Fr Andrzej Demitrów – 23 years in the priesthood
Father, what is the priesthood for you?
Thank you, Sister, for this question. For me personally it is being rooted in Christ, who invited me to be joined to him by a bond of love and that on the basis of what he did, that is, he died for me and rose again. This bond rests on his personal call to me and on my answer, or, to put it simply, on a vocation. In practice this bond translates into being with him every day, into prayer and above all into conduct that I want to shape according to his will, in keeping with his mission of proclaiming the word, the mission of celebrating the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and the sacrament of penance, and the other sacraments as well, and of being a shepherd for others, especially in spiritual direction. In my case it is also bound up with academic work and with taking part in the formation of future priests in the seminary. Every priest can live out this particular mission differently, in the concrete circumstances of everyday life.
Does a priest, as someone chosen by Christ, need prayer?
Of course, like anyone who is a believer, he stands in such need. Here one can show images that bring this closer. In the first we see the beautiful icon of Moses praying on the mountain while the Amalekites fight against the chosen people. Moses does not go into battle directly, but prays and intercedes with God. When he raises his hands in intercession and they grow weak, Aaron and Hur support him, holding up his hands until sunset, so that the victory may be won. Here we see, first, the intercessory prayer of the one whom the Lord called and chose and appointed as a guide, and second, the help of those who are with him and who in fact share in that victory by supporting him in the fight.
The second important passage is when Jesus, before his passion, foretells that they will all deny him and run away. And he turns to Peter directly: „Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail”. Jesus himself gives the example that it is he who prays for the man he has called, and it is in fact thanks to his intercession that Peter comes back after his fall, having been asked three times about love. It is worth seeing that prayer supporting priests, the mediators, is in essence a sharing in the prayer of Jesus for them. When he prayed for the apostles in the Upper Room, in the high priestly prayer: „sanctify them in the truth (…) and for their sake I consecrate myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth”. The prayer of the Church, the prayer of individual people, is not any kind of guerrilla action, it is not a private invention, an act „on one's own account”, but a share in the prayer of Jesus for those he has called.
The third passage — an image — is when Herod imprisoned Peter and condemned him to death, and the sentence was to be carried out after the Feast of Passover; then the whole Church prayed for Peter and in the end he was miraculously set free. Those who prayed did not look for their own ways of freeing the apostle, for instance by an armed attack on the prison, by some revolt that would have brought him out — no — they pray, and they know that if it is God's will to free Peter, it will happen.
Can one say that priests do not exist without the prayer of the people of God, and the people of God without the prayer of their shepherds?
Exactly so; it works entirely both ways and the two are deeply bound together.
What, then, does the prayer of lay people mean to you personally, Father? Have you experienced a kind of power in the awareness that people support you with prayer, especially in difficult moments?
Yes, I must say that there were such moments; here, in my place of prayer in my room, there are 4 sheets of paper, 4 Margaretka daisies, twenty-eight people in all who over several years have pledged their prayer for my intention. I am aware that during the day these people offer their prayer, their sufferings, for my intention and it really lifts one up. As for concrete cases, I can say that there were situations when, in difficult experiences I was going through, I received a message asking whether something was happening, because that person had felt an inner urging to pray at that very moment.
So a kind of spiritual bond arises between a priest and the person praying for him?
Of course it does. Though it is not necessarily a bond that we feel in a physical, tangible sense. It may be that God grants such a grace, but what is at stake is the spiritual bond that is realised in prayer, in life, in sacrifice, in offering the Eucharist for the intention of that priest, in a spiritual union in which one lives by his intentions and by the matters that occupy him at the moment.
What place does prayer have in the life of a priest?
The most important one! Above all, a priest ought to be a man of prayer — that is the simplest definition of a priest. Consider that Jesus, who acts, goes to the sick, proclaims the Gospel, blesses children and also argues with the Pharisees, nevertheless spends the nights in prayer, and those are the most important moments.
Are the words of St John Mary Vianney true, then, that priests will be as the faithful pray? Which in turn means that the holiness of priests depends on us all?
