July 19, /09

ON PRIESTHOOD...AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK! (First in a Two Part Series)

PRIESTHOOD is a gift of God to humanity. It is a divine call with responsibility to the Master and the people the priest is called to serve. In the Old Testament, the gift of the priesthood was restricted to just one tribe of Israel, the tribe of Levi. However, the more often than not the priest failed to lead the people into a deeper covenantal relationship with Yahweh, their God. They were responsible for desecrating the temple of God, by false practice and corruption. The prophets denounced priesthood for their false living, and misleading the people from the true worship of Yahweh, which eventually brought destruction of the community of God, and the kingdom of Israel. Nevertheless, for the chosen people, priesthood continued to be a vital segment of the community even at the time of Jesus, and ever after.

Conversely, priesthood in the New Testament is totally a new dimension and dynamic. The new community of God formed by his son, Jesus, finds a new meaning in priesthood. St. Peter in his letter explains this mystery, "Through his cross and resurrection he freed us from sin and death and called us to the glory that has made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart." In the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman, "from now on, people will worship God in spirit and truth." This mystery unfolds in baptism, as we are given His spirit to live in truth.Therefore, every baptized person shares in the priesthood of Christ to offer prayers and supplications.

However, there is another dimension to priesthood, which is the ministerial priesthood. Some are chosen by God from among the common priesthood, to ordain ministers to administer sacraments to his people. Pope Benedict XVI invites, the entire Catholic Church to contemplate the mystery of Priesthood, and to pray earnestly for ordained ministers, during this year dedicated for priests. As we begin this process, we are invited to look at St John Vianney, the patron of priests, on his 150th death anniversary, which is August 4. His simplicity and humility, together with profound love and faith, helped him to overcome human weakness. He became an exemplary priest, and a good shepherd who brought healing and consolation to thousands of people through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The ordained ministers have a special share in the priesthood of Jesus, who totally emptied himself, and in obedience offered the sacrifice of his own self for our redemption, to His Father, our eternal God. Therefore, priesthood is the expression of one's encounter with the Risen Lord, who absolutely emptied Himself in order to enter into His Father's glory. Just like many of us, the apostles followed the Lord to gain power and position in Society, while at the same time, failing to understand the Lord's message and example. During the passion and death of Jesus, their failure magnified. They all abandoned Him, and were terrified of losing their lives. The turning point came when they encountered the Risen Lord, and remembered His command, "Do this in my memory." At last they became powerful witness of the Gospel, and with peace and joy, boldly laid down their lives for their Master. St. Paul's encounter with the Risen Lord on his way to Damascus is the epitome' of priesthood. And a total transformation, "From now on it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."

The recent sex scandal of the priests rocked the church and almost brought it to its knees in the United States, and elsewhere in the world.We should have always been on our knees. What an irony! We are forced to kneel and learn the lesson with the wrong subject - the failure of priesthood. The failure of the few priests, sullied the priesthood in the eyes of the world, and opened a new venue for people to question the sacrament. Many lay people fell short of distinguishing the difference between the metaphysical nature of the Sacrament and the empirical reality. Sacrament is conferred on an individual. The individual person is not a sacrament. It is true, the failure of an individual priest can cast aspersion and cause scandal. Nonetheless, the nature of the sacrament remains intact because the sacraments are divine. The misfortune of the ordained ministers, more often than not, is that they forget the sacrament conferred on them is to imitate Christ.

-Fr. Peter Fernandes, sfx.