Pope to new priests: guard against worldly influences
May 04, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI ordained 19 priests for the Rome diocese on Sunday, May 3. In his homily the Pontiff warned the newly ordained priests that they must cultivate a strong interior life to protect against worldly influences, reminding them that their effectiveness as ministers would be "completely dependent" on their identification with Christ. "A priest who prays much and prays well is progressively expropriated of himself and becomes ever more united to Christ," he said.
The Pope went on to say that a dedicated priest shares in Christ's joy when people draw closer to God, and also "shares his pain in seeing that God is not know." The world does not know God, the Pope said, citing St. John. He explained:
The 'world,' in its evangelical meaning, also threatens the Church, contaminating her members and even her ordained ministers. The 'world' is a mentality, a way of thinking and living that can even contaminate the Church, that actually does contaminate the Church, and hence requires constant vigilance and purification.
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