2 Vol 4 Issue 2 - The Jesuits of Upper Canada

Ryan continued.
Thankfully, I am growing in the knowledge and
strength in the practice of asking God for his
assistance, and in asking my Jesuit brothers,
family and friends for their love and care.
Priesthood connotes my images and descriptions
today, some positive and some negative.
Last summer I read an article by Michael
Buckley, S.J., on understanding the priesthood.
He presents three dimensions to priesthood
that have helped me understand my
priesthood in a more deliberative and grounded manner. Priesthood is a ministry of word, a ministry of
interiority, and a ministry to alleviate human pain.
I felt the realness of Fr. Buckley’s understanding of priesthood during my last visit home to Ireland.
During that visit I met a high school classmate of mine, Tom, at a BBQ. We hadn’t seen each other
since we completed high school in Tipperary town in 1995. During the course of the evening, Tom
shared with me how during the course of his mid-twenties he had engaged in a life of drug abuse
for a period of five years. During this period he fathered a son, whom he is deeply committed to and
loves. In his own progress toward health, he returned to school and now holds a senior position within
his company. He added that he does not believe in God.
At the same time, he also shared with me that he respects what I do and hopes that I continue on my
path toward ordination. I responded that I found that an odd but generous response from someone
who no longer identifies with the Christian faith community. In my own mind I thought instead that Tom
would understand my life as a waste of time. His response, encouraging me to continue in my priestly
life, deeply moved me. He shared that he had seen some friends die in car crashes, others commit
suicide, and others simply fall into a life of abuse and meaninglessness.
He added that in these moments “we all need men like
you, Gerard, to publicly and privately pray for us, to tell the
grieving sister that her brother’s life is not cut short, but he now
lives somewhere else.” Paul’s recognition for the need and
relevance of priests, even if such recognition is not particularly
immediate to his life right now, communicates to me the
ministerial urgency of communicating the presence of a
meaningful Christ in our contemporary world.
Ordination will not begin the ministerial nature of this work, in
that my life to date has been ministerial as I share God’s love for
all people. My ordination will, however, ratify my ministry of the
word, ministry of interiority and ministry to alleviate human suffering
in a specific sacramental way and integrate these ways into
the public mission of the church. Admittedly, my own way of
exercising my ministerial nature is not demonstrative. At the
same time, my own experience has shown me that the manner in which I exercise and receive
ministerial care has been and continues to be a grace to God’s people, moving them and me together
toward a greater commitment.
F
Photos courtesy: Moussa Faddoul - www.fotoreflection.com and Ryan Hayward, St. Bonaventure’s College, St. John’s, NL.
2 Vol 4 Issue 2