“Remember our limitations“
In the course of our priestly ministry, we gradually take on more tasks and commitments. And one of the issues we must consider is that every day there are fewer priests and therefore, we are overloaded with pastoral and even administrative tasks. That may lead us, in many cases, to trauma and anxiety. That is why we must always return to Jesus, and we must remember our limitations and not take on more than we can handle. In that respect, it is important to give yourself your time as a human being and as a priest, because if you do not take care of your time and space, people and members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy can deprive you of it or absorb it.
Here are 3 types of fatigue that you may or will face:
1. Human fatigue: This happens when you neglect your human aspect. You do not control your personal space and time, and you even neglect the way you dress. You almost only have time for pastoral work, so you do not give yourself the opportunity to go to the gym, for example, or meeting your friends. Human fatigue makes you tired of things that are vital to your life, like when you are invited to get together with friends who are good for you, and you do not want to go because you are tired. Or you do not even consider doing something good for yourself. That happens when you are fully absorbed in the pastoral or administrative work of the parish or school.
2. Pastoral fatigue: I admit that people can wear you out and that there is a point when you do not feel like doing anything new. This happens, for example, when you are working on something good for the community, but the community does not help you, or when you want to implement pastoral projects, but people always find fault with you or the project. Or perhaps, you are determined to undertake something new, and there is always someone who questions you. From being a creative, productive priest, you can become a priest living on autopilot mode, and the result of this can be fatigue. When your pastoral rhythm is above your prayer time and your time for yourself, it can make you fall into deep fatigue, because it can even make you feel as if you were a failure, so you go from being a passionate priest to being a disillusioned priest. And this makes you lose your essence and even your charisma.
3. Affective fatigue: This refers to when you are ready to share and build healthy relationships, but that may lead to affective confusion or simply to unwanted situations. As a priest, one must be clear about the fact that it is one thing to be celibate and quite another thing to be a bitter bachelor. When in your relationship, you play the victim role or you appear as a simple amateur seducer, you might not seek the path of healthy affective relationships, and it can even lead you to feel empty or used. When you are clear about who you are, and want to create bonds, you should know that it will not always happen in the best way and that is why you might become tired and isolated, or you can simply become bitter. Do not let the negative intentions of some people or the confusion other people many have regarding the affective aspect, make you dismiss the possibilities of healthy and constructive relationships.
Let us pray for one another.
Something good is on the way!
