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well some of you might know I've spent
the last three months at the North
American College in Rome I was a
visiting scholar there
I gave lectures to the community I came
home just a few days ago
and one reason I came home at this time
was to be present in Chicago for the
priesthood ordination took place on May
the 22nd and 14 men were ordained all of
whom I taught at the seminary and now
maybe it's just because I'm getting
older this year is my 24th anniversary
as a priest but I just sort of feel the
need to offer some advice to these to
these young priests as old as all they
haven't heard enough from me from the
classroom all priests are shaped by the
time in which they come of age and this
generation of priests it will be shaped
very much by the long lent of the
clerical sex abuse scandal this
generation of priests will be subject to
a scrutiny that probably no other
generation has been subject to when I
was ordained so 24 years ago the great
concern of our teachers and mentors was
clericalism that we would seize it all
the perks and privileges of being a
priest that we look to a society that
help us in excessively high esteem well
I don't think that's gonna be the
problem of this present generation my
fear is they might be concerned about
appearing publicly as priests wearing
their Roman collars they might be
concerned about ministering at all to
children because now they're under such
you know careful scrutiny but here's my
advice to these fellows just ordained
all the priests being ordained this time
of year seize the moment I think this
really is your moment now how come I
think especially now and especially you
have to live your priesthood in a
integral and dynamic way especially now
you have to live your priesthood
dedicated to prayer both public and
private you've got to live your
priesthood focused on preaching with
enormous energy
and panache you've got to live your
priesthood knowing that you're a priest
when people could see you your priest
when only God can see you live your
priests in such a way that you love your
people as richly and passionately as
parents love their children even though
it's unfair because you're not
responsible for this mess but you've got
to bear a lot of the burden of the mess
but actually it's not a burden it's a
great opportunity for you to exemplify
the very best of the priesthood so I
think that's the call of this time and
it's the great opportunity of this time
be strong and holy priests the church
needs it the wider society needs it and
I think it's the great call of your
generation something now maybe on a more
positive note a little lighter note is
your generation is the one that's marked
by this revolution in communications
technology I think back you know when I
became a priest 24 years ago certainly
the years prior to that cutting edge
communication technology meant radio
telephone and television I suppose when
I was a freshman Notre Dame University
1977 we had a class in math and part of
that class was a computer segment I
remember the teacher taking us to this
huge room that was filled with consoles
machines the size of small automobiles
and that was the computer that we were
working on which is comical now I mean
you think of what's happened in the
meantime now you have means of
communication that would have boggled
the minds of Billy Graham or Fulton
sheen now you've got iPods and iPads and
email and Internet and podcasting and
all these means to communicate and trees
are in the communication business
Vatican Council too said the Primo
fijian first office of the priests is to
proclaim the word jesus said go and
teach all nations will see we now have a
capacity
to do that the way no previous
generation had and you the present
generation of priests have come of age
knowing all this technology so I would
say again here seize the moment without
having to buy radio time or television
time you can start a website and have
immediately access to the whole world
24/7 get on YouTube start podcasting
your sermons get a website take
advantage of this this enormous
revolution in technology which can help
proclaim the gospel I know a lot of
people are down on the new
communications technology that's been
used in bad ways well sure it has
everything's used in bad ways like
people who are sinners but what you
should do is sanctify these means you
should use them for the sake of the
gospel so I take a conclusion it might
strike people as weird it's odd to say
but I think this is a great time to be a
priest when you look at other times in
history when there were enormous
challenges and enormous opportunities
that's when the great Saints emerged
when the church was under threat was
under the gun when there was corruption
there was darkness was failure and when
there were great positive opportunities
those in the times they call forth the
Saints that's my advice to you is is the
great priest be a holy priest be a
saintly priest this is your time
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