the holder of the keys

I would like to reflect on the consequences of holding the keys, the consequence of binding and losing in the formation of seminarians, and eventually in our ordination as priests.
The key symbolizes authority. He who holds the key, is given the authority; he has the power of the keys.
This authority does not come from anyone else but from God. In the mass this morning we heard from our first reading God taking away the kingship from Shebnah and giving this to Eliakim saying, on his shoulder I will put the keys of the House of David - when he opens, no one shall shut; when he shuts, no one shall open. The same is true with Peter. Jesus gives the keys to Peter so that whatever he binds on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever he sets loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." A position of authority in the church comes from God.
What then is its implication to our seminary formation and to your desire to become priests? First, to become a priest one is to be called by God. One does not become a priest by his own choice. As a priest you will become leaders of the community, leaders of a portion of the people of God in the parish. This authority comes from God alone and the holder of the keys examines, scrutinizes, recognizes and finally confirms that authority in you. So to become a priest one does not raise his hand and say, I volunteer. To be an authority of the church one does not undergo election, as in he who gets the vote of the majority wins. No, it is not like that. To become an authority in the church is not primarily your choice or the choice of people around you, but God’s choice.


So it can happen for example that one of you wants to become a priest. His mother is very supportive in his desire to become a priest. He has a lot of fans telling him and expecting him to become a priest. The seminarian himself is so engrossed in becoming one. // But again, it is not what you want that matters most, rather it is what God wants. You may want it so badly, but if God does not want it for you, then you cannot, or I say, you should not.
Or let’s take another example Jimel, Francis and Denmar. They don’t want to become priests because they said they have finally found girlfriends as tall as they are. So they don’t want to become priests anymore by proceeding to college. Their mothers and fathers probably don’t want them to become priests because they want them to become dollar earners in nursing and in the maritime profession? But is the priesthood, which is a position of authority in the church, just a question of wanting it or not wanting it? Is it just a question of liking to become one or not liking to become one? If it is just a question of you like it or not, then in the history of salvation there would not have been a Moses, or a Joshua, or a Gideon, or a Jeremiah, or an Isaiah, or a Joseph or a Paul, because they never wanted to become one. But as I said, it is not a question of you wanting it, rather it is a question of what God wants. What does God want for me? Where is he calling me? Lord, what do you want from me?
Ask for example you seminary formators how they ended up in the seminary when all they thought God wanted from them in their seminary years was to become a priest in the parish. Did the bishop one day gather all the priests at the Palacio and ask them, OK if you want to be assigned in the seminary please raise your right hands. And all of a sudden in complete excitement Fr. Dennis, Fr. Bong, Fr. Moise and Fr. Julius raise their hands together shouting me me me, bishop, me, me, me. Did it happen that way?
No, it did not happen that way. It was more of the bishop calling us, the bishop negotiating with us, sometimes pleading with us, and us negotiating and pleading against it in return, and the bishop commanding us to do what we do not like doing. You look at us as authority. This is authority we do not want, but this is an authority given to us by God through him who holds the power of the keys. This is authority we have to learn and work hard for in order to eventually love. For this authority did not come from us wanting it, but from God wanting it for us.
So Jimel, Denmar and Francis it is not just a matter of wanting or not wanting the priesthood for yourself. It is a question of what does God want?
Authority in the church through the priesthood, the deaconate or the episcopate or even the papacy is not a matter of wanting it or not wanting it. In the Sistine Chapel where they elect the pope for example, they have there what we call the crying room. It is called a crying room because nobody wants to become a pope and when they get elected they end up in that room crying knowing the burden that they will be made to carry. Authority comes from God. It is his prerogative. If God wants you, you better pray that you also want what God wants. If it so happens that you do not want what God wants, then better start liking what God wants, otherwise you will always find yourself empty deep inside you and end up miserable in your life. I tell you it is useless to rebel against God.
I would like to ask the fourth year college and the high school and the pre-college to start going to your spiritual director this early so that you can be helped in discovering what God wants you to become. Some of you will be given the keys, others will not. It is God’s prerogative. Seek then to know what God wants.