Priests must not preach “Christianity 'a la carte'” and should be
willing to approach even uncomfortable aspects of the Gospel, Pope
Benedict said in a meeting with priests this week.
In a meeting with priests and religious from the Diocese of Rome on
March 10, the Pope led a Scripture meditation as the “pastor of the
pastors.”
He based the meditation - called a “lectio divina” (sacred reading) -
on a chapter from the Acts of the Apostles in which St. Paul leaves the
faithful in Ephesus with instructions on how to continue preaching the
Gospel after his departure.
Paul's advice to be humble and vigilant in preaching the faith, to
make themselves completely available in service to Christ and the
Church, and prayerful as they protect their “flocks” are all relevant
characteristics of priests nearly 2,000 years later, said the Pope.
He implored priests to show “full-time” fidelity to their vocation as
priests, “being with Christ and being ambassadors of Christ.”
The Pope also called on priests today not to shrink from proclaiming “the entire plan of God.”
“This
is important,” said the Pope. “The Apostle does not preach Christianity
'a la carte,' according to his own tastes, he does not preach a Gospel
according to his own preferred theological ideas; he does not take away
from the commitment to announce the entire will of God, even when
uncomfortable, nor the themes he may least like personally.
“It is our mission to announce all the will of God, in its totality
and ultimate simplicity. But the fact that we must instruct and preach
is important - as St. Paul says - and really proposes the entire will of
God.”
In a world where people are curious to know everything, “so much more
should we be curious to know the will of God,” said Pope Benedict.
“What thing could be more interesting, more important, more essential
for us than to know what God wants, to know the will of God, the face
of God?”
He called on priests and religious to respond to this curiosity and
awaken it in others, assisting them in “knowing truly all the will of
God and knowing then how we can and must live, which is the path of our
lives.”