What
would you do if you weren't a priest?"
This is a question I get regularly.
And the answer is, "I'd become one!"
Behind
this question there is a lot of things that a person assumes. "Father must be unhappy...Father must
regret his choice...Father used to have dreams, now he's eternally stuck as a
priest!"
The
Priesthood is not a job. Being a priest
is not like becoming a computer programmer who is perpetually writing code
until the Second Coming.
The
Priesthood, like Matrimony, is a vocation.
A vocation is not the job you have, it's model which gives shape to your
job, personal interactions, choice of recreation, etc.
Both
priests and laity are involved in education, administration, counselling,
custodial work, and construction - but in different forms.
In
fact, in each of these areas, I believe I have an advantage as a priest (not by
any merit of my own, but by Grace).
There is a tremendous amount of variety on any given day. We all have legitimate worries and concerns,
but my concerns as a priest are about lives, families, meaning, and salvation
itself. So many people feel guilty about
carving out intimate time with the Master, as a priest it's expected and built
in.
Being
a priest is not settling. Its not
putting away dreams. It's about never
settling for mediocrity, its about expanding dreams to reach Heaven.
"I
know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for
peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope." Jer. 29:11
Fr. James Zettel
