Watching a long documentary on John Paul II on Sunday reminded me of my own suggestion that the Church needs to change the style of the priesthood to suit the modern world. The Pope's hard young life prepared him well for the rigors of his life as a priest. That hard young life is not the norm for anyone coming of age in today's Europe or N. America.
The modern (western) world is a great challenge for any priest. "Indulge yourself" is the credo for our times. Rather than shunning, we seem to be embracing the seven deadly sins as virtues. Avoiding temptation is harder now than it's ever been.
In order to prepare men to be priests in these times the Church needs to emphasize, and not deny, how difficult this mission is. The Church needs to recruit tough men.
I remember the Marines (U.S.) used to run ads on t.v. with the slogan, "We're looking for a few good men". Everything about those ads indicated that the men who took up this challenge had to be tough men. That's what the Church needs.
The Church needs tough men and they need a regime suitable for tough men. Seminary life should include a hard physical fitness regime. Mental toughness must also be part of the program. After leaving the seminary priests should be urged to maintain a high level of physical fitness and mental toughness.
Self denial in this age of excess is a difficult calling, but one which I believe will appeal to far more young men than today's half-hearted efforts to attract men to the priesthood.
