By Fr. John Adamski

“Is the new pastor a good man?” That’s been the constant refrain here at Holy Cross during the past couple of weeks. As we all realize, many priests in the Archdiocese of Atlanta are moving this week. A great many parishes all over North Georgia are being affected by these changes in personnel. Our pastor, Fr. Eusebius Beltran, is moving so all the farewell events which are appropriate and customary will fill this week with many special activities.

This very practical example of priests changing their parish assignments, and therefore to some extent their lives emphasize for me one of the basic aspects of priesthood in our society today. The priest is called to serve with his entire life and all that he has to offer to God’s people. This call of service becomes a very demanding and challenging goal in light of the needs and expectations of those being served. A priest knows that accepting this call will mean that he winds up going places he hadn’t anticipated not just in terms of parish assignments but also through a sudden phone call to the hospital or the earnest request of a person wanting to talk now. Service is not just a theoretical concept. In a very realistic way it asks the priest to be as available to his people as he possibly can be. Nor can he presume to set his roots down so deeply with a particular group of people that he forgets about the needs of the larger church community around him.

Priesthood is essentially a people business. A priest needs people, just as any other person, in order to him help realize the kind of person he is and what he is doing or accomplishing with his life. For a priest the question of celibacy adds a whole different dimension to that man’s need for the support of those around him. As a celibate person, the priest indicates his willingness to dedicate himself fully to as many of God’s people as is humanly possible. He seeks to make God’s love and care for men the guiding principles for his own style of life and manner of acting. His personal commitment to Christ includes a serious commitment to the needs of Christ’s people.

This commitment to Christ and his people includes the willingness to continue serving and caring wherever he may be needed. As many priests move this week, they carry with them the strength of the friendship and support that they have shared in one parish on to the needs and opportunities of another community of God’s people. The value of the friendships made continues in the richness it has brought to an individual’s life. A priest hopes to share that richness with every person he meets. Throughout that essentially human process, God’s personal love can become increasingly more significant and meaningful for the person sharing the richness of a priest’s care and concern.

As our people express their concern that their new pastor be a good man, they also implicitly express their crucial involvement in this business of living in a way which clearly shares God’s constant love with all men. Our people realize that they have grown through the generous and dedicated leadership of their pastor and they are eager to continue receiving that same challenge to grow ever stronger in their faith and their sharing in the special life of God. The community of faith becomes viable when all the members are fulfilling their part. Priests need their people especially to continue helping them to be good priests. People need their priests to continue caring enough to serve as a leader for the community in its efforts to grow in peace and love.

Moving boxes, books, trucks, confusion, sadness and gladness. Moving is also an opportunity for all of us to understand again the commitment we’ve made to Christ: our willingness to live together as a group of people bringing new life to our world – the new life of God’s love.