This week marks the beginning of a special year dedicated to the priesthood. Announced by Pope Benedict XVI, this “Year of the Priesthood” will run from June 2009 until June 2010.
This year invites the whole Church to reflect in a particular way on the gift and mystery that is Christ’s priesthood.
Corresponding to the 150th anniversary of the death of the patron saint of parish priests, Jean Vianney, this year in a way takes shape around him. Known as the Cure of Ars, Jean Vianney is an inspiring model for us today.
Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was born in the small town of Dardilly, near Lyons, France and grew up during the tumultuous time of the French revolution. The Church was experiencing great persecutions and the faith of the people was severely tested.
Vianney’s path to the priesthood was not without its difficulties. Because of his poor Latin skills he was dismissed from the seminary, only to be later readmitted (a great inspiration to seminarians who struggle with Latin to this day)!
Unlike many saints, Vianney did not found a famous religious order, give his life as a martyr, work as a missionary, or write great treatises in theology. Instead, he is known for the work he did to receive the title by which he is most remembered, the Cure of Ars.
Vianney was made Cure (the French term for priest) of the tiny town of Ars, France in 1818. He remained there until his death in 1859. For 41 years, he served tirelessly the people of this tiny village. In time, his holiness and special gifts as a confessor attracted Catholics from all over Europe.
The stories of Vianney’s virtue are legendary. He would hear confessions for upwards of sixteen hours a day. He would spend long nights in prayer, offered fasting and penance for his people, and preached homilies and Catechism lessons drawing crowds throughout the day. Some may think his life was lived in a time so different from our own or with a piety too removed from our day. The truth lies deeper however, as Vianney’s virtue — and the reason the Church offers him as priests’ patron — is ultimately his tremendous love for God and for God’s people.
The holy Cure was asked once why his preaching was so firm, urging people to greater sanctity while the penances he gave in Confession were so light and easy to fulfill. He explained, “I give the people what they can do, and I do the rest.” His fasting and prayer, his simple life of self-sacrifice was totally directly to God’s people entrusted to his care. He was their priest, the one who shared their sufferings and put their needs above his own.
In what is one of the most famous scenes in the Saint’s life, upon his arrival in Ars for the first time, Vianney met a young boy and asked him the way to the village. The boy pointed him down a hill toward the church and Vianney responded, pointing upwards, “You have shown me the way to Ars. I will show you the way to the Heaven.”
The priest ultimately shows people to Heaven. He exists to bring God’s people to God Himself. As Pope Benedict often explains, Christianity is not a set of rules and regulations or even teachings and doctrines. It is an encounter with Jesus Christ. And it is the priest who helps make that possible.
Through the celebration of the Sacraments, the preaching of God’s Word, and faithful prayer, the priest helps people encounter God. For those of us studying for the priesthood, we could find no better model than the holy Cure of Ars.
The gift of Jean Vianney — like that of priesthood — is not to be enjoyed, of course, simply by the ordained. It is a gift and mystery for all the Church’s faithful for ultimately it points to how much God loves all of us. He uses priests, his humble instruments, to bring his message of love and friendship with Him, and more so, His very self, to the Church and all the world. What a blessing is this “Year of the Priesthood” to reflect on just that.
Seminarian Ryan Connors is a first year Theology student studying at the North American College in Rome. He is a Riverside native and a member of St. Brendan Parish.
