My Priestly Ministry

My Priestly Ministry

Copyright © 2018 by Mark Escobar

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-0215-0 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-0216-7 (eBook)

Does the road wind uphill all the way?

Yes, to the very end

Will the day’s journey take

the whole long day?

From morn to night my friend.¹

1 Christina Rossetti (1830-1894). Uphill in Literature. Seventh Edition. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. (Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011). 905.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Looking Back On Things Past

On Priesthood

A. Calling to the Priesthood – Its Missionary Journey

B. Theological Foundation of the Priesthood of Christ

C. Letter to the Hebrews and Vatican II Perspective

D. Biblical Model of Leadership in the Context of Shepherding

E. Scholarly Contributions by Contemporary Theologians to the Priesthood

On Prayer

A. Turning to God in Prayer

B. Praying with the female metaphor for God

C. Understanding St. Teresa of Avila’s Contemplative Prayer and Detachment

On Spiritual Direction

A. Spiritual direction as an accompaniment

B. Integration of St. Teresa of Ávila’s Experience of God – Its Significance in Spiritual Direction

C. Important Aspects of Teresa of Avila’s Life

D. An interior movement with St John of the Cross

On Ministry

A. Addressing my Ministry in relation to ‘Doing theology’

B. Interfacing Life and Faith in My Ministry

C. A Christian Metaphor in My Ministry – God is love

D. My experience as a Hospital Chaplain – A Focus on Making Moral Judgments in Bioethics

E. My Experience in Caregiving– A Mission and Ministry

On Church

A. The Church of Cultures in its Global Trends Reflects the Mystical Body of Christ

B. Shared Leadership and Integration in a Culturally Diverse Community

C. Pastoral Suggestions for Formation of Ordained Ministers in a Culturally Diverse Parish

D. The Laity in Today’s Church

E. Moving Through Many Seasons with a Sense of Sustainability

F. The Challenges of Bioethics in the Church Community

G. Some Lessons Learned that Bring to Deeper Understanding of Bioethical Awareness

On Faith, Hope and Charity

A. How I see God in the Dark

B. Aquinas’ theological virtues ripple across my friendship with God

C. An Inner Look at St. Augustine’s life

D. The Christology of Gregory of Nyssa Reflects God’s Trinitarian Mystery on Love

E. Understanding Christian Faith in People’s Lives

F. Faith: A Core Value of Mission with the Italian Immigrants in Pompeii Church, New York

G. Scalabrinian Missionaries in Providence, Rhode Island – A Vision Quest

Epilogue

Supplementary Reading

Conclusion

Bibliography Of Cited Works

Scripture Index

Subject And Author Index

About the Author

ON BEING A MISSIONARY DISCIPLE – A GIFT OF PERSPECTIVE

Acknowledgments

The writing of this book incorporated a number of key issues designed to keep the inner flame of prayer, service, and awareness of contemporary issues alight in my ministry as a priest. Living in a digital age, the message of life-giving witness still remains the centerpiece of my calling. It has significant movements with sensitivity to the presence of God in different cultures. It reflects awareness of people around us with a sense of mission – willing to be broken, shared, and be of service to others.

While I stay focused on the core of integrating the essentials in Christian life, there is the work of taking to heart that sense of gratitude for the graces and blessings that God has given us. It is in this way that I have the opportunity to express my thanks.

I would like to give prominence to all whom I walked with in my ministry in parishes and mission apostolates. I am deeply indebted to those who helped me better understand the connections of my priesthood with contemporary issues, the richness of cultures, the languages and customs, and of course, the potential of social media. Their faith-inspired vision as men and women in the world with others shaped my vocation through spiritual discernment and commitment to loving. Its broader dimension reflects that kind of awareness that, like those two disciples on the way to Emmaus, Jesus journeys with us (Lk 24:35), provides us with a new roadmap or direction, and sends us to a new challenge that enables us to bring others to encounter Christ.

My deep appreciation goes out to Bishop John A. Boissonneau, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto, for his invaluable advice and feedback in the course of writing this book. In spite of his busy schedule with responsibility for the Western Region that includes 70 parishes in the west part of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of Peel-Dufferin,² he still found the time to read the manuscript. He steered the first draft towards being focused and discreet in refining my flashes of memories and insights. With this, he provided me with direction and encouragement to address some shortcomings in the manuscript.

