My Reflections on Priesthood

 

The Priesthood: A Life of Service and Gratitude

Introduction

In today’s world, the relevance of priesthood is often questioned. Some dismiss it as outdated, while others feel disillusioned by priests who fail to reflect the compassion of Christ. Yet, priesthood remains a sacred calling—a life rooted in love for Jesus and sustained by His grace. My own journey as a priest has been shaped by this love, expressed in teaching, pastoral ministry, and daily encounters with people.

The Heart of Priesthood

At its core, priesthood is not about titles, projects, or positions. As Cardinal Walter Kasper reminds us, what truly matters is reflecting Christ’s compassion. Henri Nouwen described priests as “wounded healers,” reminding us that imperfection is not a barrier but a channel for God’s mercy. Archbishop Fulton Sheen put it simply: the difference between a priest and a prisoner is only that the former was not caught.

Priests must always return to their identity: to be, above all, priests of Jesus Christ. Administrative roles may come, but their mission remains the same—to make Christ present in the world.

Qualities of a Priest Today

Fr. Peter Stravinskas identifies essential qualities for priests in modern times:

• Courage of conviction in faith

• Confidence without arrogance

• Enthusiasm and passion for Christ

• Joy grounded in eternity

• Scholarship and ongoing learning

• Prudence, courtesy, and dignity

These qualities rest on timeless foundations: prayer, obedience, and chastity.

A Teacher and Guide

Some of my happiest memories are of guiding students. On several occasions, I was able to support gifted young people who faced financial difficulties. Many went on to become doctors, engineers, and leaders in their fields. These experiences showed me that priesthood is not only about preaching but also about opening doors for others and nurturing their God-given potential.

Pastoral Ministry in the U.S.

After retiring from college teaching, I served in parish ministry in the United States. These years were deeply fulfilling. Preaching the Word of God and celebrating the Eucharist gave me great joy. Parishioners encouraged me, and on one occasion, a congregation even applauded after my homily—a rare and humbling experience.

Such moments confirmed my belief that the priest’s task is to make Christ present through word and sacrament. For this grace, I remain profoundly grateful.

Celibacy: A Gift and Challenge

Celibacy is both a demanding challenge and a profound gift. Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa observes that celibacy without deep love for Christ becomes a burden, but lived in love, it becomes spiritually fruitful. It requires humility, discipline, companionship, and constant reliance on God’s grace.

The joyful witness of a priest who lives celibacy authentically is itself one of the strongest invitations to new vocations.

Weakness and Mercy

Like all people, priests carry weakness and sin. I often feel unworthy of my calling. Yet, as Thomas Merton writes, our poverty is the soil in which God plants His desire. Henri Nouwen’s vision of priests as “wounded healers” is deeply consoling: our brokenness can become the very place where God’s mercy shines.

Companions on the Journey

Spiritual writers like Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen have been great companions in my priesthood. Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain first inspired me in seminary, and visiting his grave at Gethsemane Abbey was a moving experience. Nouwen’s The Wounded Healer affirmed that priests minister out of their own woundedness. These writers remind us that the priestly life, though fragile, is always carried by grace.

Gratitude and the Eucharist

Ultimately, the priestly life is one of gratitude. Every day is a gift; every act of ministry is grace. Gratitude finds its highest expression in the Eucharist, the supreme act of thanksgiving. In celebrating it, the priest unites himself to Christ’s self-offering and becomes a living witness of God’s love.

Conclusion

Priesthood is not a profession but a vocation—a life lived close to Jesus, rooted in gratitude, and sustained by His mercy. It is a call to reflect His love and compassion, even in weakness. To be a priest is to stand as a sign of Christ’s presence in the world, a task beyond human strength but made possible through God’s unfailing grace.

Walker Percy-A brief glance at his work and message.

 Walker Percy: Life and Thought

It was through a casual event that I came across the name of Walker Percy. As I was browsing through the back issues of "Saturday Review", I  saw a book review of Percy's "Lancelot" which was published a few months ago. The review inspired me to read all the novels and collections of essays published until that time. One of the happiest moments of my life was when I had the chance to be in the audience when he delivered the Jefferson lecture at the National Museum of History in 1989. After the talk, I met him and showed him a copy of my book, "Prophecy in American Fiction." Excitedly, he called me by my name and signed my book.

