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HOLY ORDER
The salvific mission of Jesus
was meant to last not only for
the days of His earthly life
but is to continue up to the
end of time. Jesus, the
Eternal Priest, still works in
His Church; but He does so
invisibly, through His
bishops, priests and deacons.
They are His visible
ministers. He has chosen, set
apart and consecrated them for
His service and for that of
His Church. Through them He
continues His work of
teaching, sanctifying and
governing His Church until the
end of time. To this end, He
instituted the sacrament of
Holy Order.
Holy Order is the sacrament
which ordains bishops, priests
and deacons conferring upon
them their respective levels
of priesthood and gives them
the power and grace to
discharge their sacred duties.
The most important of these
sacred functions are the
offering of the Eucharistic
sacrifice, the celebration of
the sacraments, praying for
the Christian people, teaching
religion and guiding the
people of God to the Father
through Jesus Christ in the
Holy Spirit.
The nature of the priestly
ordination is such that it can
never be lost. Once ordained,
a priest remains a priest for
ever. The call to priesthood
is one that touches the core
of one’s being. It is spoken
of as an identification with
Christ, the Eternal High
Priest. By the anointing of
the Holy Spirit the priests
are marked with a special
character and are so
configured to Christ, the
Eternal Priest, that they may
act in the person of Christ.
PRIESTHOOD IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT
In the days of the Patriarchs,
the head of the tribe
exercised the priestly
functions, because the
blessing of Yahweh was
believed to rest on him by
right of birth. In the days of
Abraham there appeared a
mysterious priestly figure in
the person of Melchisedech,
king of Salem and priest of
the Most High (Heb. 7,l). On
account of the mysterious
character of the priesthood of
Melchisedech, the Christians
have always regarded him as a
figure of Christ, the
EternalHigh Priest (Heb. 7,3).
Both the Christians and the
Jews considered the priesthood
of Melchisedech eternal whose
authority came from on high
(Heb. 7, 3; Ps. 109, 5). For
this reason the psalmist
predicts that the Messiah will
be God’s eternal priest in the
line of Melchisedech (Psalm
109, 5).
Then comes the age of Moses.
He was both the leader and the
priest of God’s chosen people.
All the same, Yahweh chose to
consecrate the tribe of Levi
as a permanent priestly class.
Thus according to Yahweh’s
command, Moses called Aaron
and his sons in priestly
vestments, and anointed them
with holy oil to become the
priests of the Most High. Such
was then the origin of the
Levitical priesthood. A long
time after, during the reign
of David and Solomon, a
priestly hierarchy gradually
took shape comprising the high
priest, the priests and the
Levites.
PRIESTHOOD IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
By His incarnation Jesus has
brought about in His divine
person a mysterious union of
divinity and humanity. And by
His perfect sacrifice on the
cross, He has bridged the gulf
between God and man. Thus by
virtue of the hypostatic union
and by His redeeming sacrifice
on the cross Jesus has become
the unique High Priest of the
New Testament (Heb. 4,14-16).
He is our Supreme Pontiff.
During his public life Jesus
chose the twelve apostles to
be intimately associated with
His salvific work. He gave
them power and authority to
become His visible ministers
in His Church so that through
them He might perpetuate His
Messianic mission.
During His Last Supper when
Jesus instituted the
Eucharist, He said to His
apostles: ‘Do this in
remembrance of me’ (Lk. 22,
19; I Cor. 1 I, 24). By these
words He instituted the
priesthood of the new
covenant. He gave to His
apostles and their successors
power to consecrate the
Eucharist which perpetuates
the sacrifice of the cross.
On the evening of Easter day,
Jesus appeared in the supper
room and told His disciples:
‘As the Father has sent me so
am I sending you ... Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive the sins of any, they
are forgiven. If you retain
the sins of any, they are
retained’ (Jn. 20, 21-22). By
these words Jesus gave them
the power to forgive sins.
On the day of Ascension Jesus
said to the apostles: ‘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’ (Mt. 28,19). By
these words Jesus gave them
the mission of teaching,
sanctifying and guiding all
men to salvation. All these
powers together make up the
Christian priesthood.
