Relentless Ministry – In a new series written by Priests, we will explore what most priests describe as “Relentless Ministry” and the challenges of being a priest in Ireland today
“Who looks after the priests?” Asked Sr Briege McKenna speaking to The Irish Catholic. Sr Briege has been committed to the ministry of intercession for priests during the last 50 years. “The priest is called to minister to the people, but who ministers to him?” Fr Kevin Scallon CM, former spiritual director at All Hallows Seminary, asked the same question in the 1970s. Inspired by a programme he attended in the United States, where people gathered to pray for priests, “he brought the intercession for priests to the Irish scene,” explained Sr Briege.
In July 1976, the first intercession for priests was held at All Hallows. Initially, Fr Kevin expected a large gathering of priests, but only two arrived. Despite this, the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin at the time encouraged him, saying, “It only takes two to intercede.” By the end of the month, over 100 priests had attended. “Nobody individually ministers to them. So that was the inspiration of Fr Kevin. We need to minister to the priests. To affirm your brothers.”
Calling
One of the main concerns of Sr Briege is the secularisation of the priesthood. “One of the greatest needs in the priesthood is divine faith to believe in it,” she says. There is a growing danger of reducing the priesthood to a mere profession, “losing sight of its sacred nature.”
This way, it is very easy to lose the sense of what the priest is. It’s not a title, it’s an honour”
“It’s not a job, and it’s not a profession,” she insists. “It’s a divine call.” Another trend she sees is the hesitation to use the title ‘Father’ when addressing priests. “To be called ‘Father’ is an honour given by God because you’re representing God the Father,” she explains. “Young people are not using the name Father. This way, it is very easy to lose the sense of what the priest is. It’s not a title, it’s an honour.”
Sr Briege told this paper about the importance of confession, an area where many priests feel discouraged. “Priests would say, not all but some, ‘Nobody’s going to confession,’ but nobody goes to confession because it is half an hour after Mass. It is not sufficient,” she explains.
Sacraments
She recalls an experience during a recent mission where a young woman who initially was not planning on being at the event felt a strong call to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. “She was about 23. She came over and said to me, ‘I really have been touched. I haven’t been coming to church, and I haven’t been in confession in years. I’d love to go to confession… Fr Pablo walked over, and I introduced him, and he said, ‘tomorrow is the big day for there are going to be a lot of priests.” Think about what you want to talk to me about tomorrow. The next day that girl came back, “I saw her going into confession. She came out absolutely radiant. She hugged us and said, ‘you have no idea. I came a little bit resistant of my mother telling me you should come to the mission… You have no idea what you’ve done,’ and those are the kind of things that you see that are needed,”
In a world filled with challenges, some priests become overwhelmed by external pressures”
“I don’t think people truly understand the sacraments,” explained Sr Briege, who insisted on the importance of the sacraments, particularly confession. “So, they’re certainly not going to understand the priesthood.” Sr Briege points out that in places like Medjugorje, the long queues for confession show the hunger for this sacrament. “I said to priests, they’re all coming to Medjugorje because you can get confession, but you have the same power back in Ireland.”
In a world filled with challenges, some priests become overwhelmed by external pressures. “Priests should not be activists,” Sr Briege said. “None of us could celebrate Mass or hear confessions or anoint the sick or preach the gospel without Christ.”
Success
A priest’s success, she said, is rooted in his love for his vocation and for God. “If you’re not happy in the priesthood and if you’re not in love with your call, it’s very hard to encourage others… If you’re upset about the Bishop, about the Pope, you will get people doubting what’s happening in the Catholic Church… You don’t have to worry about all those things if you meet Jesus every day, and if you go out to those people… If you love them and you minister to them,” Sr Briege said.
I was criticising the greatest gift He had given because I didn’t understand”
When asked how she could explain the role of the priest to those who could have lost the appreciation for it, Sr Briege’s explained that there is a need for renewal in the priesthood, which she believes can only come through a deep relationship with Christ. “I don’t think you can renew the love for the priesthood separate from the love for Christ,” she continued. “You can’t renew it if you don’t have a deep prayer life, if you don’t have a love for the Catholic faith.”
“The first thing I did was to fall in love with Jesus, and then my eyes were open to recognise that I was criticising the priesthood. I was criticising the greatest gift He has given because I didn’t understand.” Understanding the sacraments, she said, is crucial. “Once they start to understand them [the sacraments], the renewal will begin; the love for the priesthood.”
Hope
Sr Briege is still hopeful about vocations. “We have men responding to the call to priesthood. Why? Because they fall in love with Jesus and the Catholic Church, and then they get the desire… I am a great believer that there are lots of vocations, but they are like a seed without watering. If you don’t water the seed, it won’t grow.”
She also explained the main three factors that helps increasing the number in vocations among religious orders: “One, they wear a habit, and the habit doesn’t make the nun, but it’s important. Second thing is they have community life. They live and pray and worship together. And the third thing is that they have a particular charisma.”
Priests are not simply friends to the people but spiritual fathers”
Sr Briege McKenna calls for greater support for priests from lay people and clergy, a renewed commitment to the sacraments, and a deeper understanding of the priestly vocation as a divine calling rather than a profession.
Should we re-evaluate our perspective on the priesthood? Priests are not simply friends to the people but spiritual fathers, entrusted with a divine mission, as Sr Briege explained.
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The mission of the Intercession for Priests is to pray for the spiritual and pastoral renewal of the ordained ministry in the Catholic Church. It is inspired by two words from scripture:
Simon, behold Satan desired to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. (Luke 22:31-32)
In the days of his flesh…offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears (Heb. 5:7) and is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:25).
Sr Briege McKenna, OSC came on the very first day, July 16. Her love for the Church and for the priesthood was then, and now, unconditional. Her gift of ministering to priests is quite unique.