Walker Percy was born on May 28, 1916. He was orphaned at an early age when his father, LeRoy Percy, committed suicide, and his mother was later killed in an automobile accident. He and his brothers were adopted by their uncle, William Alexander Percy, under whose guidance they grew up.

William Alexander Percy was a lawyer, a well-known planter in the South, and an accomplished author. His home was a gathering place for great writers, including William Faulkner. Unsurprisingly, Percy’s early college essays revealed the influence of Faulkner’s prose style. After completing his undergraduate studies, Percy pursued a career in medicine. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University and began his residency at Bellevue Hospital in 1941. The following year, however, he contracted tuberculosis and was forced to leave his medical career behind. Percy spent a long period of convalescence in a sanatorium at Lake Saranac in the Adirondacks.

This slow recovery gave him ample time for reading and reflection. It was during this period that Percy encountered the works of Søren Kierkegaard, whose writings prompted him to question the limitations of the scientific method, particularly when applied to human beings and the human spirit. He later wrote, “I gradually began to realize that as a scientist—a doctor, a pathologist—I knew very much about man but had little idea of what man is.”

Following his recovery, Percy returned to the South and immersed himself in the works of philosophers such as Gabriel Marcel, Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Among them, however, it was Kierkegaard who had the most profound influence on him. Percy credited Kierkegaard—especially the essay “The Difference Between a Genius and an Apostle”—with leading him to Catholicism. Kierkegaard distinguished between the genius, who seeks knowledge, and the apostle, who is willing to sacrifice his life for the truth he bears. For Kierkegaard, the Christian message is transmitted through apostles rather than geniuses, and this insight deeply shaped Percy’s faith.

The most striking feature of Percy’s fiction is his ability to integrate philosophy, religion, and modernity. His experimentation with narrative form in novels such as Love in the Ruins, Lancelot, and The Second Coming places him among the most innovative contemporary American novelists. At the same time, Percy belongs to the small circle of successful Catholic novelists whose works are profoundly informed by faith without being overtly doctrinal.

Rather than presenting theological arguments, Percy’s novels explore the human need for intersubjectivity—that is, authentic interpersonal relationships—as the foundation of genuine human existence. His fiction embodies the hallmarks of contemporary literature: sharp wit, irony, and linguistic experimentation. Yet beneath these features lies a serious critique of modern secular life.

Percy believed that the secular spirit exercised an overwhelming influence on the modern mind, often leading to a condition of malaise or spiritual lethargy. Through his novels, he diagnosed this condition with the precision of a physician and, like a prophet, pointed toward renewal through spiritual regeneration and openness to the divine.

Malcolm Muggeridge: A Restless Pilgrim

 Malcolm Muggeridge: A Restless Pilgrim

Malcolm Muggeridge was a man who never quite fit neatly into any box. Journalist, BBC commentator, war correspondent, editor, author—he lived a life as colourful as it was unpredictable. Born in 1903, he witnessed most of the turbulent twentieth century first-hand, and he passed away on 14 November 1990 at the age of 87.

When he died, American writer William F. Buckley Jr. paid tribute in The Washington Post, calling him “a wonderful, wonderful man, a great wit, and a brilliant, brilliant analyst.” It was praise well-earned. Muggeridge was known for his razor-sharp mind, his piercing wit, and his refusal to swim with the tide simply for the sake of conformity. As he once quipped, “Only dead fish swim with the stream.”

In his younger years, Muggeridge flirted with communism, drawn by its ideals. But life has a way of rearranging convictions. A posting to Russia exposed him to the brutal realities of Soviet rule, including the man-made famine that devastated Ukraine. Disillusioned, he became one of communism’s fiercest critics.

Perhaps his most enduring legacy came from a book. In 1971, he published Something Beautiful for God, the first biography of a then-little-known Albanian nun working in the slums of Calcutta—Mother Teresa. That book introduced her to the world, and the world has not forgotten.

After the Second World War, Muggeridge embraced Christianity, a faith that would deepen and sharpen his moral vision. In the late 20th century, he became a prophetic voice warning against the moral drift of Western society. His verdict on the media was characteristically blunt:

“The media today—press, television, and radio—are largely in the hands of those who favour the present Gadarene slide into decadence and godlessness.”

