The priestly ministry as a service to joy

Walter Cardinal Kasper

Sint-Janscentrum
's-Hertogenbosch, 5 July 2010

The address by Walter Cardinal Kasper, titled 'The priestly ministry as a service to joy', was given on
5 July 2010 during the National Day for Priests in 's-Hertogenbosch as closing address of the cycle of
lectures at the Sint-Janscentrum for the Year of the Priest. Dutch translation: F. De Rycke.

The Year of the Priest has ended. It went differently than we had thought. The year was overshadowed
by a dark cloud cloud of scandal – first in the United States, then in Ireland, then in Germany, Austria,
Belgium and also in the Netherlands. These scandals have shocked the Church and have seriously
betrayed the trust in us priests and in the Church as institution. Nonetheless, we can't say that the Year
of the Priest has failed. On the contrary, that which has happened and has become public can also
become a kairos in the long term: a moment of mercy. For it has now become clear: the situation
simply can't be allowed to go on. We have cause for reflection, for purification and renewal.

Being a priest today

I don't wish to expand on the problems that confront priests today. Obviously I am aware that it is
problematic and stressful for a priest when he is responsible for not one, but for three, five or more
parishes, and when he finds, at the same time, that there are few who can succeed him and continue his
work. The question of how to continue automatically presents itself. In advance, I must admit: I too
know no concrete answers, I too can't offer definite solutions.

The problem isn't strictly one of numbers: more alarming are, in my opinion, the qualitative difficulties.
The discussions about the priesthood and celibacy have confused and concerned many among us, and
many of the faithful. When I became a priest more than 50 years ago, we felt supported by a great
approval of the faithful community. No one would have said: “You are a fool to make this life choice;
you could have done something better.” Such moral support is seriously lacking nowadays.

That is why we now all the more need priests with a strong inner identity, but who do not fall for the
extremity of old clericalism in new clothing. Clericalism is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. A
weak inner identity is compensated with often ludicrous outward signs. I am a supporter of dignified
clothing for priests: as priests we need to be recognisable, a visible sign that we still exist and the
message we profess is still as valid as ever. But we can't give the impression that we live in the time of
the Baroque of the 19th century: we must be people of our time and – despite the often contrary nature
of our message – to show that we are also people of the 21st century.

These considerations confront us with the problem of the priesthood in this time: we must be people of
this time and to profess: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age,
especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and
anxieties of the followers of Christ” (Gaudium et Spes 1). We must therefore be people of this time,
without losing our priestly identity. We must equally, yes, even in the first place, be contemporaries,
witnesses of Jesus Christ. In this strain, in this paradox the priesthood finds itself today. The strain is
not lifted by mere adaptation: it can only be resolved when we consider the identification with Jesus
Christ and His 'cause' as a contrasting program necessary for life and salvation.
But before we asks ourselves, “What will the priest of the future be like?” and “What sort of priests do
we need in the 21st century?”, we must first ask ourselves a more fundamental question: “What exactly
is a priest?”

The priest as man of God

Paul calls his disciple Timothy a “man of God” (1 Tim: 6, 11). That means more than that we, as
priests, are essentially the ground personnel of God, officials of the company 'God and Son': we are not
trade representatives of God, who try to sell their wares as cheaply as possible. Our motivation for
speaking about God is also not merely the fact that it is part of our job, that we are being paid for it.
The context in which Paul addresses his disciple Timothy as 'man of God' shows that there is more to
it. The apostle warns against conflict, greed, evil desires, and he calls for justice, piety, faith, love,
perseverance and mildness.

This does not solely indicated moral rectitude; it means that the priest, not only with his mouth but with
his whole existence and his entire life, should witness of God's existence, that He is a living God, that
He is a God of people. In a world which thinks it can get by without God, he must vouch for God. The
priest must keep heaven open in this world which is enclosed in upon itself, so to speak. In this world,
which usually does not explicitly deny God, but pushes Him to the edge and lives past Him, the priest
must show that God is a reality for Him personally and through him for others, a God which we can
and must acknowledge. The priest mainly does this through being a man of prayer, and by setting
norms for himself and his life.

