6/21/21
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| Duccio, "Flagellation" |
To continue this idea of a flourishing priestly culture.
Can we point to any authority on the matter? Can we find those priestly cultures that are flourishing, somewhere, and see what they have in common? That would be one task: to gather into one space, on one sheet of paper, a list of those presbyterates.
I’ll need to guard against my tendency to present an idealized portrayal of a non-existent priestly culture. This is why, if there are real examples out there—even if they are partial examples—let’s have a look at them.
I’ll say, perhaps I’ve already said it, the local constituents of the priesthood in this region of the archdiocese seem to socialize well together. What that actually looks like is the rather consistent acceptance of individual invitations to dinner on Saturday evenings. Generally anywhere from a third to sometimes a half of all of the priests in the region will, on a near weekly basis, and on rather short notice, show up for a simple dinner. There are only a few who have never joined. There are a few who nearly always join.
I wonder if this example, Saturday evening dinners, has much potential itself of developing into anything beyond just a reliable occasion to have a simple dinner and some conversations with confreres. If it’s just that, it serves a purpose. Adjacent events resembling parts of it could be rather easily spun off. That would be another purpose it could serve, namely, to show how easy it is to have successful outreach to the other guys. What those other possibilities could be, we simply do not know. I suppose they could be just about any good thing.
Cont'd from this earlier:
6/17/2021
A Flourishing Clerical Culture:
What’s it look like? When did it ever exist? What’s to prevent it from bursting onto the scene? Would we even recognize it if we saw it?
I imagine there are certain local presbyterates, or priestly societies, or religious communities that have a healthy clerical culture amongst themselves. What do they have in common?
It’s perhaps easier to spot the earmarks of unhealthiness within a priestly culture: internal strife, mistrust, frequent defections, disobedience, obstinacy, self-aggrandizement, jealousy, indulging in excess, unchastity, worldliness, cowardliness. This is not an exhaustive list. But where these vices abound among priests, it bodes ill for them and for their people.
Is there even such a thing as a common priestly, or clerical culture? Culture implies symbiosis, mutual enrichment, growth & development, organic unity, favorable environmental conditions, admixture of various particularities. The fundamental ingredients of any culture would need also to be healthy themselves, or at least not unhealthy. “A good tree produces good fruit.”
The distinctions of professional cultures in the secular world naturally resemble the character of the common trade or skills of its constituents: military, sports, education, business, arts, legal, medical, etc. The professional cultures in these various fields reflect the goodness of the field itself, even while they are determined by the character of individuals who participate.
The same can be said for spiritual cultures
It would seem vital for a healthy priestly culture that its nucleus always be what distinguishes it from any other professional or spiritual vocation. As long as the priestly character is at the heart of priestly culture, then what grows up around it can resemble the particular qualities of the men who comprise it. If the heart of the priesthood is replaced with anything other than what is essential to the priesthood—even if they be good other things, hopes for a healthy particularly priestly culture cannot long endure. The culture may be professional, it may be spiritual, it may be personal, but it won’t be priestly.
6/17/2021
A Flourishing Clerical Culture:
What’s it look like? When did it ever exist? What’s to prevent it from bursting onto the scene? Would we even recognize it if we saw it?
I imagine there are certain local presbyterates, or priestly societies, or religious communities that have a healthy clerical culture amongst themselves. What do they have in common?
It’s perhaps easier to spot the earmarks of unhealthiness within a priestly culture: internal strife, mistrust, frequent defections, disobedience, obstinacy, self-aggrandizement, jealousy, indulging in excess, unchastity, worldliness, cowardliness. This is not an exhaustive list. But where these vices abound among priests, it bodes ill for them and for their people.
Is there even such a thing as a common priestly, or clerical culture? Culture implies symbiosis, mutual enrichment, growth & development, organic unity, favorable environmental conditions, admixture of various particularities. The fundamental ingredients of any culture would need also to be healthy themselves, or at least not unhealthy. “A good tree produces good fruit.”
The distinctions of professional cultures in the secular world naturally resemble the character of the common trade or skills of its constituents: military, sports, education, business, arts, legal, medical, etc. The professional cultures in these various fields reflect the goodness of the field itself, even while they are determined by the character of individuals who participate.
The same can be said for spiritual cultures
It would seem vital for a healthy priestly culture that its nucleus always be what distinguishes it from any other professional or spiritual vocation. As long as the priestly character is at the heart of priestly culture, then what grows up around it can resemble the particular qualities of the men who comprise it. If the heart of the priesthood is replaced with anything other than what is essential to the priesthood—even if they be good other things, hopes for a healthy particularly priestly culture cannot long endure. The culture may be professional, it may be spiritual, it may be personal, but it won’t be priestly.
Image: Duccio, "Flagellation"