PRIESTHOOD IN THE CHURCH
Pentecost Sunday may be said
to be the day on which the
Church was formally
inaugurated. Ever since, the
apostles entered on their
functions as pastors in the
Church. They were the leaders
of the Christian communities.
They directed the prayer of
the assembly, proclaimed the
word of God, presided over the
breaking of the bread,
administered the sacraments
and ordained priests and
bishops.
Bishops are the successors of
the apostles, Timothy, Titus,
Barnabas and others were
bishops ordained by the
apostles. Ordination of a
bishop is the highest degree
of the sacrament of holy
order, The bishop receives a
full share of the priesthood
of Christ.
Just as the college of the
apostles worked under the
leadership and guidance of St.
Peter, so the college of
bishops, under the leadership
and guidance of the Pope who
is the successor of St. Peter,
share the heavy responsibility
of teaching, sanctifying and
governing the universal
Church. The bishop alone has
the power and authority to
ordain bishops and priests. As
the father and pastor of the
flock entrusted to his care,
the bishop watches over the
preaching of the gospel and
the celebration of the
sacraments in his diocese. He
is there to encourage them in
their endeavours, to hearten
and console them in times of
trouble, to share their joys
and sorrows. The bishop’s
pastoral visits and pastoral
letters are of great
importance in this regard.
The priests come to share in
the priesthood of Christ. They
are the prudent and faithful
collaborators of the bishops.
Here again the spirit of
‘collegiality’ holds good.
Under the leadership and
guidance of the bishop the
priests must conscientiously
participate in teaching,
sanctifying and guiding the
local Church.
Besides bishops and priests,
there are deacons and other
ministers in the Church who,
in communion with the priests
and the bishops, fulfil their
respective ministries
entrusted to them in
proportfon to their share in
the priesthood of Christ,
MINISTERIAL PRIESTHOOD
It is of capital importance to
bear in mind that Christian
priesthood is not a career.
Nor is it an authoritarian
position meant to exercise
power over others. Rather it
is a divine call to
self-emptying,
self-sacrificing service.
Jesus Christ Himself, the
Eternal High Priest, did not
come to be served but to serve
and to give His life as a
ransom for many (Mk.
1oJ35-45;Mt.20,20-28). And
those who share His priesthood
are necessarily bound to
follow His example (Phil.2,
1-17, Jn. 13, 12-17). Nobody
can serve two masters at the
same time. Indeed Jesus has
declared in unmistakable terms
that striving after position,
power and authority has
nothing to do with priesthood;
“Jesus called them to Him and
said: You know that among the
pagans the rulers have power
over them and their leaders
make their authority felt.
This is not to happen ammg
you. Anyone who wants to be
great among you must be your
servant. And anyone who wants
to be first among you must be
your slave just as the Son of
Man came not be served but to
serve and to give His life as
a ransom for many” (Mt.
20,25-28). And a priest’s joy
and sense of fulfilment are to
be sought in following the
example of Jesus.
Ministerial priesthood
therefore, is the consecration
of one’s whole self to God
that one may be completely
dedicated to the service of
God and His people. The
priestly service consists in
continuing Christ’s own
mission. Christ is the
mediator between God and man.
Priests too are mediators in
reconciling the world to God:
“Every high priest is chosen
from his fellowmen and is
appointed to act for men in
their relations with God, to
offer gifts and sacrifices for
sins. Since he himself is weak
in many ways, he can
sympathize with those who are
ignorant or make mistakes”
(Heb. 5,l-2).
To spend one’s life in the
service of God and of His
Church-this is the glorious
vocation of‘ a priest. Indeed
priestly vocation is a great
treasure, but we have this
treasure in earthen vessels
(II Cor. 4, 7).
Ministerial Priesthood and
Priesthood of the Faithful: By
baptism all Christians share
in the priestly mission of
Christ in a basic manner. This
is known as the common
priesthood of the faithful.
This is essentially different
(not only in degree, but in
kind) from the ministerial
priesthood. The priest by
virtue of his sacred
ordination is empowered to
form and guide the priestly
people of God, to preside over
the Eucharistic sacrifice and
to celebrate the sacraments.
The faithful exercise their
priesthood by their active
participation in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, by the
reception of the sacraments
and above all by the witness
of a holy life (I Pet. 2,
4-10; Rom. 12,l).
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