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"Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands of you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence."(Peter3:15)
From many conversations with different people of our parish and beyond, it is clear that the teaching about our "common" or "general" priesthood which each one of us receives at our Christian baptism is not really understood, particularly in relation to the "particular" ordained priesthood of our own Catholic priests. There are many reasons for this confusion, the most significant one being that the subject had been somewhat neglected in many catechetical programmes up to recent times. This led to less emphasis on the priesthood of all the baptised because the very subject of "priesthood" was generally identified mostly with that of our ordained ministers.
This situation is very understandable because within our own church culture we have grown up with the teaching that a "priest" is someone "set apart", who acts on our behalf and God's behalf in our ecclesial life. The notion that before a person is ordained into the ministerial priesthood he already possesses a priestly character through his Christian baptism can be puzzling, to say the least!
Of all the theological and liturgical teachings which are presented to us, either in formal catechetical programmes or generally throughout our lives as members of the Church, the presentation or proclamation of this truth about our own "priestly" character appears to have had less impact on many of us. If this teaching is important for us, as it clearly is, why do we find that generally, with some notable exceptions, it is still not given the time and space it needs in many catechetical and sacramental programmes ?
Part of the answer lies in the history of the language used and also the development in the Church of the exclusive use of the term "priesthood" for the ordained ministry. The theologian Avery Dulles (now Cardinal) wrote in 1997 that the council fathers of Vatican II were very conscious of this situation and "revived the concept of the common priesthood of the whole people of God, which had been practically dormant in Catholic theology." ("The Priestly Office")
I am sure that many ask the question as to whether this is really important in the everyday life of the Catholic; a question I have asked myself ! We have become familiar with the text in the first letter of Peter, 'But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people." which was originally applied to the people of Israel, and which St.Peter applies to us, the people of the New Covenant. But how does this reality of being "priestly" members of the people of God impact on our everyday response to God's call to holiness ? What is the essential difference between our priesthood and that of our ordained ministers ?
These are the questions I want to address in this letter. Perhaps in understanding a little more about our Christian "priestly character" we will come a little nearer to the truth about what is worship "in spirit and truth", (John 4:24)
Brian Pointer BA(Div) MA(Theo)
Adult Christian Formation
St Richard's Church Chichester.
Through his personal sacrifice on the cross, his resurrection and ascension into Heaven, our Lord inaugurated a new kind of worship, one in which everyone would have access to God's presence. Prior to this, the people of God could only have such access mediated through the priests of the Temple who offered sacrifices and prayers on their behalf. This is not to say that the people did not have any kind of access to God. They were able to hear the word of God in the readings of the Scriptures, through the mouths of their prophets and teachers, and were able to respond in prayer, and to worship God through their obedience to the Commandments.
But to have a deeply personal and immediate access to the very presence of God was not possible. The "sacred", the divine domain, lay outside the realm of human life and the priest was withdrawn from the human community. The Jews believed that this "presence" of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem; the same divine presence that dwelt in a movable tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, which they carried with them when they were a nomadic people on their long journey to the Promised Land. Access to the Holy of Holies in the Temple could only be made by the high priest who only entered there once a year.
The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the Temple places by a veil and the priests would prepare and offer the sacrifices outside that curtain. It was with reference to this veil that we read in Matthew's gospel of an earthquake at the death of Christ during which this veil was rent in two.(27:51) What did this signify?
The tearing-open of the veil at Christ's death signified that the way to personal access to God was no longer closed to all but is at all times now open to the sincere worshipper. The Son of God himself, in his sacrificial death, his resurrection and ascension into Heaven, becomes the High Priest giving us access to God the Father. We no longer have to go through the mediation of a temple priest in order to access the loving mercy of God. Listen to the author of "Hebrews", "We have then, brethren, complete confidence through the blood of Jesus in entering the sanctuary by a new way he has opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh. "(10:20)
As the son of man through his mother Mary, and as the Son of God through the Holy Spirit, he enters the heavenly sanctuary as the "forerunner" (Heb.2:10) of our salvation. It is there, "seated at the right-hand of the Father" that our Lord makes it possible and in fact guarantees our salvation in the gift of his Holy Spirit. Our Lord has made it possible for all mankind to have this access to God, to have a personal, loving relationship with him whereby God's own life enters our lives, bringing us to that fulfilment and happiness which only he can give.