In 1988, at the age of 85, he entered the Catholic Church along with his family. His final book, Conversion, traced his life as a spiritual pilgrimage—one that led him from youthful ideologies to the hard-earned peace of faith.

India, too, had its brief chapter in his life. Muggeridge once taught at U.C. College, Alwaye, in Kerala, and later served as editor of The Statesman in Calcutta. These years left him with a lasting affection for the country, even as his restless spirit kept moving on.

In the end, Malcolm Muggeridge was never merely a journalist or commentator. He was a seeker—a man who wrestled with ideas, stood apart from the crowd, and kept looking for the truth until he found it..

I have come to know his works  closely when got the chance to read his biography of Mother Theresa.In that book, he mentions how he became a changed man because of the time he spent with her for the short movie he made on her.I have often dazzled by his observations on contemporary mores and his critical reflections.

Some of his observations onfaith, morals and contemporary times are the following:

"Enormous gratitude to my creator overwhelms me often.Life is a blessed gift.the spirit which animates it is one of love, not hate or indifference.Death is part of a largerpatern;it fits into a larger,eternal scale.

Faith tells me it is possible to to establish with this loving Creator  a living and loving relationship.

For me the notion of God comes from a series of the oneness of life...my past, failure , universe...It is inconceivable  to me that there could be this oneness without a One : a unitary spirit behand it.

I see in the world, this phenomenal world, in nature...this mysterious connection, this oneness which to me presupposes one being, a oneness behind all life.

Every happening, great and small ,that is to say , is a parable whereby god speaks to us and the art of life is to get that message.

(After winter, spring will come..) Now I turn my glance from the window into my own heart,seeing there the litter and the dust of wasted years...this too--the interior of my heart seems a dead landscape.yet faith tells me that it, likewise, can have a springin the rebirth promised to us all in the dispensation which Christ brought to the world.the old enviesbudding with holy love;the old lusts burning with spiritual appetite...in the bright radiance of God's universal love.

for myself, i consider in all sincerity  that I have been an abysmal failure.Even qualities i consider admirable I have but poorly , if at all,exemplified."

St.Edith Stein,Revd

Life in a Jewish Family is the autobiography of Edith Stein—a deeply moving and compelling work that reads like an engaging novel, never dull or tiresome. Knowing how her life ended and how unwavering her faith remained, we come to appreciate the profound magnitude of the sacrifice she made out of love for Christ.

She was born on Oc.12 October 1891 at Breslaw, Germany(now Wroclaw, Poland).Gassed on Aug.9,1942 at Auschwitz, Poland.Canonized on Oc.11,1998 by Pope John Paul ll.

Born and raised in a large Jewish family under the care of a wise, talented, and loving mother, Edith made the courageous decision to convert to Catholicism after completing her studies. Deeply inspired by the life of St. Teresa of Avila, she chose to enter the Carmelite convent, where she took the religious name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

The autobiography offers insight into her intellectual nature—her dedication to learning, mastery of various subjects, and rigorous preparation for demanding examinations. She eventually pursued a career in philosophy, becoming a phenomenologist and one of the most brilliant disciples of Edmund Husserl. At a time when few women pursued doctoral studies in philosophy, she stood out as a pioneer. Despite her qualifications, it was difficult for her to secure a university position, so she went on lecture circuits and was frequently invited to speak at Catholic organizations.

As she completed her doctoral studies, Hitler rose to power, and Jews were systematically excluded from professional life. Edith entered the Carmelite convent in Cologne, later transferring to a convent in the Netherlands. Plans were made to send her to Switzerland, and she hoped to take her sister Rosa with her. However, when accommodations for both were not available, the trip was delayed. Tragically, around that time, the Dutch bishops issued a pastoral letter denouncing Hitler’s regime. In retaliation, the Nazis began targeting Jews who had converted to Christianity. As a result, Edith Stein was seized from the convent.

Her autobiography also paints a tender and respectful portrait of her mother, who, after the early death of her husband, raised eight children with strength, dignity, and discipline. Edith, the youngest, was her favorite. Edith’s decision to convert to Catholicism broke her mother’s heart, as it meant turning away from the Jewish faith that had shaped their lives so deeply.

Some of the famous quotes from Edith Stein are the following:

And when night comes and you look back over thev day and see how fragmentary everything has been...just take everything exactly as it is,put it in God's hands and leave it with Him.

