Quigley Preparatory Seminary - La Petit Seminaire Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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THE MASS' ONE AND UNIVERSAL PpPXHglptFIM

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Fronzone Tells Undergrods l-low MEN' MONEY' MATERIAL' The Fruits ofThe1r Efforts A Guft to Salzburg S O C I E T I E S

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e:5t0l'2 jam lil Afldt HE pnests role on earth IS a strange one He IS of heaven wlthout bemg 1n It h IS a man taken from among men and yet he IS ordamed for the sake of men Thus bound to God and to men the pr1est assumes h1s first role toward whlch all others tend Therefore why he must be holy IS evldent for how otherwlse lf he were not self ldentlfied w1th Chr1st would It be poss1ble for the pr1est to dlrect mank1nd to God? But more 1ntr1cate IS the questlon why must he be learned? The answer IS s1mple for just as through holmess devot1on and prayer the pr1est per forms h1s task of med1at1on from God to man so also as a man of learn1ng IS He has recelved from Chrlst the ofhce and commlssxon of teachmg truth Teach all natlons But how can he teach unless he h1mself possesses knowledge? The Holy Sp1r1t 1n the Prophecy of Malachy says The l1ps of the pr1est shall keep knowledge and they Qpeoplej shall seek the law at h1s mouth No one could ever have spoken a more wexghty word 1n pralse of pr1estly learmng than d1v1ne WIS dom Hlmself The pr1est should have a full grasp of the Cathollc teach1ng on faxth and morals he should know how to present If to others and he should be able to g1VC the reasons for the dogmas laws and observances of the Church of whxch he IS mmlster In such rel1g1ous quest1ons there IS st1ll much lgnorance darken1ng the m1nds of the people and It IS exactly that 1gnorance the pr1est must d1spel I thls respect h1s culture must be theo logxcal for he must acqu1re a culture wh1ch w1ll enable h1m to see the world, men and th1ngs from Gods pomt of VICW lfl order to spread H1s truths more efHcac1ously However the pr1est cannot remam aloof from the people He must llve among them and know the1r problems m order to restore all th1ngs 1n Chrxst Thus he must follow Samt Pauls own pr1nc1ple with the ews I l1ved l1ke a ew, to w1n the Jew wlth those who keep the law to w1n those who kept the law In th1s way the pr1est IS the soul and as It were munlty so that he h1mself truly gl1ldCS soclety He does lt1l'lCl1I'CCtly but none the less really He rema1ns ln the background but only so as to be of greater serv1ce To be a pr1est of the twentleth cen tury IS not a matter of copy1ng methods used IH former tlmes nor of 1nvent1ng new forms for the sake of novelty but It means to translate the message of Chr1st1an1ty 1nto present day terms 1n other words the pr1est must adapt h1m self Thls adaptatlon does not conslst 1n servzle 1m1tat1on of contemporary customs nor must the pr1est use the latest techn1cal lnventxons nor IS It only by keeplng up to date IU h1s read1ng that he w1ll get h1s people to llsten to h1m although these can be of great help and are requlred of h1m 33 0 I I . . . . . n . . . . S e . . . - . I , J I ' 1 ' ' u 7' J' - 1 , , I 4 Q - Q , . . . l D . 3 he able to brmg men closer to God. the v1talpr1nc1ple ofthe Chr1st1an com- . , U . . ' . - P ' A 3 - . . g . XS , , . . . P