A priest celebrating Mass in Ireland yesterday stopped when it came to mention the names of the pope and the local bishop; he asked the congregation did they know the name of the pope, a number did. He then went on to ask did they know the name of the diocesan bishop. Not one person in the congregation knew his name. Is that a metaphor for men living in ivory towers?
In The Irish Catholic of June 11 there is a picture of a newly ordained Irish priest giving a blessing to his sister. The young woman, who is kneeling, seems to be kissing the priest’s hands. The priest is wearing an XXL maniple and dressed in a see-through lace alb. And, of course, he is standing.
Custom and practice has it that priestly ordinations usually happen at the end of the academic year.
It means that right now priests are celebrating anniversaries of their ordination. Some celebrate, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and maybe some 70. Indeed, some even celebrate 10 and 20 years.
What is the meaning of priesthood? Observing what surrounds these anniversary celebrations, one might be inclined to think of the term self-adulation.
The congregation who did not know the name of their bishop does force one to ask what goes on inside the clerical bubble, and it easily complements the bubble-fuss that surrounds the multiple celebrations of priestly ordination.
Reading today’s Gospel and last Sunday’s, one might ask where does all this clerical lifestyle sit with the story of the Gospel.
And then all the pious words, the cliches, the holy voices and those XXL maniples and see-through lace albs.
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