He must open a dimension which nowadays mostly remains shut, although it is of vital importance,
even necessary for life. The priest must show: that which we can see, determinate, calculate, plan and
make is not the only reality – and certainly not the so-called definite reality. Put positively, a priest
must radiate: you are not solely a product of evolution or blind chance. There is Someone who knows
you, loves you, listens to you, accepts you, with Whom you are safe in life and death. Point and
purpose really exist, even when everything seems to end in nonsense: against all despair we may have
real hope.

There has therefore already been talk of a necessary theocentric turnabout in the priestly ministry. With
faith in God a priest's life collapses. The priest must be marked with a passion for God and for His
'cause': The Kingdom of God. This makes the priest into a theologian in the original meaning of the
word: someone who witnesses of God with all the fibres of his heart. Because the living God is
nowadays anything but self-evident, the priest is seen as the odd one out. A priest is different, and must
be different in many instances. A priest is a disturbance. In this context we must, however, differentiate
between, on the one hand, the unavoidable skandalon, the faith as a stumbling block, and, on the other
hand, the scandals which should not exist and of which we ourselves of guilty.

We can take one step further. The priest does not solely speak about God, he also acts in the name of
God: when he administers the sacraments, when he speaks the words of consecration or absolution.
This makes clear how valuable people are to God: He takes people into His service to do what He
could do alone as well. Considered thusly, the priest is a sign of the descent of God. Exactly this also
struck the Curé of Ars when he was considering the mystery of the priesthood.

All this means that, especially in the modern situation of being removed from God, we can't focus on
side-issues and can't allow secondary phenomena and issues to dirtact us. It is time to focus on the
essential. It is time to speak about God and to witness of Him. We can't do this in a vague and pale
way: we must be witnesses of God, Who has shown us His human and loving face in Jesus Christ. This
brings me to my next point.

Friendship with Jesus Christ

Jesus calls his disciples 'friends'. “I shall no longer call you servants. […] I call you friends, because I
have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father” (John 15: 15). With this I have
reached a second fundamental statement about the priesthood, and I have touched upon the deepest and
most intimate part of being a priest. Being a priest implies a friendship with Jesus.

To make this clear, I would like to start with a Bible text which has come to mean a lot to me on my
way to the priesthood. The conscious experience took place, about 60 years ago, when I was a student
in grammar school. I can still picture the church building, the place where I sat, and I can even recall
some literal sentences from the homily in question, about the calling of the first disciples according to
the Gospel of John (1: 31-51).

Both disciples were listening to John the Baptist: “See the Lamb of God!” Immediately they were
touched more deeply, an expectation and hope of which they themselves have no clear picture yet.
They follow Christ, not without some trepidation. When He turns and asks them: “What do you want?”
they timidly answer: “Rabbi, where do you live?” He invites them: “Come and see!” For them, this
meeting was important and radical enough that, many years later, they still could say at what time it
took place: “It was about the tenth hour”.

Today too, many stories of vocations take a similar shape. They start with an inner search, with the
goal of that search often unclear at the start. Today there are many more young people than we think,
who think about the process of human development. They are on average a bit older than in the past,
often they have all ready started another study, or have already finished one, some were already
working. But they are searching for more, and wonder if Jesus is the answer to their quest. They just
try. Because finding an answer to that search requires the necessary time, nowadays often a
significatntly longer period than in the past. One should allow oneself this time, and live with Jesus.
'Live' implies more than simply 'stay with': it means being at ease with, at home, being with others in
such a way that one comes closer to oneself, because one knows to be accepted. 'Living' means: having
found the place of one's existence.

