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A message to young priests from Pope Francis
Among the 24 points he made was - 'A sense of humour is one of the characteristics of holiness'.
A message to young priests from Pope Francis
- Be shepherds with 'the smell of the sheep grounded in the situation of your flock.
- Do not go into the field to apply theories without considering the environment in which you will be working or the people entrusted to your care.
- Priests should be people capable of living, of laughing and crying with their people, in a word, of communicating with them.
- Be careful with some reflections and thoughts on priesthood because sometimes these reflections and thoughts are laboratory sample: this priest, that priest and so on.
- Priesthood isolated from the people of God, is neither a Catholic priesthood nor a Christian one.
- Strip yourselves of your pre-constituted ideas, your dreams of greatness, your self-assertion, in order to put God and people at the centre of your daily concerns.
- For a priest who would like to be an intellectual, not a pastor, it is better for him to be lay person.
- When living with other priests be careful about Individualism, self-assertion, and indifference as these pose great challenges of living together.
- Beware of the temptation to create small closed groups, to isolate oneself, to criticize and speak ill of others, to believe oneself superior, more intelligent.
- Gossip is a habit of closed groups, of “bachelor’ priests who talk and malign others, undermining all. Let go of this habit and look at and think about God's mercy.
- Think of the other priest and welcome one another as a gift.
- In a fraternity lived in truth, in the sincerity of relationships and in a life of prayer, priests can form a community in which we can breathe the air of joy and tenderness.
- The priest is a man who, in the light of the Gospel, spreads the taste of God around him and transmits hope to restless hearts.
- St. Joseph is a model of priest. May priests rediscover the face of this man of faith, this tender father, model of fidelity and trusting abandonment to God's plan.
- St. Joseph teaches us priests that faith in God includes believing that God can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses.
16.Our frailties as priests is a “theological place of encounter with the Lord”.
- A fragile priest who knows his weaknesses and talks about them with the Lord, will do well. On the other hand, "superman" priests end up badly.
- Do not be afraid to dare, to risk and to go forward.
- A priest who does not have a sense of humour is not liked, something is wrong. “Imitate those great priests who laugh at others, at themselves and even at their own shadow".
- A sense of humour is one of the characteristics of holiness.
- Remember that you have been anointed with the oil of joy and are to anoint others with the oil of joy.
- It is only when you are rooted in Christ will you experience a joy that moves you to win hearts.
- Always be thankful to God for what you are despite your limitations, frailties and tribulations. Gratitude is always a powerful weapon which allows us to keep the flame of hope burning in moments of discouragement, loneliness and trials.
