Who do you say I am?

Published on
01 May 2006

Today, on the birthday of our priesthood, priests are asked tirelessly to be a sign of Christ's presence in our communities. With these words Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Bishop of Johannesburg, addressed priests of the diocese gathered together in the Cathedral of Christ the King to celebrate the Mass of the Oils on Holy Thursday.
He thanked congregations of religious and priests for sustaining him in their prayers. "We must think of Christ's question to Peter, 'Who do you say I am?' Because of the public nature of our apostolate - we are the representatives of Christ - the Church has placed trust on us. Priests are a living sign of Christ himself and people read in the life of priests what we can reveal about the identity of Jesus Christ. We either reveal or disfigure by our lifestyle the life of Christ," Abp Buti said.

Are we other Christs?
"Are you convinced or not, that you are other Christs? Priests are the messengers of the Good News. Pope John Paul said that there is an identification between the message and the messenger. The secret of the priest as a messenger of Jesus Christ is in his total identification with the message he announces."

Men of character
"We need to proclaim the Good News, not just by what we say and do but by who we are. There was a time when only men who were leaders in the community, men of character, were permitted to become priests, but that has changed," he said.

"Young men now have to grow into their priesthood - and are constantly on the way to that leadership through faithfulness to the mission of the Church. The stamp of the priest is his identification with the message of the Gospel and it is through this that he is known."

One of them yet set apart
"People also know that the priest is one of them and yet set apart." Abp Buti said a priest on this day renews his mission to the Church in compassion, understanding, attentiveness, discernment and love. He also draws strength from his fellow priests and unity amongst them is a great source of hidden power.

Unity demonstrates our identity
"This is not always felt among diocesan clergy. It is this unity that demonstrates our identity with the Church - that same unity that Christ prayed for - we must wrestle with this question: 'What do we say about Jesus Christ?'" Abp Buti concluded.
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