Being a priest and a Christian can only be understood and lived via a personally experienced,
continuously renewed and intensified friendship with Jesus, with perseverence in the difficulties which
present themselves in both the one as the other state of life. With John, the Beloved Apostle, we must
always lie at the breast of Jesus to hear Him (John 13: 23); we must accompany Him on His ways;
study in His school; and finally we must persevere with Him on the Mount of Olives; and travel on the
road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35). There, when we are discouraged and ready to give up, He will better
and deeper explain to us the meaning of Scripture: the will of God – to then truly recognise Him in the
breaking of the Bread, in the celebration of the Eucharist. The we can say, with the disciples of
Emmaus: “He has truly risen!” He lives. He has conquered the forces of evil, of deception and of
violence; and we too will live with Him and in Him.

In the current vocations crisis there is no other way out than the assignment that Pope John Paul II, as
trailblazer for the new century and the new millennium, suggested at the end of the great Jubilee Year
2000: to make a new start from Jesus Christ. To find His visage. That was the program of all renewal
movements in the history of the Church. For us too, today, there is no other.
But one could rightfully ask: does this not go for every Christian? Undoubtedly: every Christian is
baptised for and in Christ, and called to follow the Lord. That is why there is there general priesthood
of all the faithful. But the New Testament also teaches us that Jesus called specific men from the large
group of His disciples. The Gospel of Mark especially describes this in a significant way (Mk 3: 13-
19). Mark ends: “He made them His disciples”. The vocation is an efficacious, creative word that
makes the persons called into disciples. This indicates the creative and irreducible, qualitatively new
element of the specific vocation of the disciples. The vocation does not only impose an outward,
permanent office; it leaves a mark on the entire life and gives a new, metaphysical quality. The
disciples who Jesus calls and sends, are called by name by Him. They are not anonymous,
interchangeable, impersonal officials: they carry a name, by which they are known and accepted; in
their own person do they guarantee their 'cause'. They are witnesses with their entire person. Only as
witnesses can they convince.

The meaning of this way of being witnesses is explained by Jesus immediately before the statement: “I
call you friends”, namely: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (John
15: 13). Jesus has gone before us in that. It is written about Jesus himself, on the eve of his passion and
death: “Jesus [...], having loved those who were his in the world, loved them to the end” (John 13, 1).
Jesus' self-giving in His death is the 'non plus ultra' of His love and His friendship with us. Who
follows Him must take up his cross and follow (Matt. 10: 39, 16: 24).

With that we reach a defining point, which makes clear what being a priest means. At the end of the
1960s and the beginning of the 1970s it was common to say that Jesus had never characterised himself
and his disciples as priests: On the contrary, in the footsteps of the prophets, he would have criticised
and even abolished cultic and sacrificial practices and with that the cultic priesthood as well. This
thesis expresses a certain truth, but is only a half-truth. With the prophets and the psalms Jesus
subjected the cultic priesthood to a critical and new interpretation.

Tjis new interpretation is expressed in Jesus' words at the last supper, when he speaks about giving
himself 'for many' with the words of the songs of the suffering servant from the book of Isaiah (Isa 53:
12, Mt 26: 28 etc). Saint Paul expresses this as follows: “This is my body for you” (1 Cor 11: 24),
which means: my life, my existence for you. The Letter to the Hebrews puts the words of Psalm 40 in
Jesus' mouth: “You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me a body. […] I am coming
to do your will” (Heb 10: 5, 9). Plainly, this means: the priest, and Jesus as high priest, does not give or
sacrifice anything, but gives himself.

This personal and new interpretation of the priesthood indicates the revelation of the deepest mystery
of God. Because God is love (1 John 4: 8, 16). “For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only
Son” (John 3: 16). Becoming and being a priest implies a total surrender. God's self-communication,
revealed in the pre-existence of Jesus; making His radical existence-for-God and for fellow men the
core of one's own life, means: making his own life into a gift for God and for others.

Such a priestly way of life contrasts sharply with the modern widespread individualistic and hedonistic
way of life, which tires to get as much out of life as possible and yet is never content. Such a priestly
way of life also disagrees with clerical career drive, with striving for power, influence and prestige.
Against these urges Jesus puts: “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses
his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8: 35). This means: giving of
self as a means of self-realisation.

