By Fr. John Adamski

“A priest’s life is too hard.” “Why should priests drive big cars and live in fancy houses?” “Priests are too separated from people, they should be more in touch.” “A priest has to give up too much.” “I think that being a priest makes one’s life too restricted by the Church.”

During the past couple of weeks our vocation team of several archdiocesan priests has been visiting St. Pius and St. Joseph’s high schools and several parishes with a program on vocational choice and priesthood. The above comments are typical of the responses we received from 11th and 12th grade men concerning their ideas about the priesthood. It’s a confusing picture to say the least. We encountered nearly every sort of opinion “pro” and “con” about the whole idea of the priesthood. If our visits taught us anything, I think that they were a forceful reminder about the sort of attitude that priests today apparently are projecting to our young people. It isn’t a very encouraging picture.

No doubt there will always be confusing and discussion about what being a priest means, just as there are differing viewpoints about what Christianity implies. That seems inevitable since every Christian is called to make a personal faith response to the message and teachings of Jesus. The real beauty of the whole thing is that it fits together as a unity into the body and spirit of Christ working today among us. The message of Christianity is ultimately a call to respond with one’s individuality, one’s talents, weaknesses – ultimately one’s whole life – to the life and love of Jesus.

The confusion is not hopeless though. There are certain basic characteristics of a Christian way of life and the role of the priest today. These things also came out of our discussions with the young men. “A priest should help people.” They also recognized that a priest tries to help people form a certain perspective. “A priest should preach the Word of God.” It’s God’s Word coming alive in men today which can motivate a man to want to help people by sharing that Word. The shapes and forms which that help might take can be as many and varied as the particular situation demands. God continues to speak words of love and care for men in today’s world. A Christian believes in the reality of that care and tries to make it a significant part of his life. A priest is a Christian who believes that he can accomplish that best by taking up a life of service in and through the Church.

Most of us are ready to admit that our young people have a great deal of goodwill and enthusiasm. This spirit has been shown in any number of projects and “causes” which they have participated in. Why are they confused and “turned-off” by Christianity and the Church? That can be a very serious question for all of us. Perhaps some of the answer lies in the way that we, Christians, live the life of Christ today. Does the confusion and disinterest of our young people tell us anything about the style of our Christian lives? All of us Christians, and especially priests, might do well to ponder that question for a while. The answer might put us into closer contact with the God who saves us.