> Proclaiming the word of God – Fr Anthony Mellor
    > A Young Priest Reflects – Fr Paul Kelly

Proclaiming the word of God – Fr Anthony Mellor

In the year before I started in the Seminary in 1991, I attended my first ordination. It was sheer circumstance, as the people whom I had been staying with were invited, and I simply tagged along. I remember virtually nothing from that night, only that it was celebrated in a church in Tweed Heads. I don't even know the man's name. But one thing that I have never forgotten was a reflection on the back of the ordination booklet. It was written by German Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner, and before I began at the seminary, I had this reflection printed and framed, and for a few years it hung on a wall in my seminary room. It is entitled "The Priest" and its central meaning remains potent for me.

The Priest
The Priest is not an angel sent from heaven;
he is a man chosen from among men, and a member of the Church, a Christian.
Remaining human and Christian, he begins to speak to you the Word of God.
This Word is not his own. No, he comes to you because God has told him to proclaim God's Word.
Perhaps he has not entirely understood it himself. Perhaps he adulterates it.
But he believes;
and despite his fears, he knows that he must communicate God's Word to you.
For must not some of us say something about God, about eternal life….must not some of us speak of sin and the love and mercy of God?
So, dear friends, pray for him. Carry him, so that he might be able to sustain others by bringing them the mystery of God's love, revealed in Jesus Christ.

Only recently did I discover these words again, after they were filed away and forgotten. As I reread this meditation, I recalled its initial impact, and five years down the track of priesthood, its honesty hit home in a new and awkward fashion. I know only too well the ways in which I fail to understand and grapple with the mystery of God's Word. I know that I adulterate the Word through any number of behaviours and attitudes - but I believe. I try to remain human and Christian in the best sense of both of these words.

The urgency to proclaim "the good news of salvation" is alive within me. That has never left me since the first days of investigating the possibility of priesthood.

I was re-assured the first time I read in the Vatican II documents that the priest's primary duty is "to proclaim the gospel." And in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, only when necessary, do we use words.

I look back with gratitude on my seminary days. The whole experience, good and bad, provided me with a firm foundation to live my life as a presbyter of the Archdiocese. In a whole other sense, a new phase of my training began when I was ordained. Since then, it has been experience upon experience, challenge upon challenge, failure upon failure, and occasions of success through pure grace.

Whatever the shape of the Church in the future, it will always need ordained leadership. Despite my fears, disappointments and frustrations, I find deep satisfaction in this life that has been chosen for me with my acceptance. I love what I do. And I'm glad to be a member of a church that seeks to speak of God's mercy and compassion in relevant and contemporary ways to a hungry and hurried world.

A Young Priest Reflects – PAUL KELLY
Before I studied to be a priest I worked in a hardware store part-time (1984-1991) whilst I studied for five years at university. I studied Economics and Law from 1996 to 1990, graduating with a Bachelor of Economics and a Law Degree (Hons). I will always value the experience and appreciation of people and their vocations that this time gave me. I realised that it is precisely because many people are being excellent Christians working as shop assistants, nurses, parents, business people, public servants, and so many other professions or callings, that I wanted to be a priest to be of support to these people and their valuable vocations.

The seminary programme trains priests to work with the People of God and to work and study with members of other church denominations. I am so grateful to the Seminary for its formation.

Was there a moment when I felt most certain that this priesthood thing is the right thing for me? Yes, there are special moments that kind of sneak up on me when I am least expecting them. It may be while sitting listening to a parishioner speaking about their life and I am suddenly struck by the strong feeling that I am glad to be able to be here offering a listening ear and being present to this person and their life journey. Other times are like standing with a family at a hospital or celebrating a wedding.

We need more priests, and I am sure that whilst we continue to ask the hard questions about the meaning of the gospel in the light of the 21st century, there are still generous young men who are willing to respond to the church’s invitation to serve the people of God in the ministry of word and sacrament. Since Priesthood is not about being better than others or being a law unto oneself, but working with and for people, there is no need to apologise for the role of the priest in the community or to water down this role.

Vocations need the support and encouragement of families and friends, if a young person came to their parent or friend and said they wanted to be a journalist or a police officer, they could rightly expect encouragement and support. Surely the same is to be expected if a young man said he wanted to be a priest? So today I invite you to pray for and be encouraging of the vocation to the priesthood.