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| 7/14/2010 11:04:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Bishop speaks on the joys of priesthood
Editor's note: Bishop Joe Vásquez, installed as the fifth bishop of Austin on March 8 at St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock, was recently interviewed by the editor of the Catholic Diocese of Austin's "Catholic Spirit." The following is an excerpt from that interview, appearing in the June issue of "Catholic Spirit."
"Catholic Spirit" editor: The diocese is on a positive track in terms of vocations and our priests play a key role in that. During the Chrism Mass, you said that a joyful priest is the best advertisement for vocations. Can you expand upon that statement?
Bishop Joe Vásquez: For me personally a joyful priest is what attracted me to the priesthood. I had a very young priest who came to the parish when I was a young man. My family was brought closer to the church by this priest because of his love for the church and his service. He was energetic; he was dynamic. Yes, he was young, but he had an energy and a joy about him and we could sense that he was sincere. He loved what he was doing, he appreciated the people and he wanted to serve. So that stimulated me to think about the priesthood. I think that is what happens for most young men. When I say a joyful person, I am not saying that he is smiling all the time, that he was happy all the time, that everything was going right all the time. I don't think that is what we mean by joy. Rather, joy is a deep sense of Christ's presence within the person. A priest can't help but be excited about what he is doing because he is communicating Christ and Christ is coming through him. As we have always said in our church, the priest stands "in persona Christi capitis." That means that he communicates Christ and when he celebrates the sacraments, it is Christ who is celebrating the sacraments. It is Christ who baptizes. It is Christ who forgives sins. As Catholics that is very powerful for us. For me I think that inner joy, that inner awareness of Christ, is what I want our priests to have and is what I strive for myself. I have already met many priests in our diocese who are joyful -- priests who love their ministry and who love what they are doing. I consider myself very blessed. I am thankful to God every time I go to a parish and I see the way the priests relate to the people and the way the people relate to the priests. There is joy in the hearts of these men and that is indeed the most important advertisement for vocations to the priesthood.
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