Christ's new order of priesthood comes into being through his sacrificial death, his resurrection and exaltation in Heaven at the right-hand of the Father. He becomes the perfect high-priest because he himself is the sacrificial lamb. No other sacrifices can compare. His offering of his own life to the Father was the most perfect act of love for his Father and for all mankind. The Father's response to such perfect love is to raise his Son from the dead and to bring him into his heavenly home, giving him all power and authority over the earth. He is the perfect mediator for our own future in that heavenly home. Our Lord gives us access to that life by virtue of his own indestructible priesthood, as our perfect mediator between us and God the Father.
This access, gained for us by our Lord, is given to us through our faith in and our union with him, expressed in every aspect of our lives. We are able to approach God the Father in the heavenly sanctuary through our union with his Son, our high-priest, thus making our acts of worship acceptable to him. It is only in that communion with our Lord that we are able to talk to God the Father, as our Lord taught us in the prayer "Our Father who is in heaven...." It is only in that communion of faith and love that we are able to approach our Lord's altar at each celebration of the Eucharist, where heaven and earth meet in the real presence of the Son of God.
By our free and conscious act of uniting ourselves to our Lord, in offering our lives with his to the Father, consuming the eucharisted bread and wine and persevering in faith and good works, we become "partakers of Christ" and therefore become his " holy brethren" (Hebrews 3:l &14). This is what is meant by our "sacrifice of praise". In this way, with and through our Lord, we are able to offer to the Father the most acceptable praise and worship of all. This is not worship in the pagan sense of praise for appeasement, but true worship " in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).
We experience and exercise our priesthood in precisely that way - we are able to offer such acceptable worship to God the Father, "like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ," (I Peter 2:4-5) Those "spiritual sacrifices" are manifested through our perseverance in the Christian life. God has no need of sacrifices but accepts them if they express true spiritual worship of the heart and mind. This sacrifice of the new "priestly people" is offered in a life of faith, hope and love, a life where our Lord's work of redemption and reconciliation is actualised in each one of us.
In addition to our spiritual sacrifices in everyday life, that is, our perseverance in loving God and our neighbour, our participation in the celebration of the Eucharist also provides us with a unique opportunity to unite ourselves with our Lord's own sacrifice on the cross and offer ourselves in union with him to the Father. In this mystery we experience the source and summit of our access to God, for our Lord makes himself present on our altars, through the power of his Holy Spirit, and takes our offering of ourselves, our lives and deaths, to the Father "Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit...."
At the same time, our Lord gives himself to us, his indestructible life, as our spiritual food for our journey through life and death. The "Lamb of God" becomes our food for our own indestructible life. By consuming him, by taking him into our human bodies, we are not only making an act of faith in him, but are actually partaking of our Lord's divine humanity which will eventually transform ours at our own resurrection. This is what our "communion" at Mass really signifies. Our 'priestly' offering becomes our source of "life".
How does the "ordained" priesthood differ to that which is common to all the baptized ? In one sense we cannot differentiate between the two, for the ordained priest is called to serve that shared priesthood. The difference lies in the nature of the ordained ministry as one of service to that shared priesthood of Christ, and the shared (or common) priesthood is the context within which the ordained ministry must work, "Through the sacred ordination and mission which they receive from the Bishops, priests (presbyters) are called to the service of Christ the Teacher, Priest and King. They are given a share in his ministry through which the Church here on earth is being ceaselessly built up into the people of God, Christ's Body and temple of the Holy Spirit." (Decree on the Ministry and life of Priests, Vatican II)
Strictly speaking, the term "priest" should be applied only to all members of the People of God to denote their share in the priesthood of our Lord (as outlined above). The term used by the early Church for those called and ordained for service to the shared priesthood, and re-emphasised by the Fathers of Vatican II, is "presbyters", which originally denoted the "elders" of the Church community. For example, we read in Luke's "Acts of the Apostles" "In each of these churches they appointed elders (presbuterous), and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe." (14:23)
These presbyters were essentially 'shepherds' or pastors and derived their role as such from those appointed as "episcopoi" (overseers) i.e. the apostolic leaders, now known as our bishops. The presbyters and deacons shared in the apostolic work of the bishops.
