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Priesthood of Jesus Christ

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15 October 2009 - 4:49pm — joyce

 PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

 
The whole Church is called a priestly people because we are all baptized into the three munera or offices of Christ as priest, prophet and king. Lay Catholics participate in the priesthood of Christ, which is called the “common priesthood of the faithful,” by offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to the Father (cf. 1 Peter 2:5, Rom 12:1) and in witnessing to the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world. On the other hand, the “ministerial priesthood” is reserved for those men whom the Church discerns as called by God for priestly service in the Church. The priest shares in the bishop’s ministry of sanctifying, teaching, and governing. The priest never acts according to his own authority, but only by that authority given by God through the hands of the bishop, i.e., the authority of Jesus Christ.
 
The ministerial priesthood finds its roots in the Old Testament (OT). A priest from the OT is one who offers sacrifices to God on behalf of the people to atone for sins against the covenant. The chosen people of Israel are called a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6; Isa 61:6). But within the people of Israel God chose Levi, one of the twelve tribes, to be set aside for liturgical priestly service. In fact when the angel appeared to Zechariah to tell him that his barren wife Elizabeth would conceive a child (John the Baptist), he was ministering as a priest offering incense (cf. Luke 1:5ff). It was common for those of the tribe of Levi to take turns ministering in the temple as priests.
 

 PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

 
The whole Church is called a priestly people because we are all baptized into the three munera or offices of Christ as priest, prophet and king. Lay Catholics participate in the priesthood of Christ, which is called the “common priesthood of the faithful,” by offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to the Father (cf. 1 Peter 2:5, Rom 12:1) and in witnessing to the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world. On the other hand, the “ministerial priesthood” is reserved for those men whom the Church discerns as called by God for priestly service in the Church. The priest shares in the bishop’s ministry of sanctifying, teaching, and governing. The priest never acts according to his own authority, but only by that authority given by God through the hands of the bishop, i.e., the authority of Jesus Christ.
 
The ministerial priesthood finds its roots in the Old Testament (OT). A priest from the OT is one who offers sacrifices to God on behalf of the people to atone for sins against the covenant. The chosen people of Israel are called a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6; Isa 61:6). But within the people of Israel God chose Levi, one of the twelve tribes, to be set aside for liturgical priestly service. In fact when the angel appeared to Zechariah to tell him that his barren wife Elizabeth would conceive a child (John the Baptist), he was ministering as a priest offering incense (cf. Luke 1:5ff). It was common for those of the tribe of Levi to take turns ministering in the temple as priests.
 

 

PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
 
The whole Church is called a priestly people because we are all baptized into the three munera or offices of Christ as priest, prophet and king. Lay Catholics participate in the priesthood of Christ, which is called the “common priesthood of the faithful,” by offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to the Father (cf. 1 Peter 2:5) and in witnessing to the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world. On the other hand, the “ministerial priesthood” is reserved for those men whom the Church discerns as called by God for priestly service in the Church. The priest shares in the bishop’s ministry of sanctifying, teaching, and governing. The priest never acts according to his own authority, but only by that authority given by God through the hands of the bishop, i.e., the authority of Jesus Christ.
 
The ministerial priesthood finds its roots in the Old Testament (OT). A priest from the Old Testament is one who offers sacrifices to God on behalf of the people to atone for sins against the covenant. The chosen people of Israel are called a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6; Isa 61:6). But within the people of Israel God chose Levi, one of the twelve tribes, to be set aside for liturgical priestly service. In fact when the angel appeared to Zechariah to tell him that his barren wife Elizabeth would conceive a child (John the Baptist), he was ministering as a priest offering incense (cf. Luke 1:5ff). It was common for those of the tribe of Levi to take turns ministering in the temple as priests.
 

However, the OT priesthood remains powerless to bring about salvation, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1540).   Jesus is identified as the “great high priest” in the Letter to the Hebrews (cf. 4:14-16). Nonetheless the Church sees in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites a prefiguring of the ordained ministry of the New Covenant: “Lord, holy Father…when you had appointed high priest to rule your people, you chose other men next to them in rank and dignity…you extended the spirit of Moses to seventy wise men…You shared among the sons of Aaron the fullness of their father’s power” (CCC 1542, from the rite for Ordination of Priests). The OT priesthood finds its fulfillment in the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
 
The ministerial priesthood, given to men called by God, differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. This service includes teaching, divine worship, and pastoral governance (CCC 1592). The ordained priest shares in the ministry of the Bishop, who is a direct successor of the Twelve Apostles, whom Christ ‘ordained’ at the Last Supper when our Lord commanded them, “Do this in memory of me.” 
 
In the ordained priests’ service, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth (CCC 1548). In this way we say the priest acts in persona Christi Capitis, or “in the person of Christ the Head.” This presence of Christ in the priest does not mean the priest is free from human weakness. It means, rather, that it is Christ who is working through the sacramental ministry of the priest, making it fruitful and bestowing grace. The priest’s weakness does not impede the fruit of grace, which comes from Christ. Because the priest represents Christ, he also represents the Church, because Christ worships in and through his Church (CCC 1553).
 
Celibacy remains a tradition in the Roman Catholic priesthood which goes back to the first Century, indeed to Jesus himself. Celibacy does not cause sexual dysfunction, contrary to what some opponents of the Church would have us believe. Rather, sinful, undisciplined, and wounded hearts cause sexual sins. A man does NOT have a vocation to the priesthood if he cannot embrace celibacy in a healthy way. The main purpose of celibacy is witness: celibacy for the kingdom proclaims to the world that our ultimate and true happiness lies in heaven alone, and not in the pleasures of this world, nor in the joys of marriage. When celibacy is freely embraced as a gift from God, it becomes a potent and fruitful sign of God’s love in the world. When we see a priest or a sister, we should think, “sacrifice for the kingdom; my happiness is only in heaven; thanks be to God!”
 
Fr. Will