When Christ founded the Church, the very first thing he did was to give it authority. Why is this very important? Because all power belongs to God. Hence if the Church has been given authority, its power is from God. Some examples to illustrate:

• In the ministry of exorcism, the authority of the exorcist is from his bishop. Hence, that means, within a specific time, he can only exorcise within his diocese and will never exorcise in another diocese without permission. It is a common experience of the devil questioning a priest who has no authority or faculty to exorcise. That is how important authority is. 
  
• The prayers of parents for their children are very powerful. That is because parents have authority over their children. On the other hand, one of the most difficult curses to remove is when the parents curse their children. Again, it is because of authority.    
  
• The parish priest has spiritual authority over his parishioners. Hence, if a priest is holy, then that holiness rubs into his parishioners. But when a priest is living a double life, certainly the parishioners are affected as well.

This explains why St. John Marie Vianney was able to radically spiritually transform his parish, which eventually even influenced people outside Ars. He was known for his saintly life, mortification, persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Hence, on the pastoral side, three things we should remember to be effective priests:

1. People are inspired by a holy priest. Forget posting that you are riding your bike, cuddling your dog, or that you and your priest friends are vacationing in Siargao, Maldives, or Phuket. Those are for people in the secular world and there are already many of those. What people are looking for is a holy priest. Holy on the inside and not on the outside.
    
2. People are in search of true happiness. This is the pearl of great price, the buried treasure. What do we give our people? Entertainment. What is the basis of a successful Church fiesta? Nice procession, the flowers on the altar were beautiful, there was so much food, the program was entertaining, and the mayor and congressman even attended. Nothing to do with the saint and the values that he lived out for. 
   
3. People are the best testimony if a priest is holy. As a parish priest, one can build the most beautiful church and one can provide the best facilities for the parishioners. If the parishioners, however,  did not become any holier, if the parishioners were not inspired by the priest and brought closer to God, Then the priest pastorally is a failure. On the other hand. The best testimony to a holy priest is if the parish staff goes to Mass. 

Last week we celebrated the Feast of St. John Marie Vianney. As his life inspires us, may we contemplate the reason for being holy:

• He did what was right
• Mortification
• Confession
• Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Presence
• Sacrifice
• He loved God and loved his mission