AVAILABILITY

Fr. Bob Bedard, CC


We are not priests for ourselves. We are priests for the Church, for the people. That means we must make ourselves available to them.

Gone are the days when the priest lived almost in a world apart. The pedestals have all been put away. And thank God for that. I’ve always been uncomfortable with heights anyway.

I have found the best time to make contact with the people is before and after Mass. Escaping to the shelter of the sacristy the minute the celebration is over just won’t do. The people should have a chance to see the priest and know that he is approachable.

A pencil and small note-pad are part of the necessary kit we should carry with us at all times. People have all kinds of things to say, some of them worth noting. Names and phone numbers are almost impossible to remember if we don’t write them down.

Speaking of names – they’re very important. There is nothing more closely identified with us than our names. The Bible reflects this as a matter of course. When we say, “Praise the name of the Lord”, we are saying “Praised be the Lord” Himself.

When someone calls me by name, I am affirmed. I feel as though I matter. I learned this when I was teaching high school. I worked hard at remembering students’ names and used them every chance I got. It made a difference. It was amazing how many of them told me even years later, how much that meant to them – to be called by name by a teacher. It made them feel important, they said.

Grown-ups are the same. We all like to be called by name.

Often people remark how envious they are of my so-called ‘gift’ for remembering names. Actually, I have no gift for it at all. It’s just plain hard work.

When someone says to me: “I have a terrible time remembering names,” I usually respond, “that’s because you don’t really care about people” I don’t mean it, of course, but it’s a good way to get the conversation going. I explain to them just how I manage so often to call peoples’ names from my memory.

There’s no big secret about it. It’s really quite a simple system. Here are the steps:
1) When you speak with a person whose face is somewhat familiar, ask him/her
for a name;
2) Write it down in your note-pad;
3) Transfer it later to a list that you’re keeping that’s called: Names to
remember;


4) Review the list every few days by reciting each name and trying to visualize the face that goes with it;
5) Grab every opportunity you can get to call the person by name.

Once you’ve used the name a few times it will work itself into your memory and become quite easy to recall.

If we’re going to allow ourselves to be seen and spoken to before and after Mass, we’re going to have to do the processions up and down the middle aisle. This goes for weekdays as well as weekends. People get to rely on seeing us at our posts. They know where to find us. That’s reassuring for them. “Father is available any time I want to see him,” they will say. “He cares about us.” Most of them won’t speak to you very often, but that’s what they’ll say.

As pastors, we have to be ready to make appointments. Although we won’t be able to see everybody, one-time or occasional meetings should always be possible. People have problems, questions, and suggestions to make. They may need counsel or want prayers.

Working with individuals can be rewarding. It can also be exhausting. While we’re quite within the parameters of our mandate to give counsel, we have to remember we’re not counsellors. We have to resist the desire, if we have such, as well as pressure from those in need, to take people on as regular directees. We can find others to carry out this much-sought after ministry. I’m convinced the gifts to do it will be present in any developing parish community. God does not leave his Church without the gifts to carry out the appointed tasks.

The pastor’s role will be to identify the gifts, call the people forth, get them some training and commission them to do the job. He will keep in on-going touch with those who are working with him.

In some ways, today’s pastor has to act the way a bishop does. He must try to surround himself with competent, gifted, discreet, prayerful people, people he can count on, who have his ‘mind’ on most things, to whom he can confide about people and situations that need attention. How to find them? Pray hard and ask God to point them out.

In our amazingly computerized world, wonderful machines are doing more and more of our work. While it is important that we be effective labourers in the Lord’s vineyard, I feel we are in danger of making a god out of efficiency. God’s ways are not always ours. It seems to me that, if we are going to leave the Lord room to make the many surprising moves he may well have in mind, we are going to have to put up with a certain amount of pleasant disorder. Some times even orderly chaos. God is effective, but he isn’t always very efficient.

Telephone answering machines are a useful invention, but I think it’s possible we leave them on too long. I’m against office hours. While I like order, that’s just too business-like to suit me. Better to recruit more volunteers to answer the phone than to cut down the hours of availability. I realize there are differing opinions here, but the most appealing pastors of my acquaintance have been those who have opened the doors and the phone lines.

They’re quite available.