When you seek truth,you seek God whether you know it or not.

Let go of your plans.The first hour of your morning belongs to God.Tackle the day's work that He charges you with, and he will give you the promise to accomplish it.Just take everything exactly as it is,put in God's hands and leave it with Him.

The deeper one is drawn into God, the more one must go out of oneself; that is,one must go to the world in order to carry the divine life into it.

One cannot desire freedom from the cross when one is especially chosen for thr cross.

The entire educational process must be carried out with love...most effective educational method is the living example without which all words remain useless.

The prayer of Edith Stein:

"O my God,fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me  along the next stretch of the road before me.I do not see very far ahead, but when I have arrived where the horizon now closes down , a new prospect will open before me, and I shall meet it with peace."

Learn from St. Therese to depend on God alone and serve Him with a wholly pure and detached heart.then, like her, you will be able to say. "I do not regret that I have given myself up to Love."

Cardinal Newman

 

Cardinal Newman

John Henry Newman began his academic journey as an undergraduate at Oxford University. Although he failed the honors examination, he was later selected as a fellow of Oriel College—one of the university’s most prestigious academic appointments.

He chose the path of priesthood and was ordained as an Anglican priest. The death of his younger sister, Maria (also called Mary), deeply affected him. His grief is powerfully evident in his letters, where he pours out the pain of losing someone he loved dearly.

In one letter, he writes:

“It draws tears into my eyes to think that all at once we can only converse about her. Dear Mary seems embodied in every tree and hid behind every hill.”

He saw her presence in nature and found solace in solitary walks:

“I have learned to like dying trees and black meadows... a solemn voice seems to chant from everything. I know whose voice it is... her dear voice. Her form is almost nightly before me, when I have put out the light and lain down.”

Many of his letters reveal the profound sorrow he carried. Mary Sophia Newman, his youngest sister, was born on November 9, 1809.

Reading Cardinal Newman's biographies fills one with admiration and awe. His panoramic knowledge of the early Church Fathers and ancient Christian traditions is remarkable. His eloquence and literary style are unmatched. Newman stands as an ideal model for those striving for both intellectual excellence and spiritual depth.

Coming from a devout family, Newman entered Trinity College, Oxford. After completing his studies, he sat for an examination that could secure a prestigious academic career. Despite thorough preparation, he was overcome by anxiety during the test and failed several subjects. He wrote to his father in disappointment, but his mother responded with compassion, encouraging him not to despair. Undeterred, he applied for a more demanding examination at Oriel College, Oxford—and passed, much to the surprise of his former teachers. His financial situation improved, he began tutoring students, and established friendships with Oxford professors.

Newman chose a celibate life and was ordained a deacon on Trinity Sunday, June 13, 1824. He served in parish ministry—preaching, baptizing, and caring for families. On May 29, 1825, he was ordained a priest and, in March 1828, was appointed Vicar of St. Mary’s, Oxford. Around this time, he began reading the Church Fathers, starting with St. Ignatius of Antioch, to explore the apostolic foundations of the Church of England—an inquiry that eventually led him to Catholicism.

A significant chapter in his life was the Oxford Movement, which he helped found along with colleagues. Its aim was to revive the teachings and traditions of the Apostolic Church within Anglicanism.

His visit to Rome in 1832–33, accompanying his friend Richard Froude, was a turning point. He witnessed the vibrant life of the Catholic Church, the reverence for the Eucharist, and the faith of the people, which challenged his preconceptions. There he met Fr. Wiseman at the English college and engaged in deep theological discussions. While in Rome he visited many churches and  was touched deeply  by the devotion to the Eucharist  shown by the faithful. the During his stay, he fell seriously ill but recovered. It was during his return voyage that he composed the famous hymn "Lead, Kindly Light", a reflection of his surrender to God's providence and grace.

By Christmas of 1833, twenty tracts had been published as part of the Oxford Movement, a dozen of them written by Newman. The movement, inspired by John Keble’s pivotal sermon, had far-reaching impact—transforming Anglican theology, preaching, worship, and even church architecture.

Newman's sermons at Oxford were so compelling that students would skip meals to attend them. The university eventually adjusted schedules to accommodate the crowds. Eamon Duffy, in his biography of Newman, writes:

“Eloquent, learned, widely read, combining a beautiful voice with an unmatched mastery of words, his preaching had acquired a cult following in Oxford.”

