The Priest is Not His Own

The Priest is Not His Own (1963) by Fulton J. Sheen is a treatise on the role of the Roman Catholic priest. This guide asks those who would be shepherds to be as the original Shepherd, to be as close in thought and deed to another Christ as it is possible to be.

Fulton J. Sheen (b. 1895 - d. 1979) was an archbishop of the Catholic Church, as well as a writer and host of faith-based television and radio programs. Sheen spent the early years of his priesthood pursuing knowledge. After studying at the Catholic University of America, he received doctorates from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum in Rome.

Education led to teaching, first at colleges and later en masse through a weekly radio broadcast called The Catholic Hour. In 1951, Sheen was consecrated a bishop. The following year, he began his wildly successful television show, Life is Worth Living. While balancing his duties as a bishop with media appearances, he also found time to write. Archbishop Sheen wrote 73 books during his life, covering a wide range of topics related to Catholicism and theology.

Archbishop Sheen's 1963 work The Priest is Not His Own asks the Catholic priest to view himself as not only a shepherd of his flock, but as a victim, just as Christ was a victim. Unlike priests of other faiths who offered sacrifices of animals and other men to the gods, Christ offered himself as the sacrifice that would save all mankind.

The entire work is dedicated to this one idea, exploring the role and responsibilities of the Catholic priest through this willing victim lens. While Archbishop Sheen doesn't ask the priest to sacrifice his earthly life, he does ask him to sacrifice his entire soul to Christ on the Cross in every Mass and his entire body to Christ with the breaking of bread.

The priest must also sacrifice his place in the world, remaining sympathetic to man's afflictions but not a part of them. Archbishop Sheen writes, "...Though we are in the world, we are never of it, for our High Priest has called us out of this world." This separation from the world becomes more and more difficult as a priest receives honors and prestige (such as consecration as a bishop) or gains popularity (through "the press, television or radio"). Archbishop Sheen may have been speaking from experience, as he himself achieved a high position in the Catholic Church and garnered mainstream success through public appearances.

Further, the priest has a responsibility to beget spiritual "offspring." While he may not father children here on earth, he must bring souls to Christ. Every priest has a responsibility to "foster the vocation" by encouraging those who would pursue the calling to the priesthood. "Every priest, when he goes before the Lord for judgment, will be asked, 'Where are your children?' The vocation of the priest is primarily to beget souls in Christ."

And he must evangelize, calling the potential converts around him to embrace faith. "Every priest should ask himself how many adults he baptized in the past year as the fruit of his zeal and how many fallen-away Catholics he brought back to the Father's house." As Christ did not rest until he had achieved his goal, the priest's lot, too, is work and toil.

For every question regarding the life and responsibilities of the priest, Archbishop Sheen returns to the High Priest and founder of the faith, Jesus Christ. The Priest is Not His Own is a valuable guide for the priest, seminary student, or simply the layperson seeking to become a better person of faith.