First Solemn Mass in Australia of Fr Ken Webb FSSP – St Aloysius’ Caulfield, 11th July 2004
(6th Sunday after Pentecost)

There’s an old saying about priests, that they should be “in the world, but not of it”. Observing the life of a certain Roman college, one commentator noted rather that its inmates were “of the world, but not in it!” Certainly, in the priesthood the stakes are high: great things are required of men as frail as those whom they serve. And since the priesthood is a wholly supernatural vocation – that is, unlike marriage, it has no existence in the natural order – to lose sight of the priesthood’s unique origin in Christ is to commit a fatal error. No ersatz priesthood is going to satisfy one raised to this sacred order, or benefit those to whom he ministers.

The secret of the priesthood is in the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s priesthood that Fr Webb has received – not my idea of it, or yours, or anyone else’s. The priesthood exists solely by the will and power of Jesus Christ: it must be accepted on His terms, received and lived in accordance with His mind.

That is why, even if the priesthood makes great demands, the acceptance of Christ’s call brings with it a fundamental joy. To be overly anxious about our own unworthiness is to betray more interest in oneself than in our Lord. The time of testing ends at ordination: the call of the Church confirms definitively the aspirant’s conviction of the Lord’s invitation. Before this moment, one might stammer and hesitate like the young Jeremiah. Now, Fr Webb has felt the force of the Lord’s reassurance to the one whom He calls: “Before I formed you in the womb of your mother, I knew you. Say not, ‘I am a child’: for you shall go to all that I shall send you; and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid at their presence; for I am with you to deliver you.” (Jeremias 1:5,7-8)

As Fr Webb experiences the joy that derives from the certitude of Christ’s call – and as we rejoice with him in God’s goodness to His Church – he does not forget his weakness. He knows he will receive what he needs to live out the demands of the priesthood if and only if he relies on God’s strength, rather than his own.

As a secular priest in pastoral ministry, Fr Webb will understand that his own sanctification is to be found not in some self appointed fashion outside his duties, but through their faithful accomplishment. By his claim on God’s grace in the Sacrament of Orders, he will be able to be faithful in adhering to and proclaiming Divine Truth, wise and compassionate in proposing God’s law for man’s good, and diligent in his stewardship of God’s Holy Mysteries. He will be a true father, most especially when he strives more deeply each day to imitate what he handles in the Eucharistic sacrifice, prefigured in today’s Gospel with the feeding of the four thousand. May his priestly ministry find in this “sacrifice of jubilation” (communio) the fountainhead of Christ’s compassion on the multitude.

To be in the world, but not of it: that is the challenge before Fr Webb. As the Second Vatican Council in its decree on the life and ministry of priests teaches: “The priests of the new covenant are in a way set apart by their vocation and ordination within the fold of God’s people, not to separate themselves from that people or from any individual person, but to devote themselves wholly to the task for which God chooses them. They could not be servants of Christ, if they did not witness to and make available a life other than the earthly one; nor could they serve people if they remained aloof from the conditions of their lives. Their very ministry makes a special claim that they should not conform to this world; but at the same time it demands that they should live in this world among its people, know their own flock as good shepherds do, and look for ways to attract those not of this fold to hear the voice of Christ, so that there may be one fold and one shepherd.” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 3)

May Jesus Christ, our High Priest and Good Shepherd, enlighten and strengthen Fr Webb has he sets forth on this noble mission.

Rev Glen Tattersall FSSP