YOUCAT Lesson 254
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic
youth
254 What happens in priestly ordination?
In priestly ordination the bishop calls down God’s power
upon the candidates for ordination. It
imprints upon the souls of these men an indelible seal that can never be
lost. As a collaborator with his bishop,
the priest will proclaim the Word of God, administer the sacraments, and, above
all, celebrate the Holy Eucharist. [1562-1568]
Photo: …..The laying on of
the hands is the most solemn moment of the ordination and the essential act in
the sacrament of Holy Orders. ….254
During the celebration of a Holy Mass, the actual ordination
of priests begins when the candidates are called by name. After the bishop’s homily, the future priest
promises obedience to the bishop and his successors. The actual ordination takes place through the
imposition of the bishop’s hands and his prayer. 215, 236, 259
“The priest continues (Christ’s) work of redemption on
earth.” St. John Vianney (1786-1859)
The ordination of priests - co-workers of
the bishops
…….1562
"Christ,
whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his apostles,
made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his consecration and
mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying degrees various
members of the Church with the office of their ministry."(Lumen Gentium 28; compare John 10:36.)43 "The function of the bishops'
ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might
be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers
of the episcopal order for
the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it
by Christ."(Presbyterorum
Ordinis 2 § 2.)44 –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second
Edition
…….1563 "Because
it is joined with the episcopal order the office of priests shares in the
authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his Body.
Hence the priesthood of priests, while presupposing the sacraments of
initiation, is nevertheless conferred by its own particular sacrament. Through
that sacrament priests by the anointing of the Holy 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.)45 –CCC
…….1564 "Whilst
not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and notwithstanding the
fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own proper power,
the priests are for all that associated with them by reason of their sacerdotal
dignity; and in virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, after the image of
Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, they are consecrated in order to preach
the Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship as
true priests of the New Testament."(Lumen Gentium 28; compare Hebrews 5:1-10;
Heb 7:24; Hebrews 9:11-28-;
Innocent I, Epist. ad
Decentium:Patrologia Latina 20,554A; St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 2,22:PG 35,432B.)46 –CCC
…….1565 Through
the sacrament of Holy Orders priests share in the universal dimensions of the
mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles. The spiritual gift they have
received in ordination prepares them, not for a limited and restricted mission,
"but for the fullest, in fact the universal mission of salvation 'to the
end of the earth,"'(Presbyterorum
Ordinis 10; Optatam
Totius 20; compare Acts of the Apostles 1:8.)47 "prepared in spirit to preach the
Gospel everywhere."(Optatam
Totius 20.)48 –CCC
…….1566 "It
is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis) that
they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; there, acting in the
person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings
of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head, and in the sacrifice of
the Mass they make present again and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the
unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ offering himself
once for all a spotless victim to the Father."(Lumen Gentium 28; compare 1 Corinthians 11:26.)49 From this unique sacrifice their whole
priestly ministry draws its strength.(Compare Presbyterorum
Odinis 2.)50 –CCC
……..1567 "The
priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college and its support and
instrument, called to the service of the People of God, constitute, together
with their bishop, a unique sacerdotal college (presbyterium) dedicated, it is true, to a variety of
distinct duties. In each local assembly of the faithful they represent, in a
certain sense, the bishop, with whom they are associated in all trust and
generosity; in part they take upon themselves his duties and solicitude and in
their daily toils discharge them."(Lumen Gentium 28 § 2.)51 priests can exercise their ministry only
in dependence on the bishop and in communion with him. The promise of obedience
they make to the bishop at the moment of ordination and the kiss of peace from
him at the end of the ordination liturgy mean that the bishop considers them
his co-workers, his sons, his brothers and his friends, and that they in return
owe him love and obedience. –CCC
…….1568 "All
priests, who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of
Order, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but in a
special way they form one priestly body in the diocese to which they are
attached under their own bishop. . . ."(Presbyterorum
Ordinis 8.)52 The
unity of the presbyterium finds liturgical expression in the custom of the
presbyters' imposing hands, after the bishop, during the rite of ordination. --CCC
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