Of course it is true, because what we have here is a mutual protecting and a mutual strengthening. Above all, what matters here is that when people pray for a priest, a perspective and a look of faith upon the priesthood is formed and matures in them. If prayer is lacking, then a purely secular, purely worldly way of thinking pushes in ever more strongly; a sensual, material way of thinking that will stress „he is only a man like any of us”, whereas he is Homo Dei, a man of God — not because of his merits, but because of the grace of the Sacrament of the Priesthood and because of being chosen, being called. Only through prayer is a person able to see that supernatural, spiritual perspective and to judge a priest by it; even when he sees his weaknesses and mistakes, he will not be scandalised by them, because he will know that God brings his grace, the true treasure, in earthen vessels.
It is a challenge for us, then, to learn to look at a priest as a man and not as an angel.
That is always a problem, because there is something angelic in us, that is, a mission. Angelos means a messenger, the one whom the Lord has sent. As we read in St Matthew about the angels who gaze upon the Face of God and at the same time guard the little ones. It is similar here: a priest is to fulfil such a mission — to be with people and to gaze upon the Face of God. What is difficult, however — and it is not a feature of our times alone — is that just as in the lifetime of the Lord Jesus people concentrated only on his humanity, on his human form, and found it hard to accept „that this is a man sent by God”, so too here, in our own day, people, concentrating on the humanity, on what is human in a priest, have trouble seeing that what we are dealing with is above all the action of God. We are de facto in the same situation, though fortunately a little further on, because Christ has risen.
One often hears the accusation against priests that they have fallen so deep into their sins and weaknesses that they cannot be pulled out or put right, and that prayer will not help, will change nothing, because in the eyes of some it is „only” prayer. Do you share that opinion, Father? Is the prayer of ordinary lay people, and not only of them, enough for a priest as help, as a lifeline in his difficulties?
It may be enough, but God can also give the light: „go and admonish him”. Of course one has to discern whether a given thought comes from the Holy Spirit, because God can make use of us, and then one has to follow it. But it may also be that this simple prayer of an ordinary, unknown person has enormous value, because as long as a person is alive, he can get up and change. There are also situations in which the degree of entanglement in sin brings certain obligations with it, for instance fatherly ones, because new life has been conceived. That then calls for the intervention of a bishop or a religious superior. But when it comes to the salvation of that man, because that is what it is all about, since he is a priest for ever, the matter of his conversion and salvation depends very much on prayer. Prayer is here the first and the most important thing, and in many cases the only help we can offer. That prayer, however, will be effective not by our measure, in the expectation that we shall see and experience the fruits of such prayer. In the case of most people we shall only find out on the other side — how at the last moment of his life that man who had gone so far astray stood before God in truth, and that moment was enough, as it was for the good thief on the cross. Judging prayer by our own sense of whether it is fruitful is not the right level of assessment.
Is the prayer of the faithful as valuable as the prayer of a priest?
There is a difference between them, because a priest acts „in persona Christi”, that is, Christ acts in the person of the priest in relation to the community of the Church. A Christian is also „Alter Christus”, because the Lord acts through grace. But towards the community of the Church and within the Church that role is undeniable. We see this difference precisely in the Eucharist. An ordinary lay person does not celebrate the Eucharist, does not administer the sacrament of penance or the anointing of the sick, does he? Here an authority is taken up that is a service for others; it is not a matter of exalting oneself, of loftiness, it is a ministry, just as Christ served people. The difference in the power of intercessory prayer, therefore, does not come from the priest himself but from Christ.
Father Andrzej, is there anything you would like to share? A word of courage, of gratitude, addressed to those who have already found a permanent place in their lives for prayer for a priest? Or to those who have not yet decided to do so?
I am very grateful to every person who, moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit, has taken up this priceless ministry of intercession. And so I address a fervent appeal to each and every one of you who read these words: persevere on this path of supporting priests and those who are called, a path so dear to the Lord Jesus. I also invite each and every one of you who feel an urging in this matter to answer it generously and magnanimously. The Lord will not be outdone in giving!
