Msgr. Rudolph Daz: 'A priest to the end'
MIDWAY — Priests of the Diocese of Salt Lake City gathered at the Homestead Resort June 4-6 for their annual retreat.
The primary goal of the yearly retreat is to give the priests an opportunity for reflection and prayer away from the busy demands of their parishes, said Father Martin Diaz, chairman of the liturgical committee that planned the retreat.
“It’s to give us some time to pray, with Adoration, the rosary, Mass, morning prayer, evening prayer, along with a penance service and Confession,” said Fr. Diaz, who also is rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.
Another aim of the retreat is to allow the priests to come together in a convivial way, he added. “That conviviality, that community building is very much a part of both retreat and convocation. It’s just being together in the same room; it’s like a family reunion. … So it’s really the coming together, and that’s great.”
In keeping with the retreat’s overall theme of “Change and Conversion,” presenter Father Christopher Hartley, a British-Spanish missionary, spoke about the three vows of the priesthood: poverty, chastity and obedience, along with prayer.
In his Wednesday presentation on obedience Fr. Hartley focused on scriptural examples such as Abraham. Sometimes people do not know God’s will or the reasons behind what they are asked to do, he said, but as a person of faith it is important to be obedient even when understanding is missing.
“How many times is our obedience conditioned, or our disobedience justified, by ‘I don’t understand?’” he asked, pointing out that Abraham was obedient even when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. “He, not understanding, was able to say, ‘God will provide.’”
Likewise, Jesus Christ spent the first 30 years of his life waiting for his ministry to begin, Fr. Hartley said. Rather than question the Father, the Savior waited obediently and patiently and then throughout his ministry was an example to all Christians. “The salvation of the world comes through the obedience of Jesus Christ; he loved us to the end, he was obedient unto death,” he said. “Those two realities absolutely are interchangeable. One of the most impressive aspects of the obedience of Christ is that it is a source of joy for Christ.”
A bishop cannot lead his diocese effectively when he does not have the support and obedience of the clergy, Fr. Hartley went on to say. “I’ve been to many, many dioceses. How difficult it is for a bishop to run a diocese when there is grumbling and resistance.”
Like the Savior, the faithful need to be patient and obedient regardless of the human weaknesses of God’s servants, Fr. Harley said. “What matters is this person was anointed by the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord is upon him and in trusted communion with him, we’re bringing about the kingdom of God.”
Through obedience the faithful gain true freedom just as the Savior did, he said. “The freedom of Jesus Christ is expressed in his obedience to the Father. Only in as much as we participate in his obedience to the Father are we truly evangelically free. My freedom is my radical dependence on the Father; and when I deviate, when I choose to walk away from my Father’s house with my part of the inheritance, I’ve given [up] my freedom.”
“If you remain wanting Christ, and in obedience with the bishop, my brother priests, you are invincible, invincible, and you will bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the very ends of the world,” he concluded.
Fr. Hartley’s words are not just for the priests of the diocese; obedience is also important for lay members of the Church, he said.
“We all participate, by virtue of our baptism, in the obedience of Christ that glorifies the Father and lays down his life for the people,” he said. “In daily life, we’re all called to participate precisely in this obedience of Jesus Christ,” in marriage and in raising children. “It is precisely this obedience of love – and never without love – that binds us together and makes us one in this communion of love, that we all share with one another in the person of Jesus Christ and represented by our bishop and by the shepherds who have been central to take care of our spiritual lives.”
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