4 Quadrants

I’ll be joining my brother priests for our annual retreat. I’m preparing myself by trying to integrate my current experiences and reflections on my priesthood and the challenges being faced right now not just by me but I believe by priests in our diocese. I hope this could also help out remove the tune Nobody which has been playing out in my head for some time, hahaha. I know that playing a solo piano version in the background doesn’t help one bit but I’m not playing the actual song because I don’t understand the lyrics anyway. : )
To contextualize, there is a shortage of priests in the diocese, almost all are pastors, and all taking on multiple tasks. There is such shortage that priests from other dioceses and congregations have been requested to help out in the ministry. Much have been accomplished but also much have been direct causes for misdirection or burn-out. This is not bragging nor complaining, just a statement of fact.
Diversity of personalities. We are a small community of priests, and the differences of opinions, personalities and skills could either drive one to excel, to have fun and enjoy the biodiversity, or to go crazy…
Diversified needs. At the same time, each of us, in our different stages in life, have different needs that should be addressed or met. I guess that is the reason why we go crazy sometimes, there are needs that are unacknowledged or unmet.
80/20 rule. In the workplace, it is said that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the workers. 80% of our success comes from 20% of our efforts. I’m not wondering if this is applicable to us priests, what I’m wondering about is whether we are ready to acknowledge this rule.
Myths. Priests are shock absorbers. Priests can take it. Priests have been there, done that.
Priests are humans, like you. And me.

In my experience as a diocesan priest, in my inter-action with brother priests, I have observed that we parish priests often operate on the following 4 quadrants - sacramental, pastoral, administrative, personal. I believe it is our way of expressing not just our ordained priesthood but our very selves deeply changed by the gift of the call.
1. Sacramental.
Eucharist. This occupies a central part of our lives, whether we like it or not. We celebrate it everyday, in the parish church, in chapels and funeral homes, in big company buildings and narrow streets. We celebrate it on Sundays in places packed with people whom we rarely see on weekdays but with the prayer that where ever they are, they bring with them the message of hope. We celebrate it with people who value it deeply and we share it even with those who take it for granted or see it apart from what it is, but rather as a prelude to a function or an event. We celebrate it to bestow meaning in the actions through our presence, we celebrate it because it gives meaning to all our actions. The Eucharist allows us to bring Christ to the community and at the same time we invite Christ to be part of our selves. The Eucharist is everything that we are and we hope to be.
Sacraments and sacramentals. Baptisms, confirmations, weddings, confessions, anointing of the sick, ordinations, house blessings, novenas, etc - these are special moments of community gathered together in grief or in celebration, knitted together by that deep bond called humanity and weaved together by that even deeper bond called Christ’s love.
Too much emphasis results in the priest being so high up there in the clouds thereby losing touch with the community. The same happens with the community, the liturgy in the church becomes disconnected with the liturgy of life. Ministers often do not correlate their service in the liturgy with their vocation to serve Christ in their every day life situations.
De-emphasizing results in the desacralization of the priest. The priest loses that certain mystique because of the disconnection with the mystery.
Bottom line - This is the priest in us, his love, his heart beating for that one true love - God. This is the priest touching base with the Mystery.

2. Pastoral
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I wish I had paid more attention to my basic psychology lessons. Not just to understand myself. But more so to understand the community.
Basic Needs. I guess it is not a coincidence that when a retreat or spiritual talk is announced, only a few people attend and when feeding, medical/dental, livelihood services are offered, the parish is overflowing with people. We have to accept the reality that basic needs must be met first of all. Salvation offered by Jesus is not just of the spirit but of the body as well.
Higher Needs. Prayer is basic in our life. It gives us the connectedness with a higher being who bestows on us a purpose and direction in life. At times it is taught, it is learned, at times it is imbibed, it comes naturally. For some, this is a luxury, for others, the only resort and hope. Either way it gives us the awareness we need something more, or more correctly, someone.
Too much emphasis results in the priest losing ironically his prophetic role - that of pointing to the reality that the journey towards the realization of the kingdom happens in the here and now but that the realization happens not here but in God’s time and place.
Taking this for granted results in the priest and community losing touch with reality, with the realities of the world.
Bottom line - This is the prophet in us, not just the voice crying in the wilderness but also the hands and the feet, walking the talk, journeying with us in the wilderness of our society, of our church, of our lives. Much of the relational aspect is stressed but so must also be the liberation from our current situation towards the heavenly vision - people living together in peace.

