Summary of the Week - 18th April

ON THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS DONE ON 18^TH APRIL 2012

Introduction

The sacrament of Holy Orders and the sacrament of Marriage are called the sacrament of mission. They help us to build the body of Christ. These two sacraments were established by Jesus in view of the fact that we belong to a double family: the family of the flesh and the family of the spirit. My concern now is on the sacrament of Holy Orders.

It is God’s will that we be provided with priests on our way to heaven

Priests have two fold roles:

v  They offer to God the prayers and sacrifices of their people and express to him the peoples’ needs.

v  They make God’s will known to their people.

In Old Testament priests were appointed from among the descendants of Aaron, while the rest of the tribes, the Levites would be at the service of the priests. At the time of Jesus, a few priestly families in Jerusalem had all the power in their hands. They bitterly opposed Jesus during his preaching, and eventually condemned him to death. Through the death of Jesus a new worship was being established and a new High Priest, Jesus was consecrated.

Only Christ can claim to be a priest in his own right

Jesus is priest, a unique priest, offering a unique sacrifice: a sacrifice in which he was at the same time the priest and a victim. Jesus is a priest who will live forever, he does not need to be replaced as the Jewish priests were in fact even in heaven he will continue to be a priest. His work is to intercede for us all with his father (Heb.7:25).

Jesus offered a unique sacrifice on the cross: his sacrifice need not to be repeated as the sacrifices at the temple of Jerusalem which were repeated day after day. Jesus offered his sacrifice once and for all. Being himself not only the priest but also the victim offered to the father.

S0 wonderful is Jesus our priest: He is holy, untouched by sin, and at the same time compassionate towards our weakness, since he too was tempted the way we are tempted. Besides being our priest, he is also our brother; he chose to become so, when he made us, his father’s children at Baptism (heb.2:11; 4:15; 8:26).

Jesus turns his followers into priestly people, to enable them join him in his worship

Only Jesus can render our worship worthy of his father. To enable us to join our worship to his, he bestowed on us a gift no one would ever have thought of. Jesus shared with us his own priesthood that made us truly his priests at Baptism. Not in exactly the same way as ordained priests are but true priestly people.

We Christians have the righty to call ourselves “the priestly people” with far more reason than the tribe of Levi called themselves so in the Old Testament. But this should not be an empty title. In his letter to all Christians, Peter reminds us that having been appointed priests; we should not neglect our daily offering.

From among his followers, Jesus chose twelve men who were supposed to do the following:

Ø  They were to preach the good news as he was preaching it: “Go out to the whole world: proclaim the Good News to all creatures” (Mk.16:16).

Ø  They were to turn believers into God’s children by communicating to them the life in the spirit through the Baptism he would establish: “Baptize them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit” (Jn.20:23).

Ø  They were to forgive the people’s sins as he was forgiving anyone who repented: “if you forgive any man’s sins they are forgiven” (Jn.20:23).

Ø  They were to change bread and wine into his Body and Blood as he had done at the Last Supper:” Do this to remember me” (Lk.22:19).

Ø  They were to govern  God’s people ; but they should carry out this task not as the rulers of the world do, who demand service from everyone, but as the servants of everyone, following Jesus’ own example (Lk.22: 24- 30 ; Jn. 13: 12-15).

Who is pope?

As Peter, for a time an apostle like the rest, was appointed by Jesus to lead the whole church, so the Pope, a Bishop like the rest, on being chosen Pope, becomes the head of the whole church. His power does not come from those who choose him but from Christ himself. Pope is the successor of Peter, Chief Shepherds and teacher who represents Christ in our midst. The e whole church, both flock and shepherds is under his care.

His work: Guided by the spirit, he teaches us the true faith, governs us and leads us to holiness.

After the pope we have Bishops: Each Bishop is I in charge of a dioceses, a kind of “province” within the church, just as the various apostles had certain reigns under their care. The Bishop carries out his work under the guidance and union with the Holy Father.

His work: to preach the Good News to non- Christians, to instruct Christians in the true faith, and to lead to holiness the various communities entrusted to his care.

We have priests: we could call them “helper-priests”, since they are appointed by the Bishop to help him with the care of the Christian communities he entrusts to them.

Their work: to preach the Good News to non- Christians, to instruct Christians in the faith, to baptize, to celebrate the Eucharist, to forgive sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation, to anoint the sick and to bless marriages. With permission from the bishop they may also administer the sacrament of confirmation.

 And finally we have Deacons: they are collaborators of Bishop and Priests.

Their work: to see to the administration of the goods of the church and to the distribution of relief to the poor, to preach the Good News, to prepare for Baptism and to baptize them, to distribute the Eucharist, to bless marriages and so on.

Deacons do not have the power to preside over the celebration of the Eucharist, to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation or the Anointing of the sick. These are works to be carried out by priests.

Conclusion

Jesus turned his apostles into priests out of love for his people and it was his will that they should pass to their successors those same priestly powers they had received from him. To that purpose Jesus opened a particular channel for the life in the spirit to flow with particular abundance into the heart of those chosen to become priests. We call this particular channel the Sacrament of Holy holders.

The effects of this Sacrament on the person ordained priest are not limited to the day of Ordination but extend to his  whole life  providing him  with the light and the strength he needs to faithfully carry out his mission and to gradually become a faithful copy of Christ, the High Priest.