This basic attitude as the heart of priestly life is brought to our attention and actualised when, during
the Eucharist, we sat these words in the name and person of Jesus: “This is my body which will be
given up for you”, “This is my blood which will be shed for all”. The celebration of the Eucharist
therefore forms in an existential way the heart and power source of the priestly life.

With and for others

Everything that has been said up till now shows: the priest is part of the community of all Christians,
together all take part in the priesthood of Christ. All are brothers and sisters, and so the first Christians
called each other friends (3 John 15). Strictly on the basis of his office the priest is no better or holier
than the other Christians. Just like everyone else he must confess his sins, just like everyone he depends
on the mercy of God and his fellow men. Often he will be put to shame when confronted with the
intense religious life of the Christian faithful entrusted to him.

The youngest council has recalled the teaching of the communal priesthood, based in baptism and
showed that the priest is not a part of some higher class or caste. The time that bishops were lords and
princes, and priests parish despots is over. The temptations of a new clericalism must be withstood
radically. They do not express a faithful dynamic, but insecurity which clings to outdated class
differences and habits. Many have experienced these developments as detrimental to the formal
priesthood. In reality they are an enrichment. The fraternal bond with all Christian liberates the priest
from an unnatural loneliness: it gives him a home in the faith community as one great family and
enriches him with the many gifts available in the community.

The formal priestly ministry is grounded in the communal priestly way of being of all Christians, as
based in baptism. Before a future priest can be sent to a specific ministry he must, with the others, grow
in the community and friendship with Jesus Christ and proof himself in that. He must show that he is a
good Christian and is not only able to teach others the Christian faith but also live it. He must learn to
respect other charismata, also those of women, and work with them.

The other way around, the communal priesthood of all the faithful is dependant on the ministry of the
formal priesthood. We don't have ourselves for the communal priesthood; we can experience it by
ourselves alone either. It was given to us in a way which conforms to the incarnation of God in Jesus
Christ: in a human way. It is mediated through human words and human signs, which we call the
sacraments. The faith community can't authorise itself to speak these words and administer the
sacraments. She can take the direction over her existence in her own hands; that is not in agreement
with the merciful character of the Christian existence. The special mission and authorisation of the
ordained priesthood is needed for that. This represents the non-makeable merciful character of
Christian existence.

Those who are called to the priestly ministry must prepare the other faithful for the service entrusted to
them (Eph. 4: 12). They are Christian with the others and priest for the others. This characterises the
priestly existence with a tensions between 'in' and 'against'. The priest is part of the faith community,
but in performing his ministry he authoritatively stands before her. St. Augustine expressed this tension
in his famous statements: “With you am I a Christian, for you I am a bishop” (Sermo 340: 1).

The priest serves and may speak in the name of Christ and act in persona Christi. “Anyone who listens
to you listens to me” (Luke 10: 16). Paul especially expresses is strongly: “So we are ambassadors for
Christ; it is as though God were urging you through us, and in the name of Christ we appeal to you” (2
Cor. 5: 20). Acting in the name and in the person of Jesus also implies speaking and acting in a similar
way as he has spoken and acting and related to people. Of himself He said: “I am among you as one
who serves” (Luke 22: 27). He emptied and humiliated himself (Phil. 2: 7). The ordained authorisation
is therefore not power: it does not mean control, but service. “Anyone who wants to be first among you
must be slave to all” (Mark 10: 44). We are not masters over the faith of others, but servants of their
joy (2 Cor. 1: 24). So Paul too does not demand the prime, but the last place for himself (1 Cor. 4: 9)
and he often likens himself to garbage.

The priest – a cleric

When this is being said, the question of is: “Who can do this? Can I do it?” The first disciples already
stood perplexed and wondered, when the heard the radical words about the imitation of Christ: “Who
can be saved, then?” Jesus' answers is as follows: “By human resources this is impossible; for God
everything is possible” (Matt. 19: 25-26). That is why He didn't send the disciples out immediately
before His ascension, but ordered them to wait until they had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1: 4-8).

