All Priests Need a “Timothy”

by Letters Editor · September 26, 2017

Stephen Selbourne – To experience growth in all areas of Church life, I suggest that every priest take a seminarian or two under his wing — a Timothy if you will – not for the last six months of his training but even earlier.

The experienced priest wouldn’t teach the seminarian how to operate a parish or how not to be bullied by parishioners, but how to evangelise under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, every priest should have a “Timothy” or two to whom the “stirring of God’s gifts” is imparted.

Often we are told by bishops and priests that the Holy Spirit is the most neglected person of the Trinity. They’ll tell confirmation candidates that the Holy Spirit is lying dormant inside them and that baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a “Church leaving-certificate”.

Pray for the Holy Spirit

Well, for how many more years is the Church still going to talk about it and for how many years are we going round and round?

They say that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect the result to be different.

Jesus’ last instruction to his disciples was to wait until they had been imbued with power from on high. That power was, and is, the Holy Spirit. And on that first Pentecost, 3000 were added to their number.

We desperately need the Holy Spirit. We need his fire, his presence, his anointing, his enthusiasm, his vibrancy, his boldness and his holiness.

No Time to Sin with the Spirit!

When you have the Holy Spirit inside you, you have no time to sin!

Bring back the Holy Spirit as in Acts of the Apostles. David said in Psalm 51: “Take not your Holy Spirit from me and restore unto me the joy that comes from your salvation.”

I believe every priest needs a Holy Spirit seminar. It is not about feelings, emotion, making a noise and bringing “pentecostalism” into the Church but about receiving him of which Jesus spoke: “We are powerless without the Holy Spirit.”

When we reject the fullness of the Holy Spirit we are rejecting him who send the Spirit.