it all: tragedy and triumph,
sin and grace, the unexpected change of heart, the
mystery of persevering fidelity. God, the Master of
the rough shot and the long putt, keeps surprising
everyone. And the priest gets to carry His clubs!
Priests in the Archdiocese of Washington are like
priests everywhere but their setting is different.
They may shepherd a parish in the neighborhood of
the U.S. Capitol and count senators and congressional
aides among their daily communicants or lead a large
suburban parish near major universities and research
hospitals where physicians and Ph.D.’s outnumber
government workers. They may serve an old parish teeming
with new immigrants from eighty different countries
or a more rural parish in historic Southern Maryland
where many parishioners are direct descendants of
the original English colonists and of their African
slaves. Some priests of the Archdiocese serve full-time
in high schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons and
in the military services. From city to suburb to rural
area, in college chapels, hospital rooms and prison
cells, diocesan priests of Washington follow the Master
of the course and assist Him as He works His marvels
of grace.
The priests of Washington are a diverse lot, like
the people they serve. Their ancestors dwelt in Africa,
Asia, Europe and South America and some priests are
themselves immigrants. Some recently ordained priests
entered the seminary right after high school, others
after college, still others after working in the professional,
military and business worlds for some years. As different
as their ministries and backgrounds may be, all of
them preach the Word of God, celebrate the Eucharist
and forgive people’s sins. They support one another’s
initiatives in social justice, the arts and sciences,
the world of the mind. Under the leadership of His
Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of
Washington, Washington’s priests make Jesus present
in tangible ways to Catholics and to men and women
of other faiths and none. They act in persona Christi,
capitis Ecclesiae (“in the person of Christ,
the Head of the Church”), the Christ who “came
not to be served but to serve.”
Have you ever been attracted by the idea of being
a priest? Pray to God and ask Him about it. Talk with
a priest and get more information. Call the Vocation
Director in your diocese. The priesthood is not an
easy life. But you will have rewards that cannot be
measured in terms of money, fame or power. You will
be God’s man, Christ’s servant, an adventurer
in the realm of the spirit where the divine meets
the human and the world meets its God. You will see
amazing shots from the rough and unbelievable putts.
That’s what it’s like to be a priest in
the Archdiocese of Washington. Think about it.
|