My religious congregation, the Missionaries of St. Charles - Scalabrinians, was particularly a source of strength and evangelizing presence in my ministry with migrants. Notwithstanding our individual differences and idiosyncrasies, our stories of discipleship that weaves a tapestry of missionary vocation, enabled me to weather many storms and transformed them into God’s location of grace.

I have memories of people that I would like to thank warmly for their contribution to my growth into the priesthood. This includes my family, friends, formators, teachers, and confrères who helped me articulate those so-called ‘invisible moving pieces in my heart’ that enabled me to connect with people even in the most difficult of circumstances.

The last but not least, I am indebted to Miss Azucena Lee, professor of English as a Second Language and a PhD candidate, for her suggestions and editorial assistance especially in the final stage of the manuscript. Her patience and enthusiasm to be of help to others allowed me to also trust in prayer. From one of the revelations of the visionary anchoress Julian of Norwich, she wrote, All shall be well, ...., and all manner of things shall be well.³

2 https://www.archtoronto.org/about-us/bishops/bishop-john-a-boissonneau Accessed on July 10, 2018

3 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/53633-all-shall-be-well-and-all-shall-be-well-and. Accessed February 21, 2018. From Julian of Norwich’s Consolations, in which she expressed her belief that sin was part of our human condition.

Foreword

In the parable of the talents (Mt 25:14-30) we hear a proclamation which encourages all Christians but is especially poignant for clergy since it is quoted in the ritual homily at the ordination of a deacon:

Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord

Although sharing together with all members of the presbyteral college in the grace of being a priest of Jesus Christ, each priest lives his life of service and ministry in the unique conditions of his own humanity, history and hope. Like the servant in the parable each priest is called to receive God’s gifts and to listen in discernment so to use those gifts to make the people of God an offering to the Lord. In the life of the local Church those lives of service and ministry are to be recalled and treasured.

In his work, On Being a Missionary Disciple – A Gift of Perspective, Father Mark Escobar recalls and treasures his own journey of faith and priesthood. He acknowledges that this work is an opportunity to express his gratitude for the journey and to the Lord who is leading him.

Part biography and part reflection on the meaning and living of priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church during these challenging times, this work opens to us the experience and discernment of Fr. Escobar in a frank and engaging manner.

I hope that it will be an informative and thought-provoking read for all of you. We are grateful to Fr. Mark in accepting the courage and trust to share with us.

Bishop John A. Boissonneau

Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto

Introduction

Over the past two decades of my priestly life, I have thought of compiling my written reflections, essays, and experiences in the ministry. From a range of perspectives, there is a wealth of insights, a connection between faith and life, and a reflective dimension on seeing a number of issues and concerns in people’s lives. That is the general movement on how I deal with these things or how I treat them with a common vocabulary of discourse that endeavors to center on relationships, having a mantra of commitment to loving, particularly in my journey as a missionary priest.

Drawn from the fine insights found in biblical interpretations, historical allusions, spirituality of the saints, and other disciplines, I made an effort to bring to light the core meaning of service, prayer, care, and discernment. It says, . . . For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). When we listen to the needs of our people, we consider some available resources we have, and discern where God leads us to be of help to them.

As a spiritual shepherd, my mission is to serve Christ through my sisters and brothers in this world. I am called to be true to my vocation, to Christ himself. My priesthood reflects that biblical leadership of shepherding. It belongs not exclusively to the clergy but to the whole people of God. Christ the Lord, High Priest taken from among men (Heb. 5:1-5) made a kingdom and priests to God his Father (Rev.1:6-8) out of their new people.

By the same token, it reminds me of what Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, What we have learned from others becomes our own reflection.⁴ In the course of time, I have come to terms with people of all backgrounds and cultures. They have taught me how to shape that sense of vision and hope in me that has been significant in responding to their needs with sensitivity to the presence of God in cultures and other religious traditions. They have provided me with inspiration that, on my part, has generated reflections and even multiple mental pictures of what I mean by theology and ministry in the grassroots.

