Bishop Philip Boyce is Chairman of the Bishops’ Commission for Clergy /Seminaries /Permanent Diaconate.

Our effort to make prayer an integral part of our priestly life and to remain with the Lord in the midst of all our activity is a never-ending task. It will be ongoing until, with God’s grace, we become “a living prayer.”

In the priestly formation given by Christ to his chosen twelve apostles, it was also a recurring element. In the very beginning, he chose “twelve to be with him” indicating a prayerful lingering in his presence as a preparation and foundation of their being “sent out to preach” (Mk 3:14). At regular intervals he gave them the example of withdrawal and prayer with his Father in solitude (see Mk 1:35; Mt 14:23). He taught them the “Our Father” telling them that it was not the number of words that mattered most but the sincerity and uprightness of heart (see Mt 6:7-15). He assured them that he had prayed to the Father for them (see Jn 14:16; Lk 22:32) and urged them and his listeners to pray at all times and not to lose heart (see Lk 18:1).

In recent years the Church has returned again to the importance of prayer in the formation of young men for the priesthood and how it should be continued in the life of a priest. During the Rite of Ordination, priests are exhorted to imitate what they will celebrate. To make this possible, they must lead a prayerful life in the presence of their Lord and Master. Speaking to seminarians, Pope John Paul II said, “In your life today and above all in the priesthood, always make room for prayer; prepare yourselves for your priestly tasks by study and by learning pastoral practices, but base this training on the solid foundations of prayer. I place it in your hearts: be men of prayer and you will succeed in imitating what you celebrate” (9 December 2003). Prayer has to be at the heart of the life and activity of all priests. This is true not simply of the days in Seminary formation, but in the busy life of any priest. The same Pontiff emphasizes this in dealing with ongoing formation in a priest’s life:

The priest’s prayer life in particular needs to be continually “re-formed”. Experience teaches that in prayer one cannot live off past gains. Every day, we need not only to renew our external fidelity to times of prayer, especially those devoted to the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and those left to personal choice and not reinforced by fixed times of liturgical service, but also to strive constantly for the experience of a genuine personal encounter with Jesus, a trusting dialogue with the Father, and a deep experience of the Spirit (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 72).

Friendship with the Master

“I have called you friends,” said the Lord to his apostles on the evening of their priestly ordination. He wished them to live in a relationship with him that was similar to that between two friends, not that between servant and lord. “The servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15). Certainly, friendship with Christ or the privilege of being a friend with God the Father, with his Son in the Holy Spirit, is not confined to priests alone. Every soul in grace is a friend of Christ. The words “You are my friends if you do what I command you” can be applied to every person (Jn 15:14). He stands at the door of every heart and knocks, waiting for it to be opened for him to enter. All who do so become the dwelling place of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in a reciprocal union of love.

However, the Lord Jesus uses the term “friend” in a special way or with special emphasis when referring to his apostles and disciples. Not only does St John the Beloved Disciple teach this, but St. Luke points it out on one occasion: “To you, my friends, I say: Do not fear…” (Lk 12:4) – distinguishing them with this comforting phrase from those who did not believe in him or did not follow him. And in the priestly context of the Last Supper, when alone with his apostles, he said: “I have called you friends” because there are no longer any secrets between us. We are united in mutual knowledge and love, in the same will and in reciprocal donation.

Surely we have here the foundation of our prayer as priests. It is an attitude of friendship with the Master.

This is vitally important because it enables us “to pray at all times” provided we remain in the bonds of friendship with Christ. Prayer lies at the heart of all that a priest is and does. It is the core value of his life. In some ways, we should not say that prayer is the duty of a priest for it is more than that; it is a dimension of his priesthood. In fact, if he celebrates Mass fervently, if he prays the Divine Office attentively, if he preaches the word of God, if he administers a sacrament, he is a man at prayer. Without prayer the priest’s life is like a desert area without water. With genuine prayer, the desert becomes an oasis and produces much fruit.

It is a matter of calling to mind more frequently the Lord who called us his friends, and of making the awareness of his love penetrate our life and actions.

Be not too busy

One of the frequent difficulties that seem to hinder personal prayer, or to sap it of much of its devotion, is the multiplicity of pastoral activities that we have to accomplish each day. Our days can be cluttered up with many duties, and some days may be busier than usual. Problems can also take up much attention and energy. Can we say however at the end of any day: “Lord, I had no time to pray today”?

Oftentimes, it is our attitude of soul that is not in order in the midst of the many activities and duties that come our way each day. If we could stop for a moment and face the unexpected duty or difficulty with the Lord, we might not be so distracted. It was not Martha’s work that the Lord complained about but her lack of attention to him during her activity (see Lk 10:41). Only a spirit of prayer and the experience of God’s love and friendship can prevent us from being excessively engrossed in the external duties of the day.

We have entered into that millennium for which Pope John Paul II prepared so much. He gave us a pastoral plan for it. Many priests have been trying to make their parishes more vibrant, to have the lay faithful take up their role, and follow a pastoral plan to evangelize the multitude and keep the faith alive. Many have experienced that if it does not rest on a firm foundation of prayer it does not succeed. Pope John Paul II made this clear when he asked us to, “put out into the deep for a catch”.

It is important however that what we propose, with the help of God, should be profoundly rooted in contemplation and prayer. Ours is a time of continual movement which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of “doing for the sake of doing”. We must resist this temptation by trying “to be” before trying “to do (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 15).

A holy Companionship

In this Year for Priests, we are reminded again and again of the example of the holy Curé of Ars. His life was a prayer. His long hours before the tabernacle in his parish church
were the catalyst that brought many back to the practice of the faith in a village where the love of God had grown cold. He often spoke of the need of prayer: “Man is a poor human who must ask everything of God” and “We can convert so many souls with our prayers”.

It is not surprising then that priests are asked to reconsider the place and importance not only of liturgical prayer in their life and ministry, but also that of personal prayer. Already in the Encyclical Letter he published for the first centenary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, Pope John XXIII stated that “in the life of a priest nothing could replace silent and prolonged prayer before the altar” (Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia).

All this is possible and makes sense if our prayer becomes what St. Teresa of Avila, the great mistress of prayer, calls a “holy companionship with our great Companion”. If that becomes a reality in the daily round of a priest, his life will be transformed and his pastoral activity will become so much more fruitful.