Priestly Ordination of Benedetto Di Bitonto, by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in Kiryat Yearim, on May 16, 2019

Benedetto's priestly ordination was a wonderful event for the Saint James Vicariate and for all the participants who came from different horizons: Parents, relatives and friends from abroad, priests from the Latin Patriarchate and seminarians from Beit Jala, religious men and women from different orders, children with their parents from the communities of migrants and asylum seekers, Coptic monks, and numerous Jewish friends who came to take part in Benedetto’s joy. The ordination was celebrated by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Apostolic Administrator, with the presence of Mons. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo (Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem), Mons. Daniele Libanori (Auxiliary Bishop of Rome), Father Rafic Nahra (Patriarchal Vicar for the Hebrew-speaking Catholics) and Father David Neuhaus (former patriarchal Vicar for the Hebrew Speaking Catholics). Many young people were present, both from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, not incidentally, because a large part of Benedetto's ecclesiastical service in the last few years was among the youth of the Saint James Vicariate and those from the Migrant communities. In his address, at the end of the celebration, Benedetto thanked particularly the youth, not only for their presence, but because, in a certain way, he owed them his decision to stay in Israel (after arriving from Naples, Italy, in 2010) in order to serve them and accompany them on their way.

Here are the words of Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, addressed to Benedetto, in the homily he pronounced after the Readings.

Readings of the mass: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Luke 5:1-13

Homily:

Dear brothers and sisters, dear Benedetto,

At last you too have arrived at this important moment. Quite a few years have passed since your arrival in Jerusalem. I remember that you were presented to me as a student volunteering in the Jerusalem kehillah, and they asked me to obtain a visa for you and to authorize your stay here in Israel. I wondered, and asked myself: what could be the connection between that Neapolitan student and the small world of the Hebrew speaking communities? In fact, the world from which you came (Naples, Italy), and the world to which you now belong are completely different. It is interesting and fascinating to see how God pulls the strings of our lives.

But this introduces us to understanding the readings you chose for this ordination. The readings speak of God’s election, which does not follow human criteria. King David was not considered as an option by his family (1 Samuel 15:11). In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul says that God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things (1 Cor 1:28). Peter says “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). Perhaps this is your human and spiritual experience, and therefore you chose those readings: you discovered your human weakness, you felt in your flesh that you are a sinner, you felt the need for help, and yet at the same time you were surprised by God’s call to you, truly to you, as you are - like Simon Peter in the Gospel (“For he and all his companions were astonished” 5:9). If today we determined the criteria for choosing priests by modern standards, it is almost certain that several of us wouldn’t be here today.

It seems to me that this is a good beginning for any service in the Church: the recognition that sin and forgiveness, in reality, place us before God. We are aware of sin when we are aware of God’s existence. In today’s world people prefer to use the word “guilt” rather than “sin”. This is right, for if there is no awareness of God (which is the situation in today’s world), there is no concept of sin, of going against God’s will.

The readings you chose, however, also give us and you other points to ponder. In brief:

1. The first is what I just mentioned: that in your life you have an awareness of God’s presence. And that you not only focus on the awareness of your own sin. To be aware of God’s presence is to live (and to transmit) an experience of salvation, liberation, mercy, grace and life. All comes from Him and you are only His instrument. If you focus only on sin, you remain focused on yourself. Awareness of God, in contrast, opens you up to the other, to the world; this is awareness that leads to joy and openness. Sin is a return to the ego, to the focus on “I”. In God the ego vanishes, all becomes “you”. A priest does not proclaim himself, rather he reminds: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col 3:2), he brings a taste of God to the world. Your presence among men, therefore, will give a glimpse of a different life, will show your belonging to Someone else.

2. This is not a call which you chose for your self and it is not your task. There is of course your participation, your “yes”. But it is not your initiative. David did not choose himself, and becoming king was not his own goal. It was all God’s initiative. There is a difference between the anointing of Saul and that of David. In the case of Saul, God says: “make them a king” (1 Sam 8:22): you will make a king for them. But in today’s reading, in the anointing of David, it is written: “I have provided for myself a king among his sons” (1 Samuel 16:1). I saw among his sons a king for me. You have been chosen by God to be for him alone, for God. You are a priest of God. In the story of the disciples’ call in St Mark’s Gospel, it is stated explicitly: “he called to him those whom he desired (3:13) to be with him, and to be sent out to preach (3:14).

