Priests Must Be Gospel Men
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4 November 1989
Angono, Philippines

St. Vincent was an infant of three years of age when St. Charles Borromeo died. The contrast between the two family backgrounds is striking. St. Charles came from a wealthy, long established, noble family; St. Vincent from poor peasant stock. St. Charles was made a Cardinal at the age of twenty-two. This early elevation of Charles to the dignity of Cardinal is explained by the fact that his uncle was Pope Pius IV. He assumed the post of being an administrator of the Diocese of Milan. Today one would say that he was a governor. Then sometime later he was nominated Archbishop of Milan, thus filling a See which had lain vacant for some eighty years.

St. Charles Borromeo concentrated his energies on bringing about the reform of the clergy and of religious life. In that he did work similar to the work to which St. Vincent devoted himself in France. Let us listen to St. Charles as he speaks at the last Synod of his lifetime: "Is your duty preaching and teaching? Concentrate carefully on what is essential to fulfill that office faithfully. Make sure in the first place that your life and conduct are sermons in themselves. Do not give people cause to purse their lips and shake their heads during your sermons, since they have heard you before preaching one thing, then seeing you doing the exact opposite....Or is your task the care of souls? Then do not neglect your own. Do not spend yourselves so completely on other people that you have nothing left for yourself. Of course, you have to look after the souls you have been put in charge, but not to the extent that you forget your own. Brothers, do understand this: there is nothing quite so necessary to all churchmen as mental prayer, prayer that paves the way for every act that we do, that accompanies it and follows it up." (Office of Readings).

St. Charles Borromeo devoted much time to reforming the clergy. He saw clearly, as the Council document on the formation of priests reminds us, that the heart of the renewal of the Church is the priesthood. That is true of yesterday and of today. We must be Gospel men. Our preaching must issue forth from a heart that has meditated and reflected on Christ and His Gospel. As priests, we seek after and work for greater justice in the world. However, in seeking after greater justice for society, we must always interpret the political situation in the light of the Gospel and not vice versa.

Through the intercession of St. Charles Borromeo and of St. Vincent, may the Church in our day be renewed through the dedication of those called to be priests. May the Church, in the words of the prayer of the Mass, "bear the image of Christ and show His true likeness to the world."

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