The priesthood is not an achievement of ourselves; it is not a matter of high-wire stunts. Not without
reason hands were laid upon during our ordination and was the Spirit of God communicated to us (Acts
6:6, 8:17-19, 13:3, 19:6l 1 Tim 4:14, 2 Tim 1:6). Priests are therefore called 'spiritual'. Obviously all
the faithful, via their baptism and confirmation, have part in the Holy Spirit. All are spiritual. Yet the
Spirit is given to each in a specific way. Already in the New Testament there is a specific Spirit-
charism which is communicated through the laying on of hands and through prayer. In difficult times
that may be the solid point that we can rely on, so to speak.

Of course we can only rely on that when we also live from the Spirit and according to the Spirit.
Necessarily and essentially, a spiritual way of life is part of the priestly ministry. Much may be said
about that specifically; about the prayer life (which is absolutely necessary) and the reception of the
sacrament of Penance, as well as a correct relation with earthly goods. A life of poverty is not expected
from the priest, but a lifestyle in apostolic simplicity and modesty, helpfulness, generosity and
availability, in short: pro-existence. In this context I can't delve in to that further.

Since there is so much discussion about this topic, I want to devote some words to celibacy. I am aware
that many lay people and also many priests argue and struggly for a change in the laws of celibacy.
This demand is not new: in the course of history it was regularly formulated: in the 11th and 12th
centuries in the context of the Gregorian reform, in the 16th century in the Reformation, in the 18th and
19th centuries with the Catholic Enlightenment and after the secularisation. The main reason for the
demand, the shortage of priest, is also not new: in the 16th and the 18th/19th centuries the need was
just as pressing.

I suspect I am now disappointing you. But in all honesty I must confess: in the first place there is,
realistically, not the slightest chance of a fundamental change, not only from the side of Rome, but also
not from the world's episcopate. I can't raise false expectations which will later be all the more
frustrated, nor do I want to. In the second place the situation in the evangelical church communities
would look positive, were the thesis true that the desired changes would improve the situation. These
communities, after all, have since long answered to the desired demands – abolition of celibacy and the
ordination of women. Is there situation really any better? Granted: they have more ministers, but they
have significantly less churchgoers and actively participating faithful, and the women do not display a
greater contentment about their church communities. In the third place there is the argument that
celibacy has no Biblical foundation and was only introduced in the 12th century (Second Lateran
Council, 1139). This argument is repeated time and again, but does not stand up to modern historical
criticism.

I can repeat the most important argument, similarly, only in staccato. It is true that a priest not being
married is not a divine commandment. But is based on Biblical grounds. To mention the most
important: Jesus himself has, in total contrast with the then-current ideas about rabbinic life, lived
celibately. He expressly spoke about the celibacy for the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 19: 11 etc). The
first disciples left everything, including heir families (Matt. 19: 27). Even in the time immediately
following the time of the Apostles, the Church took the counsel of Apostle (1 Cor. 7: 25) to heart and
acknowledged that being celibate for the sake of the 'Lord's affairs' (1 Cor. 7: 33 etc) greatly befits the
priesthood. Recent scientific research has showed that the prescription of chastity goes back to the
period immediately following the Apostles; many researchers even speak of an Apostolic tradition. The
new developments at the start of the second millennium only consisted of the demand for chastity
developing into the prohibition of marriage for priests, and that the priestly ordination was recognised
as a canonical impediment for marriage.

The Second Vatican Council has confirmed this more than 1,500-year-old tradition of chastity and
confirmed the laws of celibacy (Presbyterorum Ordinis 16). In arguing against the laws of celibacy one
can't fall back on the letter nor on the spirit of the council. On the contrary! All post-conciliar popes has
confirmed the decision of the council and deepened it theologically and spiritually. Ina modern
perspective the laws of celibacy do not concern a dogmatic teaching, but neither does it concern mere
disciplinary commandments: it is a theologically supported and ancient tradition and practice of the
Church. With the best will in the world I can't imagine a pope or council which would fundamentally
change this tradition.

