Pope Francis told seminarians in Spain on Saturday that the seminary is the place where we learn that the priest is a savior.
Vatican News
Vatican City, Saturday, November 16, 2024 (REI): On November 16, the Pope met with seminarians from the dioceses of Pamplona, Tudela, San Sebastián and Redemptoris Mater at the Vatican, saying that the seminary is not a prison but a place where learning takes place that the priest is a savior, “because a priest cannot be anything other than the living image of Jesus the Savior.”
meaning of being a savior
Explaining what it means to be a Savior, the Pope said that one of the many things he has to do is go to prisons and offer prisoners the oil of consolation and the wine of hope that the Good Samaritan has left behind. The Pope advised them to go not only to the external prisons but also to those closed spaces where the men and women of our society are imprisoned by ideologies, morals, exploitation, desperation, ignorance and forgetfulness of God.
The Pope said that what Jesus tells us is that we receive the anointing to free those who, unknowingly, are in captivity.
Reflection for preparation to be a future priest
The Pope told the seminarians that the evangelist Saint Luke gives a beautiful reflection for the preparation of future priests in chapter 4: He calls us to humble ourselves before the Holy Spirit, to make deserts to meet God, to talk about putting aside ourselves themselves. the many things we carry as burdens. They encourage us not to be afraid to face the temptation of an idolatrous apostolate, where we ourselves are the center, seeking material power or praise.
In the Gospel we read that Jesus went to his town of Nazareth where in the eyes of the world he was simply the son of Joseph, like us.
no different from people
In the same way, seminarians must not forget their origins, the Pope said, they must remember that we are children of the people. Thus, Saint Luke teaches us that we cannot isolate ourselves among people, especially when they are newcomers or even our enemies. Because in the eyes of God we are all children. When we look at our brother, we recognize in him the openness to receive the grace given by the Lord.
On the other hand, the Pope said that Jesus was sad for those who, due to the hardness of their hearts, did not understand Jesus’ concern for the liberation of the woman trapped in the clutches of an evil spirit. (Luke 13:16) He said that unlike them they must “always be ready to bless, to liberate, and when it seems that the hands that have been anointed are paralyzed, extend them with confidence, just as Jesus did among the saints. ” He did it with the lame man in the gospel of Mark.
life of jesus
This is what Jesus did on the cross, carrying our wounds in his heart and on his arm, destroying our death with his love and crossing the abyss that separates us from God with his suffering. The Pope encouraged all seminarians to be brave, selfless and tireless in fulfilling the vocation for which the Lord has chosen them and poured out his divine mercy on them.
And finally he handed them over to Our Lady giving them her apostolic blessing.
