1. Lord of closeness- Pope Francis begins to call God as the Lord of Closeness. It is God who initiates and be close to his people. In Deuteronomy 4:7 we read about Moses reminding the people of the greatness of Israel because the closeness of God to them. Moses said: “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” Remember what Pope Francis wrote about the wonder of the Christmas creche, he said: “His closeness brings light where there is darkness and shows the way to those dwelling in the shadow of suffering (cf. Lk 1:79)” (signum admirabile 4) Besides, in Evangelii Gaudium 269 he also said: “How good it is for us to contemplate the closeness which he shows to everyone! If he speaks to someone, he looks into their eyes with deep love and concern: “Jesus, looking upon him, loved him” (Mk 10:21). Thus, the vocation of the priest is a vocation of closeness the way God comes close to creation, to people, and to the Church. Thus, “a priestly heart knows about closeness, because his primary form of closeness is with the Lord.”

2. Forms of Closeness- Pope Francis exhorts us that priests have to develop a spirit of closeness in order to appreciate the priestly gift they have received from Christ. He said that it is not an added work or burden in their ministry but like a sine qua non in order for the priestly ministry to be fruitful and meaningful. He said: “the forms of closeness that the Lord demands – closeness with God, closeness with the Bishop, closeness among us priests and closeness with the holy faithful People of God – are not an added burden: they are a gift that he gives to keep our vocation alive and fruitful.”

a) Closeness to God- Pope Francis describes the life of a priest has having the sense of closeness with God. He mentioned these following points: 1) “grafts”- a priest has to experience being “grafted” with Christ in order to be fruitful. The main point of Pope Francis here is to be fruitful and meaningful in the ministry. Meaningfulness is not found in our achievements and fulfillments but it is measured how much are priests grafted into Christ. He used the word “remaining” in Christ will a priest be fruitful. 2) “measure”- the priest has to learn to “measure” his own ministry with the life and ministry of Christ. This is possible when the priest listens, proclaims and lives out the Word of God. For Pope Francis the Word of God is indispensable in making one’s life and ministry conformed to Christ so that it will be “learning not to be scandalized by whatever befalls us and protecting ourselves from “stumbling blocks”. Like the Master, you will experience joy, wedding feasts, miracles and healings, multiplications of loaves and repose, moments of praise. But you will also experience ingratitude, rejection, doubt and solitude, to the point of crying out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46).  3) “unafraid”- Pope Francis says that closeness with God makes us receive the grace of being “unafraid” “not because we rely on our own strength but because we look to him, cling to him and cry out: “Lord, keep me from falling into temptation! Make me realize that I am experiencing a critical moment in my life and that you are with me, to test my faith and my love.” 4) “struggle”- each priest has his struggles in his life and ministry. Pope Francis mentioned about “a struggle with the Lord, especially in those moments when his absence is most felt in our own lives and in the lives of the persons entrusted to us.” A form of struggle is a young priest assigned to take so many works or jobs. 5) “crises” – the difference between spiritual life and religious life are both different realities. Pope Francis cited this example: “How is your spiritual life going?” “Good, good. I make my meditation in the morning, I pray the rosary, I pray the breviary and all the rest. I’m doing everything. No, this is religious practice. But how is your spiritual life going?” Spiritual life consists of: listening to his word, the celebration of the Eucharist, the silence of adoration, entrustment to Mary, the wise accompaniment of a guide and the sacrament of Reconciliation… Pope Francis said: “Without these concrete “forms of closeness”, a priest is merely a weary hireling who has none of the benefits of the Lord’s friends.” 6) “friendship”- Pope Francis reminds us of the nature of friendship that the priest makes with God. He said: “in the life of priests, prayer is practiced only as a duty; we forget that friendship and love do not come from following rules, but are a fundamental choice of the heart.” A priest also prays like a son close to the Lord. 7) “prune”- Pope Francis reminds us of the work that we do that would lead to a less closeness with the Lord. Sometimes we lose the chance to give silence to our hearts and focus on the work we have to accomplish during the day. Pope Francis said that our closeness will not be easy, “unless we are accustomed to find moments of silence throughout our day and to set aside the activism of Martha in order to learn the quiet contemplation of Mary.” 8) “touch”- closeness to God enables the priest to experience a “touch the hurt in our hearts, which, if embraced, disarms us even to the point of making possible an encounter.” This means that the sense of “closeness” with the Lord will help the priest seek for forgiveness, reconciliation and humility. It is developing a contrite heart for the wounds brought about by sin. “The prayer that, like fire, stirs up our priestly life is the plea of a contrite and humble heart, which, as the Scripture tells us, the Lord does not disdain (cf. Ps 51:17). “They call and the Lord hears and rescues them from their distress. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save” (Ps 34:17-18). 9) “heart”- Pope Francis mentioned about a “heart” which is enlarged due to the gift of closeness with God. A priest who develops closeness with God, finds himself in compassion; he embraces the pain of the people entrusted to his care while, at the same time, like a sentinel, being able to proclaim the dawning of God’s grace revealed in that very pain.” Embracing, accepting and showing his own impoverishment in closeness to the Lord is the best means to learn gradually how to embrace the neediness and pain that he encounters daily in his ministry, and thus to be conformed ever more closely to the heart of Christ. In closeness to God, the priest grows in closeness to his people; and conversely, in closeness to his people, he experiences closeness to his Lord. 