In order to revive the right understanding of the shared priesthood of all baptized Christians, the Fathers of Vatican II wanted to make clear the essential difference between that priesthood held in common and the "order of presbyters" i.e. those called and ordained to minister to and within the "priestly people". However, because of the long-standing use of the term "priest" in the Catholic Church
An attempt to revert back to the original term of 'presbyter' or 'pastor' has proved not to be generally acceptable. After all, what's in a name ! Well, a term for a particular role in the community is important in its function of denoting character and function. For example, when we address a Catholic priest as "father" we are using it in the sense of him being our pastor, our shepherd and carer of our church family. Some other Christian communities have been using the title "pastor" for their leaders for a long time.
However, what is of importance is in understanding the nature and role of our pastors in relation to our shared priesthood. In the Vatican II document on the ordained priesthood (presbyterium) the Council fathers emphasised its unique character and mission, "Because it is joined with the Episcopal order, the office of priests (presbyters) shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his Body." Through the sacrament of ordination "priests (presbyters), by the anointing of the Hofy Spirit, are signed with a special character and so are configured to Christ the Priest in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the head." ("Presbyterorum ordinis", 2)
Put another way, in order that the Church may be effectively subject to Christ as its living Lord, it is necessary that there be persons and actions wherein Christ makes himself visibly and sacramentally present. In his ministry, the (ordained) priest does not exercise his own powers, but acts instrumentally in virtue of the power of Christ, who makes himself actively present through the Holy Spirit. (cf.Avery Dulles "The Priestly Office")
We all represent our Lord to the world around us, but bishops, ordained priests and deacons have a specific role in that representation, that witness. Within the "priestly people" there must be "fishermen" and pastors, contributing to the life of the people by calling them together, teaching them, confirming their faith and nourishing life, preserving and fostering the unity and harmony of worship. Through them, Christ guides and teaches his Church; through them Christ gives us our daily bread, his body and blood offered for the forgiveness of sins; through them, he pardons and counsels us; through them, he gives us our commission to serve him in the world; through them, he serves his Church. (cf.Fr. Michael Richards "A People of Priests")
In this service to the Body of Christ, the Church, our ordained priests act on behalf of, not instead of, our community. They do this as our Lord's representatives, as "ambassadors of Christ" acting in the name of Christ, and in turn acting in the name of the priestly people of God. As such, they are entrusted with the task of leading the priestly people "ever anew to the reconciling power of Christ's love." (Pope Benedict, "L'Osservatore Romano" 31.10 2007)
At the beginning of this letter, I set the question as to how this relationship of our priestly character and that of our ordained priests has an impact on our own response to God's call to holiness. I hope that what I have written above goes some way in clarifying the nature of that relationship. I am going to finish with a quote from the Fathers of Vatican II, who did so much to refresh our minds as to the truths about the nature and mission of our Lord's Church. In the final document on the Church, "Lumen gentium" (The light to the nations), with reference to the Catholic priesthood, we read, "Though they differ essentially and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are none the less ordered one to another, each in its own proper way shares in the one priesthood of Christ." (n.10) Together, the priestly people, led and shepherded by our pastors, are able to have personal access to God, and through that communion have access to that fulfilling life that his Son has gained for us.
Quote of the month
"The ordained priesthood must guarantee the participation of everyone in the threefold prophetic, priestly and royal mission of Christ." (John Paul II "Tertio Millenio Adveniente" (The coming of the third millennium) 10-12)Brian Pointer BA(Div) MA(Theo)
Adult Christian Formation
St.Richard's Church
Chichester.