“May having [Jesus] on earth absorb your life and your heart,” Pope Francis told a group of around 120 seminarians from Toledo, Spain, who he met at the Vatican on November 7, 2024. In a short speech, he told them to always be close to the people of God and the Church and reminded them of the importance of getting to know Christ personally to become good priests.
Pope Francis cited an ancient tradition called “Reservado” (the Reserved), that the seminarians are getting ready to celebrate, which commemorates the first time the Eucharist was held in the Tabernacle of the chapel of the Major Seminary of Toledo. This tradition, which includes the celebration of the Eucharist, the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and then a procession, “can serve to remind us of the fundamental elements of the priesthood for which you are preparing,” Pope Francis said.
He then went on to explain the three phases as different elements of their mission as possible future priests, but also as Christians.
3 important ways to get close to Christ
“First of all, the Eucharistic celebration. It is Jesus who comes into our life to give us the proof of the greatest love. He invites us, as Church, to make ourselves present in the priesthood and among the people, in the sacrament and in the Word. May having him on earth absorb your life and your heart,” Pope Francis explained.
Then the second phase, where the Sacrament is exposed for the whole day, can be “a time to be alone with Him, to hear His voice in silence, in listening to the Word, in the witness of faith of those who pray beside us.”
“Only the person-to-person, loving encounter with Jesus can illuminate, maintain and sustain the course of our earthly day. May this encounter truly be an effective impulse that transforms your existence,” he continued.
Then lastly the procession. “Carrying the Lord in procession, because we receive Him in order to carry Him: our ministry is to accompany Christ towards His people, and the people towards Christ. May you, without turning your gaze away from the One who judges us, learn to walk together in the hope of the encounter of which we already have a foretaste here in a sacramental way,” the Pope said.
The 4 proximities
Other than getting close to Christ, Pope Francis also encouraged the seminarians to remember “four forms of proximity”: to God, to bishops, to their brother priests, and to the people of God.
“First, closeness with God, so that there may be capacity to encounter the Lord, to be close to the Lord. Second, closeness with bishops, and bishops close to priests. A priest who is not close to his bishop is 'lame,' he is lacking something,” the Pope said. “Third, closeness among you priests, which already begins in the seminary, and fourth, closeness to the holy faithful people of God.”