Of course I am familiar for the counter arguments, and I don't have any illusions when it comes to the
concrete difficulties of living celibate in the excessively oversexualised and eroticised society. The
escatological symbolism of freely chosen celibacy for the Kingdom of Heaven can be expained only
difficultly. But we must be clear regarding this: not only celibacy, but also Christian marriage is in a
crisis. Of both one can ask how they can be lived in a society in which the classic Christian values of
sexuality, marriage and family have deteriorated.

The celibate way of life can therefore only be lived in a consciously accepted Christian existence. That
requires, more than in the past, pedagogical and psychological preparation and equipment. The freely
chosen celibacy is a form of 'leaving everything' (Mark 10: 28), to live in full communion and
friendship with Jesus and to be sent where He wants. Celibacy provides an interior and exterior
freedom for the undivided service to the Gospel, because it prevents many worldly cares and
considerations about the family (1 Cor. 7: 28-35).

Before anything else, one can only wish a priest that he, in friendship, can relate to women who have
that human maturity and dignity and who respect and support the spiritual way of life of the priest. The
woman who can help us best is Mary. For me this is more than just a casual pious phrase. This
statement is supported with the personal experience of me and of many priests, who witness that a
healthy Marian piety is a part of the celibate way of life.

Because celibacy belongs in a wider context, an isolated change of the conditions of admission would,
on the long term, not lead to an increase in candidates for the priesthood. Only when we will succeed in
triggering a fascination for a spiritual way of life and can lead an exemplary and inspiring priestly life,
can we make progress. Like in the past, vocations to the priesthood today still appear when young men
meet priests who appear convincing to them.

The beauty of the priestly ministry

Amid all the difficulties, hardships and disillusionment we must rediscover the beauty of the priestly
ministry. I can only give some pointers.

The priest as shepherd, who brings people together, leads them to the wellsprings of Life, who,
following the example of the Good Shepherd, searches for those who lost the way: those who have
gone to ground, have been marginalised, who are in material or spiritual need; that priest with a heart
for the poor and the small and with a good word for all.

The priest as messenger and witness of the Gospel, the Good and liberating News; the priest who
explains the Word of God as the Light of Life and the Light of the world, who gives direction, opens up
horizons of sense and hope, who encourages and radiates trust.

The priest as servant of reconciliation. Hew is the only one who can not only understand guilt and can
help process it, but who can also say: “Your sins are forgiven”, and with that declares that you can and
may make a new start. As I see it one of the deepest wound in the Body of the Church is the disregard
of the sacrament of Reconciliation and that we practice or office of mercy so rarely. What does the
world need more than mercy and reconciliation, after all?

Lastly we may, in the sacraments, accompany people in all the crucial events of their lives, from their
birth to their death. The Eucharist is the celebration of the great last will of the Lord, she is centre and
high point of the life of the Church and of the priest. The young Church celebrated the 'breaking of the
Bread' with escatological gladness (Acts 2: 46), expressed in the exclamation 'Maranatha', 'our Lord
comes' (1 Cor. 16: 22). The celebration of the Eucharist anticipates the joy of the Kingdom of God, it
gives a foretaste and a pledge of the coming joy, it is a liturgy of the world which involves the entire
cosmos, i already brings heaven to earth, it is a sacrament of hope.

This sounds very beautiful, but such a summation can also lead to despair. How can we achieve unity
in all this? How can all this be achieved when one cares for three, four, five or more parishes, when
one's own strenghts diminish with age, but duties increase? I am aware that many literally work and
labour 'like crazy' until they are finally out of breath, exhausted and possibly also disillusioned. Many
are torn apart inside and out and do no longer succeed in achieving unity in their life.

