“It is necessary to go through the desert to get to the Promised Land”
Along this path of priesthood, we may face rejection and even a financial crisis, because it’s often a struggle. At some point we find it difficult to keep up with misfortunes! Priests also run out of strength. There are moments in life when we are drained of strength and chronically anxious.
The book of Joshua provides help for these misfortunes, and reminds you that the best is yet to come.
In Egypt, the Hebrews were slaves to Pharaoh. In the desert, they were slaves to fear. In the book of Joshua they are in Canaan, and this represents what is new.
1. Enslaved by Pharaoh: We can be slaves to sin or guilt. We keep on brooding on our mistakes and we feel ashamed, because we are afraid that people will find out about our sins. It is here that we hide ourselves in an all-too-rigid liturgy, and we begin to “pharaosize” ourselves. We begin to enclose ourselves in a structure that binds us, and we even put ourselves in the hands of a pharaoh. This pharaoh can be a superior or even the bishop himself. We end up depending on this one person and looking to him for everything. That is why, at this stage, many priests become disillusioned with their bishop or superior, because they are always waiting for that person to solve the difficult situations in their life. When looking for a pharaoh, you can fall into victimization: you feel you are sent to the worst destinations; the bishop does not attend you; you are sent to work with the worst priest, and so on. Monotony, routine, and tediousness appear. It is necessary to escape from all this, to free yourself from it. As a priest, it is important to free yourself from political ideologies, because when the priest falls into political matters, he places his trust in a politician or an ideology. This is again depending on a pharaoh who can fail you or subjugate you.
2. The desert: When you learn to mature, you understand that identity is linked to authenticity. But at this new level, there are new demons and new temptations. When you overcome the search for unhealthy dependence on a superior, you must learn to live for yourself, trusting God. You must face your weakness and be able to have a new encounter with Jesus. In the desert we are weakened, but we must also understand that the priest needs God and not a pharaoh.
God always has a bigger dream, but He asks you to leave the comfort of what is known and familiar, and take risks. But, there are times when we stay in the desert for too long. You have to leave the desert of your priestly life, because we have the habit of getting comfortable and staying there. We priests can stay too long in the desert and build a religious life at a distance from the Promised Land.
The foundation of evangelization is to ensure heaven. It is to have Christ. We are evangelizers and not life insurance salesmen; we do not offer anything from fear. Jesus offers us abundant joy, but many priests at this stage live with abundant sadness, and even guilt. We can be stuck between the desert and Canaan.
Here’s where the plague of “I can’t” appears; where every time you are asked to do something, you say “I can’t”, whether it is not being able to visit the sick, or not being able to give up cigarettes or porn. It is necessary to remove these situations from your life that affect you and your priesthood.
Excuses begin to crop up in this desert stage, but this is when your faith must be strong. That faith must feed hope; “the promised land”; heaven.
3. Canaan: When we surrender our heart to Christ, we find our Canaan, because it means believing and trusting again. A priest must believe in his priesthood again and understand that he is a mediator. He must trust again in the ministry and expect the blessings that God has promised him for the “yes” he gave with his priesthood. We tend to underestimate our conversion. Conversion is more than the remission of sin. It is a power that God has given us. We have a power that people know about, but many times we are not aware of.
We are equipped to overcome every desert and every pharaoh. We need more self-control and more self-esteem. God enables us to do His will. We can live in holiness, because God gives us the tools.
In the desert we worry about everything, but in Canaan we already have the One who is the All. Do not doubt that you have God in you. We are “children of God” and “joint heirs with Christ”. Our inheritance is not a title or an important office. Our inheritance is heaven, and therefore, we must always look unto it and for it. Our inheritance is perfect peace, but we must face our anxiety and sleepless nights.
It is necessary to go through the desert to get to the Promised Land. But, we must also face a great problem that many priests experience: they who do not believe, or they who have forgotten. So, you must look at the great miracles that you have seen in your priestly life and remember everything that you have lived in your years as a priest so far, because the presence of God is deeply embedded in you. Remember: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me”.
God has given you a gift within your priesthood. That is why you have to look again at your priesthood and that added gift that God has given you. When God promotes you, it does not mean that you will go up in level; it means He wants to transform you into a man of prayer; a person of service. Because you can choose to go up a step, but you may move away from your calling.
Jesus reminds us in John 21:21 that the call is personal, and you should not worry what God does in others’ lives. Don’t worry about someone else’s mission, rather, worry about your own.