His Anglican sermons are often regarded as among his greatest achievements.

In Tract 90, he argued that subscribing to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England was not incompatible with Catholic doctrine. His writings sparked theological fervor and intellectual revolution in both Anglicanism and Catholicism. Though Newman never considered himself a theologian in the formal sense, his ability to apply doctrine to the lives of his contemporaries made his theology come alive. He went beyond scholasticism to reach the human heart.

He felt that it was time for him to make the decision to convert to Catholicism as it had the authentic deposit of the Apostolic Church.Fr.Dominic, an italian missionary received him into the Church,Oct.9,1845.He informed his sisters Jemima and Harriet about his conversion.While Jemima accepted it , Harriet was not reconciled with the decision he took.

He was invited to Rome to meet the Pope Gregory but when he reached there, the Pope had passed away. He visited many churches and  was very touched by the fact  that where he resided, there was a small chapel with the tabernacle was present.He wrote to his friends that he was happy at every phase of his life and what made him happy was the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacles in the churches he visited.

In his seminal work, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), he explained how revealed truth unfolds over time:

“Truth is a plant, evolving from a seed into the mature tree. So beliefs evolve or change—they change in order to remain the same. Here, to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

Other major works like The Idea of a University, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, and The Grammar of Assent are literary masterpieces filled with deep, penetrating insights.

In The Rambler, a Catholic magazine, Newman wrote about the role of the laity in the Church—an idea that was not well received by many clergy. He was even accused of heresy, and the issue was referred to Pope Pius IX. For years after his conversion, Newman faced marginalization within the Catholic Church in England.

He purchased land near Oxford in an attempt to establish a Catholic presence at the university, but the bishops opposed it, fearing Protestant influence. Newman also held reservations about the definition of papal infallibility, not opposing it outright but questioning its timing and relevance. Though invited to the First Vatican Council, he declined. Ironically, many of his ideas would later inspire the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Leo XIII recognized Newman’s brilliance and sanctity, elevating him to the rank of cardinal. This honor affirmed his place within the Catholic Church in England.

Eamon Duffy offers a fitting summary of Newman’s enduring legacy:

“Newman possessed one of the most original Christian minds of modern times—indeed, of any time. His significance for the Catholic Church, and for all the churches, is neither as a model of mere piety, nor as a paragon of conformist orthodoxy, but as a teacher and exemplar of Christian thinking at the edge… for the patient, generous, attentive and interrogative mind he brought to bear on the questions of good and evil, meaning and purpose, that are the heart of religion.”

“Every other Victorian theologian has become of mainly historical interest… He is still our contemporary.”

Quotes from Cardinal Newman:

God has created me to do him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which was not committed to another.I have my mission;I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told in th enext...I am a link in a chain.I shall do good,I shall do his work...a a preacher of truth in my own place...

Dear Lord, shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel of Your presence in my soul...Let me praise You ...by by shining on those around me.

when you feel in need of a compliment, give one to someone else.

I will trust him .Whatever , wherever I am, I can never be thrwn away .If I am in sickness, my sickness my serve Him...If I am in sorrow,my sorrow may serve Him...

I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but god declared:"go down  again...I dwell among the people .

Prayer is to the spiritual life what the breathing of the pulse and the drawing of the breath are to the life of the body.

May He support us al the day long, till the shades lenthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done!then in His mercy, may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.

Life passes, riches fly away , popularity is fickle, the senses decay, the world changes. One alone is true to us; One alone can be all things to us; One alone can supply our need.

All that is good , all that is true, all that is beautiful, all that is beneficent, be it great or small, be it perfect or fragmentary, natural as well as supernatural, moral as well as material, comes from God.

The idea of a University

 If then a practical end must be assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training good members of society...It teaches him to see things as they are ,..to detect what is sophistical and to discard what is irrelevant.

University training ...aims at raising the intellectual tone of society.

Liberal education does  manifest itself in a courtesy,proprietyand polish word and action.

to discover , to teach are distinct functions; they are also distinct gifts and are not commonly found to be united in the same person.

Apologia Pro vita Sua(Defense of one's Life)

Securus judicat Orbis terrarum is a key quote (the Judgement of the world is decisive)

Fr.Madathiparampil,pictures-2

 

Fr.Madathiparampil,pictures