Given the ongoing theological movements in today’s world, to be critical of a theology in ministry that interacts with the modern social and political context shares this question: how can the theology of the church be contextualized or adapted to the current lives of the people and yet remain distinctively Christian and morally attuned to the gospel values? Liberation theology, for instance, is one example of a theological method that seeks to speak to twenty-first century culture by contextualizing biblical truth and relating to present reality in a conscientious and critical manner. In light of that, my theological approach in the ministry interweaves in the process of contextualization, correlation, and exploration.

While I reflect on the connections between faith and human experience, between knowledge and discipleship, the inner reality of the churches these days has cast light on certain issues, e.g., the Church of North America is faced with ethnocentric conflict in multicultural societies, bioethical issues, and massive efforts for the evangelization of people. The Church of Asia, however, is faced with the experiences from different faith traditions; their preferential option for the poor and being disenfranchised. The same hold true for the Latin American Church. As a priest, I am also challenged to know how to react to these concerns. For the umpteenth time the life of discipleship has its deep concern with these matters that deserve to be accorded special weight in my ministry.

If there are two Andalusian styles, i.e., flamenco from Spain and Arab-Andalusian music from Morocco which diverged in the 15th and 16th century, when Roman Catholic Spain expelled and converted Jews and Muslims to Catholicism, there are also two sources that have stood out in the course of my priestly ministry. These are: my faith-inspired vision that shapes those elements of my deeply held values in my calling as a missionary priest; and the connections of the Word of God with contemporary issues, witnesses of the saints, and historical allusions to other disciplines.

The linkage between human experience and growing knowledge of scripture appears significant with faith commitment in today’s culture. We are deluged, however, with images, evidences shown in media networks, and scholarships of a burgeoning interest in spirituality, mission, and other disciplines. Proliferation of literature has made its way that carries foundational aspects of our Christian life – its legitimate contribution to social, spiritual and theological formation of an individual.

With the untold wealth of locating my life upon God’s word, with unveiled faces at the different pictures of Christ in the gospel and with deep roots in the word (see Jas 1:21), I have learned through trials and tests of faith the foundation of my priestly life based on God’s word – Christ’s teachings. It is to build on Christ and with Christ is to build on a foundation that is based on his will. It means to build with Christ who is my top priority. Christ in his mysterious power makes himself present through the message of the gospels, through the sacraments, and through saintly believers who reflect his features in a manner suited to their own situations and possibilities.⁵

In the world of today, the continuing secular shift at many angles of human life has been a great deal of a challenge, e.g., the superiority of conscience over the law and biblical teaching. It is like an epiphany that gives birth to a free market where everyone can have his or her own choice and priority. There are times that I grieve at the thought of accepting some discretionary leverage that deals with the young generation today. In this case, the standards of ethics have taken a nosedive.

Our journey together reminds me to persevere in faith, to live a blameless life, and to commit myself into the sacredness of my priesthood. It says in the Bk. of Psalms, Faithfulness is the essence of your word, your righteous rulings hold good for ever (119:160).

4 Cf. http://homeinsteaders.org/authors/ralph-waldo-emerson/#sthash.XmDtqdTI.dpbs - accessed January 26, 2018

5 Cf. Avery Dulles, S.J. The Ecclesial Dimension of Faith. Communio: International Review. Fall 1995. 431.

Looking Back On Things Past

Each of us has episodes in life that are densely layered with relationships, interior realities, and allusions to numerous sources in this world. They abound with a common chord that shares a variety of concerns and priorities. They are experiences that run across the meaning and purpose of being ‘called’ in this world. It may not be in a consecrated life or ordained ministry, but there is a commonality of goal that ‘we are made for relationship and find our personhood only in and through relationships.’⁶ This is our defining human vocation;⁷ a significant step towards discernment. Its ongoing quest for truth and integration articulates our calling or the so-called vocation that reflects a journey of relationships along with that concept of service to others. With that, we feel like it is time to dwell in possibility, as Emily Dickinson wrote,⁸ to seek well-aged insights of others, like that of Benedict’s Rule that brings us not to external ordering of our lives but rather, to a genuine seeking after God.

A journey with God through others is like a unity of circles with a familiar pattern that connects in different time and space. Seeing our brothers and sisters, for instance, being treated badly, it is implicit in our role to raise our voices or defend them. Our faith demands action. As St. James said in his letter, What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works (Jas 2:14, 18).

