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There is something interesting about God - throughout Salvation History we see
a pattern of how God interacts with His people. He calls whole peoples to Himself to
follow Him and to worship Him - But for some reason He calls forth a few to speak for
Him, to act in His name, to proclaim His message - in effect to share in His role as the
Shepherd and Guardian of His people. We see this very clearly with Moses and Aaron in the book of Exodus. There we see the rise of the levitical priesthood - a chosen portion of His people, the sons of the house of Levi who were not given a portion of the promised land but received a very distinct and specific task of offering the sacrifice of the Old Covenant in atonement for the sins of the people of Israel and guiding them in the worship of the One True God. In the Historical books we see the way that God takes the Judges and then eventually the Kings, especially David, and puts them over His people to rule in His name. Of course it is Ultimately God's people but He entrusted His kingdom to certain men which He had raised up. And finally in the Books of the Prophets we hear the voice of the Lord speaking through people He has chosen to announce His word. They were men chosen 'from before their birth. like Jeremiah who could authoritatively say "Thus says the Lord..." These three roles of priest, prophet and king are rolled up into one overarching image : The image of the Shepherd. From the prophet Jeremiah we hear about God who is railing against the shepherds of Israel which he had appointed - He was angry at them for leading his flock astray. He makes a promise through the prophecy of Jeremiah: He says, "I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the Lord." The mystery of these words of the prophet is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is the High Priest, the Great Prophet and the King of Kings- the Good Shepherd. This is part of the mystery of the Faith that we profess as Catholic Christians. That God has made us one body with Christ Jesus as our Head. In essence the God -Man of Jesus Christ is our chief Shepherd./ In the Gospel of Mark we hear Jesus take up again the imagery of the sheep and the shepherd. "His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them." (Mk 6:34)1 But again, following His manner of acting in History - Even though He Himself is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ entrusts the role of shepherding His flock to certain human beings whom He has chosen. We hear this great commission in the Gospel of John when Jesus says to the apostles, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you: (John 20:21)" And in the Gospel of Matthew: speaking to the Apostles Jesus said, "Allpower in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. " And listen to His words at the end, "And Behold, I will be with you always, until the end of the age" (matt 28 18) This last part gives us an interpretive key to the mystery of God's plan: Jesus will remain with His apostles and those who succeed them until the end of the ages. If you want to remain with Jesus, remain with His apostles and their successors. Though the Apostolic Ministry the Church, the people of God, is shepherded according to God's plan. The Apostles are the ones whom Jesus entrusted with the saving mysteries. He ordained them to serve in His name and in His person - in the person of Christ the Head. The Apostles were the first priests of the New Covenant. The sacrifice that they offered is none other than Jesus Christ himself who is both priest and victim. They spoke and governed with His authority. He gave them the power to bind and lose and to forgive sins. This is part of the content of our faith. The Catholic Priesthood is not something made up by the church in the middle ages or something invented as a way of gaining control. This is very important to note because there have been many throughout the ages who have tried to deny the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ or to denigrate it. To be sure we are all called to be a priestly people from our baptismal calling but this is not to be confused with the specific role of the ordained priesthood instituted by Christ Himself. The Catechism, quoting St. Paul points out the logic of the ministerial priesthood, |
| "How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent?" No one - no individual and no community - can proclaim the Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard." No one can give himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. The one sent by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, bishops and priests receive the mission and the faculty (the sacred power) to act in persona Christi Capitis - that is, in the person of Christ the head." CCC 875 |
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It is a biblical fact which confirms the apostolic Tradition. St. Irenaeus who died in the year 203 even had to defend the priesthood against heresy in the early Church.: St. Irenaeus (Adv. Haeres, IV, xxvi, n. 2) says: "Wherefore we must obey the priests of the Church who have succession from the Apostles, as we have shown, who, together with succession in the episcopate, have received the certain mark of truth according to the will of the Father. " We turn to the priest not because of anything which he merits on his own, not because he is talented or smart or for any other reason than the fact that He was chosen by God and has received the power and the duty of bringing Christ to His people in Spirit and Truth. Jesus established the Apostolic ministry and this is continued today in those who have received Holy Orders by the laying on of Hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit. Just as last year was called the "Year of St. Paul" in order to delve into the blessings of St. Paul's ministry in the church, so to this year has been declared, "The Year of the Priest" by Pope Benedict XVI in order to better understand the role of the priesthood and the need for holy priests who will shepherd the flock faithfully. There are many themes that come up within this topic but permit me to choose the most central mystery of our faith to bring out the connection it has with the priesthood. That theme is of course the Eucharist. Jesus made the promise that He would be with us always until the end of the ages. He has sent His spirit upon the Church at Pentecost which we all received through Baptism and Confirmation and He is present in many different ways in His church but the most beautiful and sublime, the most precious and Holy presence is in the Blessed Sacrament of the Mass. St. John Marie Vianney said that "All good works, taken together, do not equal the sacrifice of the Mass since they are human works, while the Holy Mass is the work of God" But even here - the work of God, we see His sacred paradigm of entrusting His work to men: The mass is entrusted to the priest. There is a very poignant connection pointed out by Pope Benedict XVI between the Eucharist, the Priesthood and the Church. He says that without the priest there is no Eucharist, without the Eucharist there is no Church. Once again we see that God works through certain people whom He has chosen. There is no mass without the priest - a communion service, even though you receive the body and blood of Christ that has been reserved in the tabernacle, is not the mass and it would not be in the tabernacle without the ministry of the priest. Now if it were up to us to design the church and come up with a plan of salvation we may have done things differently; but in God's plan of salvation the Church needs priests! God has entrusted the mass to the ministry of His priests from the night before He was betrayed to our present day and until He comes again. Our Bishop last week at the dedication of St. John Neumann made a great charge and I would like to repeat it as a conclusion- if you want your children and your children's children to hear the message of the Gospel, if you want someone to sit in the confessional to absolve your sins, if you want someone to be there to anoint you on your deathbed and ultimately if you want the mass to be offered and want to be fed by the Eucharist- pray for priests. Pray for priestly vocations - encourage your sons to this awesome task. Pray for the courage to answer the call if you feel it. The church needs the Eucharist and therefore she need priests; the world needs Jesus Christ therefore i~0l^° according to His own plan He requires that some men offer themselves like the apostles so that the world would come to know and to believe in the one who sent them. The world needs priests. |
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