259 CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO WORK IN THE WORLD IN GOD'S NAME

YOUCAT Lesson 259

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

259  How is the universal priesthood of all the faithful different from the ordained priesthood?

Through Baptism, Christ has made us into a kingdom of “priests to his God and Father” (Revelation 1:6).  Through the universal priesthood, every Christian is called to work in the world in God’s name and to bring blessings and grace to it.  In the Upper Room during the Last Supper and when he commissioned the apostles with a sacred authority to serve the faithful; these ordained priests represent Christ as pastors (shepherds) of his people and as head of his Body, the Church.  [1546-1553, 1592]

…….Book cover: …..”Diary” by St. Faustina…..259

To Saint Faustina, Jesus said, “Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you (Diary 1541).  Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death (Diary 687).  When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between my Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the Merciful Savior (Diary 1541).  Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation.  Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy (Diary 687).  Through the Chaplet you will obtain eveything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will (Diary 1731).

“Eternal Father, I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ for in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”(Diary 950) …….Who among us would presume to “pray for the whole world?”  Maybe I could pray for a particular problem, but surely not the problems of the WHOLE world?  But that is exactly what our Savior asks us to do when we pray the Chaplet rosary given to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (Diary 475, 476, 1541).

Using the same word, “priest”, for two related things that nevertheless “differ essentially and not only in degree” (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 10, 2) often leads to misunderstandings.  On the one hand, we should observe with joy that all the baptized are “priests” because we live n Christ and share in everything he is and does.  Why, then, do we not call down a permanent blessing on this world?  On the other hand, we must rediscover God’s gift to his Church, the ordained priests, who represent the Lord himself among us.  138

“Like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  1 Peter 2:5

“I am created to do or to be something for which no one else is created:  I have a place in God’s counsels, in God’s world, which no one else has.”  Bl. John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The words of the two special Chaplet rosary prayers that we are emboldened to say are: “Eternal Father, I offer you theBody, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins an those of the whole world”; and, “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

II. THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

Two participations in the one priesthood of Christ

.......1546   Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father."(Revelation 1:6; compare Revelation 5:9-10; 1 Peter 2:5,9.)²⁰    The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are "consecrated to be . . . a holy priesthood."(Lumen Gentium 10 § 1.)²¹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1547   The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, "each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ." While being "ordered one to another," they differ essentially.(Lumen Gentium 10 § 2.)²²    In what sense? While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace --a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit--, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders. –CCC

In the person of Christ the Head . . .

…….1548   In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis(Compare Lumen Gentium 10; 28; Sacrosanctum Concilium 33; Christus Dominus 11; Presbyterorum Ordinis 2; 6.)²³

It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi)(Compare Lumen Gentium 10; 28; Sacrosanctum Concilium 33; Christus Dominus 11; Presbyterorum Ordinis 2; 6.)²⁴

Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III,22,4c.)²⁵ –CCC

…….1549   Through the ordained ministry, especially that of bishops and priests, the presence of Christ as head of the Church is made visible in the midst of the community of believers.(Compare Lumen Gentium 21.)²⁶    In the beautiful expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop is typos tou Patros: he is like the living image of God the Father.(St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Trall. 3,1:Sources Chrẻtiennes 10,96; compare Ad Magn. 6,1:SCh 10,82-84.)²⁷ –CCC

…….2550   This presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even sin. The power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way. While this guarantee extends to the sacraments, so that even the minister's sin cannot impede the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the apostolic fruitfulness of the Church. –CCC

…….1551   This priesthood is ministerial. "That office . . . which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service."(Lumen Gentium 24.)²⁸    It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church. The sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a "sacred power" which is none other than that of Christ. The exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by love made himself the least and the servant of all.(Compare Mark 10:43-45; 1 Peter 5:3.)²⁹    "The Lord said clearly that concern for his flock was proof of love for him."(St. John Chrysostom, De sac. 2, 4:Patrologia Graeca 48, 636; compare John 21:15-17.)³⁰ –CCC

. . . "in the name of the whole Church"

…….1552   The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice.(Compare Sacrosanctum Concilium 33N; Lumen Gentium 10.)³¹ –CCC

…….1553   "In the name of the whole Church" does not mean that priests are the delegates of the community. The prayer and offering of the Church are inseparable from the prayer and offering of Christ, her head; it is always the case that Christ worships in and through his Church. The whole Church, the Body of Christ, prays and offers herself "through him, with him, in him," in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. The whole Body, caput et membra, prays and offers itself, and therefore those who in the Body are especially his ministers are called ministers not only of Christ, but also of the Church. It is because the ministerial priesthood represents Christ that it can represent the Church. --CCC

IN BRIEF

…….1592   The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching (munus docendi), divine worship (munus liturgicum) and pastoral governance (munus regendi). --CCC