Through the years, the enduring strengths necessary to deal with challenges and difficulties especially when the darkest time of night, as it is said, comes just before dawn, have shaped me like an ‘ethical interest of practical wisdom.’ Like anybody else, I have gone through some rough times at major crossroads. Being human, I have stumbled and even suffered as a consequence of my shortcomings, failures, and weaknesses. It is truly in these times that I have learned to grow by embracing the tough edges of different personalities, and acquiring some insights that have seasoned me against hurts. These things have led me to recognize God’s abiding presence in many events of my life; to witness the good news of God’s love by responding to this reality – total giving of oneself that responds to life as Jesus did.

One of the things that I treasure most throughout my years in the seminary is the importance and value of making and nurturing good friendships. Finding someone good is not about finding someone with zero shortcomings or behavioral intricacies. It is about finding someone that we can afford to be with, whose strengths elevate us and whose shortcomings do not aggravate ours but would rather go the extra mile and help us develop new plans and move him through difficulties. This is one perspective in relationship that enabled me to focus on my goals and strategies that strive to build a way of life rooted in Christ.

Some of us, however, prefer individual work to communal endeavor in everyday life. We think that we can survive and do it all by ourselves. It is not true.

There is one incident in the gospel about the paralytic man who was helped by his friends or the bed carriers who went onto the roof of the house, broke open the roof, and lowered the paralyzed man down into the crowd right in front of Jesus (Matt 9:1-8; Mk 2:1-12; Lk 5:17-26). Although no one knows anything about the relationship of these men and the paralyzed man, their faith in Jesus made a difference and that led to his healing. They had gone an extra mile by carrying their friend to where Jesus could heal him. Jesus was touched by their faith, i.e., that of the paralytic and the bed carriers combined. With that, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven. Stand up, take your bed and go to your home (Matt 9:5-6).

St. Ireneaus of Lyons once wrote, "The glory⁹ of God is a human being fully alive." With apologies to St. Ireneaus, I am reminded of this meaning: that we are most fully alive when we are in right relationship with ourselves, with our companions in the community, and with God. Our shared values on preserving the threads of a common attitude make me realize that we are humans; weak and tantamount to keeping our feelings under wraps. In a similar vein, anything that demeans or diminishes people should be entirely foreign to our ministry. Being drawn to form relationships; enhance human bonding and also bonding with sacred forces which are our encounter with God through our journey with people, I cannot help but be awakened within myself a sensitivity to other cultures with a global consciousness, i.e., free from racism, injustice, and prejudice.

Religious life has a tapestry of formative values which mirror images of deformities among members and a roller coaster of human issues, e.g., competitive behavior, identity formation, anger management. From working to sharing our temporal goods and praying as a community, our individual differences continue to challenge me on how to define what it really means to be a missionary where the Church is already established. I am challenged though, to be at home first with myself, e.g., to see this as part of who I am to others, accepting what I find, and being at ease with them. I think every culture has its own shapes and forms. What draws to these is to learn how to be transparent and undaunted by disproportionate reactions from others’ behavioral patterns.

Like the world in today’s context, our community has undergone some changes in connection with priorities of our mission with migrants. Our ministry has become global. Peoples and cultures connect. This provides me, however, the opportunity to discover new faces of Christ through people I meet in other faith communities. By the same token, I see this as one of the hidden strengths while learning from them their hunger for the sacred, our shared values on preserving family relationships, friendships, and their aspiration to achieve their dreams.

As I continue to engage my life as a missionary priest, I have come to understand more that ‘by nature and by faith, we are called to live as communal persons. It means that ‘I have to commit to both the personal and common good of all.’ This has opened a wider dimension of my perspective in life and the main core has been concrete in the articulation of my faith.

I remember St Benedict’s decision when he founded monasteries at the time of sporadic persecutions, i.e., when the Roman Empire was falling apart, weakened by moral decadence and continuous Barbarian invasion. Hence, he held them together with his strong leadership and wanted his monasteries enclosed where all the necessities of life are found within. He writes, There should be no need for monks to roam outside because this is not at all good for their souls.¹⁰ Benedict was a