On “Letter to a Young Priest”

Via @pater_mattheus on Twitter we learn of the words of a faithful priest in Poland who offers words of encouragement and counsel for faithful brother priests. He also reacts to the negative pushback these words of advice provoked online.

“In recent days, a portion of Catholic circles with a more liberal sensibility, as well as some groups with a distinctly charismatic character, have begun criticizing Fr. Prof. Jerzy Szymik for his column ‘Letter to a Young Priest,’ published in *Gość Niedzielny*.

“In connection with this polemic, I propose a small intellectual exercise. Instead of focusing on emotions, the style of the statement, or interpreting the author’s intentions, let’s try to take a closer look at what he actually wrote.

“I have listed the most important things to which Fr. Jerzy Szymik encourages young priests:

➡️”To total dedication of one’s life to God and people, without greedily holding it back for oneself.

➡️”To conscientious preparation of Sunday homilies, treating the proclamation of God’s word as one of the priest’s most important tasks.

➡️”To renouncing ready-made internet sermons and proclaiming from personal faith, conviction, and experience.

➡️”To authenticity and growth in the priesthood through personal engagement, even despite one’s own imperfections.

➡️”To fidelity to the gift of self once offered and to not withdrawing what has been given to God.

➡️”To maintaining freedom in relation to money and avoiding the danger of turning it into an idol.

➡️”To avoiding the temptation to replace the priestly vocation with other paths of professional self-realization.

➡️”To rejecting cynicism as an attitude that destroys spiritual and pastoral life.

➡️”To not succumbing to frustration and bitterness, and to not transferring them onto the faithful and confreres.

➡️”To accepting suffering in the spirit of pastoral love, according to the principle: “Suffering is for You, love for the sheep.”

➡️”To imitating Christ in His sacrificial love, even when it requires renunciation and personal sacrifice.

➡️”To maintaining distance from liberal theology, in which the author sees a threat to the integrity of faith.

➡️”To a realistic view of one’s own sexuality and acknowledging the difficulties associated with living celibacy.

➡️”To discovering the supernatural meaning of celibacy as a special gift and witness to a life totally dedicated to God.

➡️”To not seeking apparent substitutes for married life, which the author terms “sublimation” and “prostheses.”

➡️”To bearing witness that a person can lead a happy and fulfilled life without marriage, if God is their highest good.

➡️”To recognizing that neither marriage nor priesthood is the ultimate goal of human life, because it is God Himself.

➡️”To not placing ultimate hope in psychotherapy, science, or the work-life balance model, which cannot resolve the deepest contradictions of human existence on their own.

➡️”To living by God’s grace and free cooperation with it as the foundation for overcoming difficulties.

➡️”To nurturing a deep bond with Christ as the foundation of one’s priestly identity.

➡️”To building priestly life on three pillars: Crux, Virgo, Hostia—Cross, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Eucharist.

➡️”To persevering spiritual struggle, in the image of the biblical Jacob, who does not release God until he receives a blessing.

➡️”To radical entrustment to Christ and preserving the mystical dimension of the priesthood, even at the cost of misunderstanding and personal loss.

➡️”To discovering the truth that God alone suffices, and without Him, even the greatest human achievements cannot ensure ultimate fulfillment.

➡️”To unwavering fidelity to the vocation until the end, expressed in the words of Zbigniew Herbert: “Be faithful, go.”

“And now I have a completely serious question for those criticizing this column.

“Which of the listed demands is contrary to Catholic priestly spirituality? Which stands in real contradiction to the Church’s official teaching regarding the identity of the presbyter, his spiritual formation, inner life, and pastoral ministry?”