I can't give any practical advice. It can however be helpful when one, from a theological point of view,
assumes the Eucharist to be the core of priestly acting. All other tasks of a priest either lead towards the
Eucharist or stem from it. The other sacraments point at the Eucharist or focus around it.. Baptism and
confirmation are the entrace gate, the sacrament of reconciliation readmits the sinner into the full
Eucharistic community. The anointing of the sick and dying prepares for the participation in the
completion of the Eucharist and the heavenly wedding banquet. Ordination authorises for the
celebration of the Eucharist; the sacrament of marriage symbolises the unity and love between Christ
and the Church (Eph. 5: 21-33) and makes marriage and family into a sort of house church (Lumen
Gentium 11).

The celebration of the Eucharist is not only goal and means, but also starting point, source of strength
for the mission in the world. We can not share the Eucharistic bread when we don't also share the bread
daily. The Eucharistic communio must urge us to a culture of sharing, solidarity and fraternity.

From such a Eucharistic viewpoint and concentration of priestly ministry and pastoral care and clear
list of prioritities can be created. Analogous we can apply the rule of Saint Benedict: “Let nothing be
put before the work of God”(Chapter 43). We can also say: the Eucharist must have prevalence above
all else: it mut be the centre from which everything else receives meaning.
Servant of joy
I will conclude with some considerations about the phrase under which I put my priestly ministry 53
years ago, and which today still seems to me to be a true assignment for all priests, namely: to be a
servant of joy. In essence man is born for joy. Everyone wants to be happy. But where do we find
happiness? The question is especially important today, because there is often a lack of happiness, at
least when this means more than amusement, fun and entertainment. The beauty of the priestly ministry
exists in that it still remains beautiful, even when entertainment falls flat. Certainly, the innocent daily
joys that often make life bearable must not be denied. Nothing may be limited, but much, even decesive
things, must be offered to us above that The Gospel of John speaks of the fulfillment of joy (John. 15:
11). To me it seems an important task to help people discover the true sources of joy.

Daily joys, so to speak, prepare us for, they anticipate, they make us cry out for more, for a joy that
does not immediately evaporate, but which remains. In this way Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman
and Jacob's well (John. 4: 13) and to the crowd who wanted to declare him their king after the miracle
of the loaves (John 6: 27, 35, 49-51,54). This positive starting point for a Christian humanism seems to
me to be the right pastoral approach today. We must not search out people's weaknesses and try to
exploit these pastorally; it is better to find a lead to what greatness and beauty is present in life, and use
that to trigger a desire for God. Only God is great enough to fullfill the total size, the height, depth and
width of our hearts. “God alone is enough” (St. Teresa of Avila). Augustine can witness, as a summary
of his life philosophy: “You have created us to You, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in
You (Confessiones I, 1).

One shouldn't dream for so long about this joy until one has overslept. The believer knows that he is
now already accepted and raised; his life is now already definitely safe in the love of God. “Nothing
will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:
39).

So we have no reason to only declare bad tidings, play dirges and sing laments. We must pronounce
the message of the resurrection, of joy and hope. The ministry of the priest, despite the Cross which is
also part of, is already illuminated with the light of the resurrection. The priest announces the message
of Easter: that is how he can bring orientation, light, comfort, trust, hope and joy in the lives of many
people. He must witness of it: “The joy of Yahweh is your strength” (Neh. 8: 10).

In this way the priesthood is not played out. It remains, in the future as well, a necessary and
preventative service for people. For the priest himself it is a rewarding and beautiful ministry. The
prayer of the priest at the start of the Eucharist in the preconciliar liturgy from Psalm 42 (43) remains
undoubtedly true: 'Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam, 'I will go in unto the
altar of God, to God who giveth joy to my youth'. Today and in the future, the priest can still be a
servant of joy (2 Cor. 1: 24). I do not regret that, 53 years ago, I chose this profession. I would do it
again.

's-Hertogenbosch, 5 July 2010

Walter Cardinal Kasper