         b) Closeness to the Bishop- the closeness to the Bishop is one of the most important aspect in the life of the priest. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that “priests by various titles are bound together hierarchically with the bishop” (PO 5) and the bishops “should regard priests as their brothers and friends” (PO 7). Pope Francis emphasized two important indicators of the closeness of priests to the bishop. First, the virtue of obedience. He commented though obedience is a virtue to be developed in the life of the priest but it seems that it is not correctly carried out. He said “as Church, all too often, even today, our view of obedience is far from the sense of the Gospel. Obedience is not a disciplinary attribute but the deepest sign of the bonds uniting us in communion.” He brought about these comments: 1) To obey, in this case obeying the Bishop, means to learn how to listen, to remember that no one “owns” God’s will, which must be understood only through discernment. Obedience is thus attentive listening to the will of God, which is discerned precisely in a bond, a relationship with others. 2) The “internal logic” of closeness – in this case with the Bishop, but with others too – enables us to conquer all temptations to closedmindedness, self-justification and living our lives as “bachelors.”

Second, to foster the image of a “father”- Bishops have to act as fathers and “not a school superintendent or supervisor.” The closeness of the bishops is seen in four indicators: first, the bishop has to behave otherwise he will drive his priests away; second, the bishop should be the bond where he can be a help in the discernment with the priest regarding the will of God; third, the bishop has to be attentive to the life of the priests in order to fulfill discernment; fourth, the bishop has to learn to listen. “Listening, in communication, is an openness of heart that makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. Listening helps us to find the right gesture and word which shows that we are more than simply bystanders. Only through such respectful and compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth and awaken a yearning for the Christian ideal: the desire to respond fully to God’s love and to bring to fruition what he has sown in our lives.”

c) Closeness to other Priests- It is in the priests’ closeness to the bishop that the closeness of a priest with other priest flows. The communion with the Bishop is a necessary element of priestly fraternity. Pope Francis said: “fraternity, like obedience, cannot be a moral imposition from without. Fraternity means choosing deliberately to pursue holiness together with others, and not by oneself. As an African proverb, which you know well, says: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others.” There are virtues to develop in order closeness among priests will emerge: first, priests should develop love. It should be a love that serves a “roadmap” towards fraternity. Pope Francis commented: “Fraternal love does not insist on its own way, or yield to anger or resentment, as if my brother or neighbour had somehow cheated me of something. When I encounter the meanness of others, I choose not to harbour a grudge, to make that my sole basis of judgment, even perhaps to the point of rejoicing over evil in the case of those who have caused me suffering. True love rejoices in the truth and considers it a grave sin to offend truth and the dignity of our brothers and sisters through slander, detraction and gossip.” Our lack of respect towards other priests, to be rude and to be inflated are forms of clerical bullying. Second, priests have to develop patience. Pope Francis considers indifference as the opposite or antonym for patience, the ability to feel responsible for others, to bear their burdens, to suffer in some way with them. The opposite of patience is indifference, the distance we create with others, so as not to get involved in their lives. Many priests experience the drama of solitude, of loneliness. Third, priests have to develop appreciation. Pope Francis said that “Envy is very present in priestly communities.” Envy destroys the relationship among priests just as the devil entered into the life of Adam and Eve in the garden. He continued to say: “This inability to rejoice in the good of others – and I want to emphasize this – is envy which is very present in our circles; it is an obstacle to the pedagogy of love, not merely a sin to be confessed. Sin is the end result, it comes from an attitude of envy.” A priest who is aware of his limitations and weaknesses will never be envious. “For conscious of his own sinfulness, weakness and limitations, he knows from experience that where sin abounds, love abounds all the more (cf. Rom 5:20). This is the first and most reassuring message that he brings. A priest who keeps this in mind is not, and cannot be, envious.” Fourth, the closeness of priests is developed through celibacy. Celibacy is a gift that strengthens community of priests. “Celibacy is a gift that the Latin Church preserves, yet it is a gift that, to be lived as a means of sanctification, calls for healthy relationships, relationships of true esteem and true goodness that are deeply rooted in Christ.”

d) Closeness to the People- the closeness of the priest to the people have deep meaning and implications. First, the closeness of the priest towards the people is a gift and not a duty. Pope Francis said: “Loving others is a spiritual force drawing us to union with God.” Second, the priest’s closeness to the people becomes his source of joy. Pope Francis continued to say: “Jesus wants to make use of priests to draw closer to the holy faithful People of God. He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without the sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.”  Priestly identity cannot be understood without this belonging to the holy faithful People of God. Third, the priest’s closeness to the people is enliven by being a “good Samaritan.” Pope Francis says that priests are “Good Samaritans who acknowledge the wounds of our people, their silent sufferings, the self-denial and sacrifices made by so many fathers and mothers to support their families. Who acknowledge, too, the effects of violence, corruption and indifference that, in their wake, seek to stifle all hope. A style of closeness that allows us to pour balm upon wounds and to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord (cf. Is 61:2). Fourth, the closeness of priests to the people should be manifested by being true shepherds to them. Pope Francis said: “it is imperative to remember that the People of God are hoping to find shepherds in the style of Jesus. Not “clerical functionaries” or “professionals of the sacred” – let’s recall that period in France, the time of the Curé of Ars: he was a curate, but there was also “monsieur l’abbé”, a clerical functionary. Today, too, people are asking us to be shepherds of the people and not “professionals of the sacred”, shepherds filled with compassion and concern. Men of courage, ready to draw near to those in pain and lend a helping hand. Contemplative men, whose closeness to people enables them to proclaim before the wounds of our world the power of the Resurrection even now at work.”