In all the stories of vocation in Scripture there is the same repeated dynamic: God chooses, calls, takes the initiative, and it is always in an unexpected and strange manner, in which the absolute liberty of God is expressed, opposed to all human opinion. In the center is God. And He alone.

3. The passage of the Gospel tells that the crowd pressed upon him to hear the word of God (5:1). Peter and his friends too, like the rest of the crowd, listened to Jesus and were thirsty for the word of God. And in this context, it is possible to understand Jesus’ call to them. Their heart was thirsty and Jesus gave them to drink. I like to think that this is also true of you. Without thirst for God’s word, the call to follow Jesus cannot exist. And without the thirst for God’s word, it is not possible to spiritually nourish the life of a priest. In order to be the servant of God’s word, you must first be a lover, a thirsty lover of God’s word.

4. Obedience. In this passage of the Gospel, as in every context, Jesus speaks with authority. He drives out demons, heals the sick, proclaims the kingdom of God, teaches. He is a master, a recognized teacher. The Hebrew translation is not exact. It uses the word “Lord” twice, here and in verse 8 where Peter falls at Jesus’ feet. In fact, Jesus uses here the word ἐπιστάτα: master, teacher; whereas only in verse 8 does he use the word κύριε, Lord. As a recognized teacher he can ask for something unreasonable: to go out fishing in the middle of the day, after a night where they did not catch anything. And Peter obeys. And his obedience bears fruit beyond all expectation.

Learn to obey and not to replace your teacher, Jesus, with yourself. To be obedient means to send the people you meet back to the Messiah and to the Church, not to attach them to yourself. Only if you are obedient will your service be fruitful.

Simon Peter, however, is not a robot who obeys without any will of his own. At first, he tries to argue with Jesus: “we toiled all night and took nothing”, but then he has the courage to believe in him: “But at your word I will let down the nets” (5:5). Jesus’ will becomes his own will. Obedience is trust, first of all in God, and then in the brothers God places in the path of your life. True trust doesn’t act according to rational logic. Trust means to put yourself in the hands of others; you give them your heart. “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (5:5). If he had thought reasonably, Peter would not have done that. He would have remained on the shore, but he would have remained silent and empty-handed.

5. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (5:8). Only after you have come to know Jesus and in Jesus, will you find yourself again, know yourself as you are in truth: a sinner, and you will know him as “Kyrios”, Lord. But this is an experience of freedom, not of condemnation. Of wonder and joy.

Perhaps you too, like Peter in the Gospel, had experiences of failure in your life, of death. Perhaps you too understood that with your own strength alone you are unable to attain life’s true joy. But perhaps too you saw that just there, at the site of your failure, God comes, and that only He can bring you back to life. He will give you brothers who will support you and assist you. “They beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them” (5:7). Jesus will be present through the many brothers who will love you. You are not alone.

6. “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (5:11). They had the most bounteous catch of their lives. They had a unique opportunity, also a financial one. They could sell the fish, make a profit and then follow Jesus, but they left everything and followed him. “To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9: 58-59). You need to leave all behind you. With Jesus there is no coexistence of loyalties. “No servant can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). The interpretation of “all” is not just possessions, which you even may not have, but rather whatever does not build the kingdom. And so you will need to do this labor of discernment, every day, to see what in your life builds and what destroys; for he who does not build, destroys.

7. “He anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13). He anointed him among his brothers. And the Spirit descended upon David, and remained from that day forward. It is impossible to be capable of doing all that we have just said, without the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Him who rose from the dead. The force of life which conquered the rule of death will give you too force and life.

The Spirit descended upon David in the midst of his brothers. He was not alone. You have received, and will receive, the Spirit among your brothers and sisters, in the Church. This is not a private experience. It is in the community and through the community that the Spirit speaks. If you wish to listen to the Spirit, you need to listen to the community, the Church.

Until this point, the expression “Spirit of the Lord” appears in the context of specific and concrete tasks, as in the book of Judges: to conquer, to kill the lion, etc. (see Judges 14:6.19 etc.). But here the Spirit does not do anything. David’s life does not change right away. The Spirit will gradually transform him, without his avoiding the errors and tragedies that he will bring about. Let the Spirit change you, shape you, day by day, to be each day more in His form and likeness.

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