Excerpt from Cardinal Frank Leo’s Holy Thursday message to his brother priests in the Archdiocese of Toronto. 

May Jesus and Mary be in your souls.

The Institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood invite us to actively behold and work in our shared vocation and journey of listening, discerning, and working under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

The Upper Room was, in a profound sense, the first synodal gathering of the Church: Jesus present at/as the centre (as he always must be in our lives, ministries and communities); the apostles are gathered around him (they form a brotherhood of those called and sent, recognizing that Christ is their focus and the life from which all good things begin and radiate); the Word is proclaimed (the eternal truths that enlighten and brighten, console, convict and empower us); the gift of Sacrificial love instituted (the Sacramentum caritatis which is the nourishment and lifeline of our existence) and the command (Mandatum) of humble service given (the spending of our life in witnessing and for the salvation of souls): truly we see in these ecclesial and typically priestly characteristics the very foundations of communion, participation, and mission. 

As the source and summit of Christian life, the Eucharist is truly the pattern for our life together. We do not create communion as much as we receive it – Eucharistia facit ecclesiam. Communion is a gift before it is a task, it must be received before it can be shared. As priests of the new and eternal covenant, called to walk authentically with Our Lord and with others, we recognize that the mystery of Christ’s self-giving love both create and sustain the bonds of our communion in Ecclesia. 

The Eucharist forms us into one Body, dissolving the temptations of isolation and self-sufficiency. The more deeply we ourselves are conformed to the Eucharistic Lord – broken and given for others – the more our presbyterate and our faith communities will become places of authentic listening, trust, and co-responsibility.

We are bound sacramentally to Jesus Christ the High Priest, configured to him so that we may serve his Mystical Body – a beautiful and compelling mystery. The sacred gift we received at our ordination is always understood within the broader mystery of the Priestly People of God. How do we live this sacred gift? What does service look like? As we note in the life of the nascent Church (Acts 15:1–29), our ministry exists not in competition with, but in service to others, in service to communion. In instituting the sacred priesthood, Our Lord did not create a closed circle of privilege; he established a sacramental ministry ordered toward the sanctification and mission of the whole Church and the whole world. As Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, 10 clearly teaches: “Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ.” This doctrine has profound implications for how we understand charisms as well. 

The Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost but anticipated at the Last Supper, distributes gifts abundantly in the Church. He gives to us not only the seven gifts which are for us and meant for our own proper and personal sanctification; he likewise affords the charismatic, special gifts meant to build up the Body of Christ, thus, given to us but not for us – to be shared with others. These charisms are not accidental accessories; they are concrete manifestations of the Spirit’s presence, given for the common good.

Indeed, our shepherding is marked by the need to listen and to lead, not suffocate what the Lord is accomplishing in our midst. Are we not called to help discern and develop, call forth, encourage and coordinate these particular gifts for the life of our communities? As servants of communion, we are called to actively encourage participation that empowers Parish Pastoral Councils and lay leaders, not out of a desire to outsource work, but rather out of recognition for the variety of charisms God has gifted our community, and our desire to cooperate with him. Unfortunately, it is easier to manage than to discern, easier to control than to accompany. Yet the Spirit often speaks through the faithful in ways that surprise us. Our task is to help bring these gifts into harmony with the Church’s mission and with one another.