By Father John Adamski

“Welcome! We’re glad to have you in our parish.”

This was the frequent refrain last weekend as many Atlanta priests met parishioners in their new assignments for the first time.

It was a time of many new things for me since I had just arrived at St. John the Evangelist Church in Hapeville. Perhaps my most basic reactions to the new setting were excitement and awkwardness. It was exciting and interesting to meet so many new people, to begin trying to match faces and names – the initial efforts to become a serving part of a new community of God’s people.

It was also an awkward day since there was a whole new place and new setting to get used to. Had to figure out the Mass schedule for the inevitable phone calls, wandered through the church learning where everything was kept and just getting used to a new building.

Father Richard Morrow, my new pastor, was showing me through the church just before the Saturday evening Mass which I was to celebrate when I slipped on the altar steps and nearly slid into a whole group of churchgoers.

Naturally too, it was a time for priest and people to look each other over, to examine unfamiliar faces looking for glimmers of approval and acceptance. Perhaps it’s especially difficult for people who had grown to know and respect their priests who now have moved to another parish. Often there seemed to be an unspoken question beneath the surface of the day’s events: “Will the new priest be as good as our friend who has moved?”

Since this is my first move since ordination, it’s been a learning experience for me since I found myself wondering what the people would be hoping for and how they would respond to me. Will the people be happy with the things that I can share with them? How well will I fit their expectations of priestly service and presence? What effect will they have in my life?

Lots of questions kept running through my mind. Finally I began to conclude that there were really just two things that I could hope to work toward in a new parish setting. First, and most importantly, a sharing of faith in Jesus Christ and his message for our lives. My arrival here would be pointless if I was not making personal efforts to live as a man of faith. Preaching about faith will be just so much more noise if those words haven’t first become a reality in my own life.

Not that I, or any other priest, has the corner on the market for the question of faith and doubt, but we must at least be willing to become personally involved with the challenge of the message which we proclaim to others. That personal involvement will also include our own willingness to let our lives and faith be affected by the faith and needs of the people we serve.

That brings us to the second goal that took shape in my mind this past weekend. This one refers more to the specific community nature of our Christian Catholic faith. As one who presumes to exercise a leadership role within a community, I must be personally open and interested in this particular group of people – their hopes and dreams, their frustrations and disappointments. As their priest, I will not be able to fully serve them unless I’m genuinely interested in the shape and flow of their daily lives. I must be willing to become an actual part of a community, which is still largely unknown in my life.

I think that my experience this weekend and this brief reflection about some of my reactions emphasize some basic characteristics of priesthood. The priest must be a man of faith who is willing to make personal efforts to grow in his own trust and belief in Jesus Christ. He may not have resolved every question that anyone might ever ask about faith, but at least he must have experienced the reality of questioning and search in his own experience. The priest must also be willing to become a living part of his community, not just a functionary who is superimposed and remain apart from the lives of his people. His role as leader will become most effective when his people see that he is willing to stand with them in the situation and experiences of their lives.

For any man to be able to accomplish this task he will need the support and encouragement of his people. You play a crucial part in the lives of your priests through your own willingness to support them with your daily efforts at prayer and your acceptance of them as a part of your experience of life.