3. Administrative
Managerial skills. I guess if we will liken our church to a business corporation, we will be geared towards people support. How effective are we in managing people to achieve our mission?
Leadership skills. As a church, we have a vision - to be Christ like, to follow Christ. How effective are we in leading others toward that dream?
Too much emphasis and the church becomes a corporation, nothing else but a company to be run with people to be managed and a plan to be realized.
Take this for granted and the church becomes a disorganized group of people doing things out of obligation or tradition or worse out of vested interests.
Bottom line - This is the king in us, the head taking the lead not just in ideas but in journeying with the community, exercising stewardship of the community. Sometimes the methods that worked before will not work now, still we are comforted with the fact that we may discover and even stumble upon better methods. Sometimes we may be exasperated that the principles behind the methods may not be applicable and that the rules have changed midway and that is why there is such a thing as grace - we cannot go at it alone, we need God.

4. Personal
Spiritual. Spiritual direction is important, correction, make that essential. So is a spiritual guide who will objectively help discern the movements of the spirits, who will help bring about integration. To paraphrase Mother Teresa, no one is so wise as not to learn from someone, no one is so ignorant as not to impart any valuable teaching. Annual Retreats, personal prayer time - these are touchstones, milestones for the journey.
Emotional. I need to more and more understand people why they are the way they are, why they talk, act and treat others the way they do. That is why I also need to understand myself why I am the way that I am, why I talk, act and treat others the way I do.
Physical. Health is wealth. Enough said.
Hobbies. This is one way of assessing our passions, our interests in a fun way.
Education. Life is a school, don’t stop learning, don’t drop out. Unless of course life drops you.
Financial security. Basic rules - Do not spend more than you have. Do not spend more than the average parishioner so as to avoid scandalizing others. If you can, live like Mother Teresa and follow the invitation of Jesus to the rich young man. If you cannot yet do that, live simply. KISS - keep it simple, stupid.
This principle is so true yet often taken for granted - you cannot lead others if you cannot even lead yourself.
Too much emphasis and the priest sends the message he is out only for himself, to save his own skin. The call to kenosis, self-emptying, the gift of agit in persona Christi, acting in the person of Christ becomes lip service.
Taking this for granted results in the priest looking funny and even laughable to others, literally saving others but not himself.
Bottom line - This is our body and soul, we only have one of each, we need to have proper stewardship of self, unless in the future there will be such things as transplants of body and soul, which I doubt would ever happen.

Balance is key. That is why its called holiness. Wholeness. Grow one part of the quadrant, of the body and you will look weird. Find oneself at the center and be grounded, it is a skill and an art - something I haven’t perfectly learned yet, I doubt if I ever would, but that’s part of the challenge, and the excitement. I am a work in progress. One of the best things in life (aside from spending time with friends and loved ones and a really good game of tennis) is to be able to ask the right questions (I guess it does not matter much if we get to the point of finding the answers), to find and hold the key, and to have a plan. I know other priests have their own set of plans and quadrants that were of great help to them in realizing their priesthood and making the most of it and bearing fruit as Jesus has commanded. For me, this has been most helpful personally and if it can help others, then it is an added bonus.
Core Competence. This is something I ascribed to. Do not settle to be a jack of all trades and a master of nothing. Do not be average. If I want to be remembered for something after I die, then I need to start building memories. Today.
I’ve noticed that some priests, not just by age, can be labeled old school where there are fixed rules and strategies. They have their advantages. There is also such a thing as new school where rules and boundaries are ever changing. This is exciting yet frightening times. Challenging times. Still, no matter what school we come from, we only have one teacher and we need to know and do the most important thing - to bring about the presence of Christ and to do his mission.
We are now faced with challenges of presenting in new ways the faith that remains unchanged. The priest, for me, that will be most fruitful, if not successful, is the priest that will be able to adjust well in being in the world but not of the world. Personally, being a priest for more than 5 years led me to face realities that I have come to even more understand and appreciate as I dig deeper and still, as priests, we continue to journey into the depths and heights of our faith, of our world, of our God, and as we fall more and more into the deep abyss of the Mystery, the only thing we can hold on to is the faith that at the deepest end of our falling is the loving arms of God…