Prime
A priest is called to be a martyr
Priests being ordained at Lubaga Cathedral. PHOTO | FILE | STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Jesus was celibate. He liberated persons from the natural requirement to procreate by encouraging the choice of the virginal or celibate life.
Priestly ordinations are underway throughout the Catholic dioceses of Uganda. In the context of celebrating the Diamond jubilee of the canonisation of the Martyrs of Uganda, I wish to underscore the martyrdom aspect of Catholic priesthood.
I, further wish to acknowledge that the inspiration drawn from heroism of the Martyrs of Uganda, concerning the rich harvest of local vocations to priesthood.
Bazilio Lumu and Viktoro Mukasa, were the first native priests, in 1913. In 1939 Dr. Joseph Kiwanuka Nakabaale became the first African Catholic bishop of modem times. The current total number of native priests is about 1,300.
Jesus is the King of Martyrs. He commissioned His disciples to be His witnesses. Some of them had been ordained priests during the institution of the Holy Eucharist, on Holy Thursday.
Witness is synonymous to martyrdom. There are three different kinds of martyrdom, namely, white, green and red. White martyrdom is the offering
up to God of our lives in the daily actions of our duty as Christians. Green
martyrdom is a kind of commitment to God that leads to solitude, self-mortification and intensive prayer. Red martyrdom refers to giving one’s physical
life, bearing witness unto death. Priests embrace white martyrdom in a radical
manner.
Hebrews 5:1, articulates the martyrdom character of the priesthood of Christ: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins”. Hence, a priest is not his own; he belongs to God and to the Church.
At ordination, a man’s soul undergoes an ontological change; a change of being, which indelibly marks his soul for ever. Once a priest, always a priest. This
is real martyrdom.
Jesus was poor. A Catholic priest is a martyr because he must leave everything and follow Jesus. He must be a servant-leader/shepherd of all. There is no material prosperity that comes from the priesthood. The priest must avoid being in-ward looking, and living a luxurious lifestyle.
Priestly celibacy is martyrdom. Jesus was celibate. He liberated persons from
the natural requirement to procreate by encouraging the choice of the virginal or celibate life. Celibacy is a gift from God; by which one’s heart is given back.
A priest is called to be a martyr Spiritual life. Jesus was celibate. He liberated
persons from the natural requirement to procreate by encouraging the choice
of the virginal or celibate life. The priest’s deepest erotic longing is only satisfied through loving contemplation of who God is (St. Thomas Aquinas). He chooses to deny himself one human good for one that is more properly divine, in anticipation for eternal life (Matthew 19:29).
A priest is a man of Sacrifice. Christ gave His life on the cross because of His incredible love for us. “The priest offers his humanity to Christ, so that Christ
may use him as an instrument of salvation, making him as it were into another Christ.” (Pope John Paul II). That is why the priest speaks in the first person at Mass, “This is My body, which is broken for you... “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” Saint Maximilian Kolbe actualized by giving his life for a family man who was to be killed in the concentration camp at Auschwitz.
A Catholic priest must be ready to live a martyr’s life for his faith. He is challenged to live the priestly vocation to a heroic degree, and to avoid mediocrity. The prophetic mission of a priest involves martyrdom.
Priests are called to be the conscience of society, calling people to conversion. They are called to teach communities to become agents of social transformation, that works for liberation and total human development, peace and justice, and that defends the environment.
Archbishop Oscar Romero (San Salvador) and Fr Clement Kiggundu (Uganda) faced martyrdom for courageously speaking truth to power.
Priests are called not just to preside over the Eucharist but also to live it in their daily life; a life of communion with God and their flock, a life of prayer and thanksgiving, a life of total self-giving and self-sacrifice.
Priesthood is a call to the martyrdom of obedience. Obedience is described as
a moral attitude that inclines one’s will to comply with the will of another who
has the right to command. Spiritually, it means letting God be God and staying
in relationship with Him as we gain dependence on Him (Mark 10:30).
Christian martyrdom, in general, requires God’s grace, human cooperation
and prayer.
