continuity and change

Continuity and Change

Andrew Bebb

I had been asked some time ago to offer some personal reflections so I must apologize in
advance for the seemingly egocentric nature of this contribution. It is simply offered as a
possible source of comfort to those who may be undergoing or have undergone the bereavement of loss as they moved out of the active ministry.

The Year of Prayer for Priests is also a year of prayer for those men who have left priestly ministry, according to Benedict XVI's secretary of state. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone [VATICAN CITY, AUG. 31, 2009 (Zenit.org)]. The year is also a "renewal of contact, fraternal help, and if it is possible, a reuniting with those priests who for various reasons have left behind their priestly ministry," "Moreover, the sometimes weak fabric of dialogue between bishops and priests is being strengthened, and special attention is being given to those priests who have been put to the side in pastoral ministry." The Holy Father wants to show "special attention to priests and to priestly vocations" and to promote "a movement within the whole people of God, of a growing affection and closeness to ordained ministers.” Cardinal Bertone finally affirmed, "The holy priests who have been part of the history of the Church will not cease to protect and support this road to renewal that Benedict XVI has proposed."

Many years ago, I myself resigned from the active diocesan ministry in which I had
worked for 10 years. Although the transition from cleric to layman carried its own traumas, the most profound and the most surprising experience was, and indeed has proved continuously to be, that of a deep underlying continuity in my life. It also helps me to understand the concern of the Holy Father for the many thousands who over the years have felt that God was calling them in a new direction within the Church. A continuity, which I would like to try and explain.

I remember some time before my resignation from active ministry sharing my reflections with my brothers and friends in the priesthood during a day of recollection. I had been invited to lead the day. I chose for my theme that of the celibate life and its significance. I attempted to describe it as a gift designed to 'liberate for freedom’. A state of detachment for service in love. A state in which the priest is able to reflect back to the people of God that Word which is already present within them individually and as a community, indeed one which precedes his own coming amongst them..
Christ is present, I recalled, in his Body, the Christian community; as really
present as he is during the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Eucharist.
The priest accepts that presence from them and refocuses it only to return it. The demand is simply to become transparent to that presence, both in the proclamation of the Word and in its Eucharistic celebration. His whole purpose is to live out the grace, which has chosen him to be the medium and servant through which the Spirit of Jesus is brought into the lives of men and women.
His task is to empty himself and not get in the way. The possibility of the priest
becoming such, lay simply in the extent of his capacity for self-effacement in the power of the Spirit.
On leaving the ministerial priesthood, I was soon to discover it was not simply a gift, which was the fruit of the professional celibate clerical status, but was a continuing presence arising from the Sacrament of Order. If the institutional Church in its wisdom, chose to limit the exercise of that commitment, so be it. My subsequent responsibilities as a husband and a father and as a human being could only be to do my best to continue to exercise priesthood within the constraints and opportunities of the new life, which God had called me to. Celibacy was certainly not the indispensable condition of an existential priesthood as I came to experience it, although it clearly may be for others. The recent ordination of former Anglican clergy to the Catholic priesthood manifests this; as also does the long tradition of a married clergy in the Orthodox Churches of the East.
Married life carries with it continuous opportunities for self-sacrificing love. If we, as
incarnational Christians, are to love, serve and enjoy God in our neighbour, where else can we who are married, find him more completely than in our closest neighbour, our spouse?
What, I think, is helpful, is to convince oneself that to experience change, even a quite
profound change, is normal in human life. It is not simply something to be undergone, but is often desirable, is quite healthy, is indeed rooted in the Biblical experience. The God of
Biblical revelation is a God who calls us into newness. What is important, however, is that the change should not be dependent upon total discontinuity, a rejection of everything that has gone before. We need to build links between the 'there and then' and the 'here and now'.
Those links lie within us to discover. For some, it may lie in the exercise of leadership
through worship, spiritual direction or shared prayer; for others, it is
expressed in teaching, social service, and the caring professions. Every priest, celibate or
married, must exercise a ministry within the constraints and possibilities of
a particular life situation.
After over forty years of living out a married priesthood after resigning from the parochial ministry in which I had spent ten contented years, it may be a
help to share some of my own experiences. Like most people, I have known moments of
enormous joy and also times of deep pain and sadness. After twenty years of a contented
marriage which bore the fruit of four delightful children, my wife died of cancer after a
protracted illness. Now, I am once again happily married to Angela who herself was suddenly widowed and left with five lovely children. So there you are, this former celibate has been able to rejoice in two lovely wives and nine beautiful children! Although I do not think they would thank me for describing them as children! The youngest is now thirty and the eldest thirty-nine. I do hope it is a good sign that three of them read theology at University. The others, without exception are involved, in one form or another, of service to others: teaching, social services, nursing, and one a Policeman. Up to this date we have 14 grandchildren to rejoice in, and two more on the way..

Now, back to my theme. In what ways has the Sacrament of Order continued
to flourish in my own life? Sometimes it has done so in practical ways. I remember the few occasions when I was able to offer sacramental support and comfort to the seriously injured in accidents, etc. I remember the many times I was able to bring my first wife viaticum and the sacrament of the sick. I remember the blessing I was able to give to young children and to the new born. I recall the many occasions when in giving counseling, support and advice to my students in the University, I have felt the power of priesthood very close. I have been fortunate in being able to teach theology in Higher Education during all those years and it is difficult to describe the satisfaction, which that has brought. My experiences in politics standing as a candidate for election, provided many opportunities for offering Christian and priestly witness.
In some ways perhaps our state as married priests is a little like the hidden years
of Jesus' priestly life. What I want to say more than anything to those whose wounds may be still raw from experiences of rejection and shame, who perhaps also feel an emptiness in their lives deep down, is this: rejoice in your continuing priesthood and the eternal commission which Jesus gave to you through His Body, the Church. That commission is still laid upon you and its exercise will be surprisingly possible in all kinds of unexpected situations. I remember an occasion when the partner of a friend who was on the point of leaving the ministerial priesthood, said that she was dreading the day when he would say his last Mass, because it meant so much to him. My response was to say that such a day need never come. Whenever he is actively present during the celebration of the Eucharist, no matter how far down the Church he happens to be kneeling, he will be a concelebrant and offering that Eucharist as a priest. Nobody can ever take that away from him.