THE PRIESTHOOD
The High Priest of the New Law, St. Paul tells the Hebrews, is Christ.
And the Christian priesthood, which He instituted, is a participation
and extension of His office and ministry. The commemoration of the
same sacrifice which was once offered upon the cross for the sins of
the world is daily renewed on our altars from the rising to the
setting of the sun. The Christian priest, in the language of spiritual
writers, is "another Christ," taking His place amongst men,
perpetually renewing, as it were, the Incarnation in the Sacrifice of
the Mass, preaching the word, and applying the fruits of Redemption
through the channels of the sacraments.
In common estimation, the dignity of a man is reckoned by the
character of the office he fills or the duties entrusted to him.
Judged by this standard, no worldly dignity can compare with that of
the priesthood, whose authority comes from God, and whose powers,
transcending earth, reach back to heaven. "Speak not of the royal
purple," says St. Chrysostom, "of diadems, of golden vestures--these
are but shadows, frailer than the flowers of spring, compared to the
power and privileges of the priesthood."
And whence arises, we may ask, this incomparable dignity of the
priest? First of all, from his power to roll back the heavens, and
bring down upon the altar the Majesty of the Deity, attended by an
angelic train. "The Blessed Virgin," St. Vincent Ferrer informs us,
"opened heaven only once, the priest does so at every Mass." Exalted
is the sovereignty of kings who rule a nation, but more sublime the
power which commands the King of kings, and is obeyed. Who could
conceive, did not Faith teach it, that mortal man were capable of
elevation to such a pitch of glory? No wonder St. Chrysostom was
betrayed by this thought into the rhapsody: "When you behold the Lord
immolated and lying on the altar, and the priest standing over the
sacrifice and praying and all the people empurpled by that precious
blood, do you imagine that you are still on earth amongst men and not
rather rapt up to heaven?"
The second great prerogative of the priest is to forgive sins. Christ
having one day said to a paralytic, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee"
(Luke v: 20), some of the bystanders marvelled, thinking within
themselves, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Yea, truly is this
a Divine power, but these critics failed to comprehend the Divinity of
Christ, and that all power was given to Him in heaven and on earth.
And His power to remit sins has descended to the priest, in the
imposition of hands. At Christ's will lepers were cleansed, and once
more felt the pulsation of health tingling through their veins; but
more wondrous still the word of the priest which causes the scales of
the leprosy of sin to fall from the stricken soul, and restores to it
the pristine vigor and beauty of sanctifying grace. As keeper of the
keys, the priest stands warder of heaven, locking or unlocking its
doors to the dust-begrimed pilgrims of earth.
Sublime, then, is the priestly dignity, even beyond human
comprehension. But one thing we realize, and the saints with clearer
vision perceive, that high virtue is demanded of him whose life is
spent in the antechamber of heaven. St. Catharine of Sienna, in a
letter to one newly ordained, tells him, "The ministers whom the
Sovereign Goodness has chosen to be His Christs ought to be angels,
not men . . . they in truth discharge the office of angels." "What
purity," says a Father of the Church, "what piety shall we require of
a priest? Think what those hands ought to be which perform such a
ministry; what that tongue which pronounces those words." No sanctity
or purity of soul, then, is beyond the aspirations of one whose
heaven-born privilege it is to enter the Holy of Holies, to dispense
the mysteries of faith, and exercise the "ministry of reconciliation."
A most important function of the ministry is the care of souls.
Christ's mission was to save; He was the Good Shepherd, who traveled
about preaching to the people, who were like "sheep without a
shepherd." And to His Apostles and their successors He gave the solemn
charge "to feed His lambs." And this injunction of the Divine Master
has been held sacred by the Church throughout its existence. Wherever
in the world to-day dwell true believers, there are to be found
priests to care for them.
The priest is truly the father of the people committed to him. He must
become all things to all men, rejoicing with the joyful, and weeping
with the sorrowful. The infants he must receive into the Church,
generating in them the life of grace, guarding them as they grow up,
and instructing them in doctrine and discipline. To him the bridal
couple come for the nuptial benediction; and when sickness and trouble
and want invade the household it is to their father in Christ the
faithful look for support and encouragement. He is the consoler of
all, and he bears the burdens of all. And when the angel of death
hovers over his charge, the priest repairs to the bedside of the
departing one, to strengthen him for the last journey; and, finally,
when the soul has departed, he commits the body to hallowed ground,
there to await the resurrection.
The priest, then, must be of heroic mould to satisfy the demands made
upon him; he must be ready to endure hunger and cold and weariness,
contradictions from within and without, labors by night and day. But
the Lord is his inheritance, and for His sake he is willing to endure
all the crosses and trials that bear upon him. How splendidly the
clergy of our country have responded to their responsibilities is
attested by the flourishing state of religion, by the magnificent
churches, the well-developed Catholic school system, and the numerous
other Church activities about us. Every thoroughly organized parish or
mission means the life of at least one priest sacrificed in its
formation--the commingling of his sweat and labors with the cement
that binds together its material and spiritual stones. But could a
life be better spent? What more fitting monument could be left to
posterity than a spiritual structure built on Christ and enduring as
the foundation on which it rests?
Who, then, may aspire to the glorious career of the priesthood? Is it
open to all, or must one await the striking manifestation of the
Divine Will inviting him to it? Should he not say, "The priesthood is
too exalted for my weakness and unworthiness"? While humility is
laudable, it should not bar any one who has the requisite virtue and
talent, together with an upright intention, from entering this high
estate. Everything depends on one's qualifications and motives. Others
will pass judgment on the qualifications, but each one must scrutinize
his own motives. If a youth desires the priesthood for natural
reasons, to lead an easy life or one honorable in the eyes of men, to
attain fame or station, his motives are wrong, or at least, too
imperfect to carry him far on the rugged road before him. But if he be
swayed by supernatural desires, such as the service of God, his own
sanctification or the help of his neighbor, his ambition is
praiseworthy. One who is conscious, then, of rectitude of purpose and
hopeful with the divine assistance of living up to its obligations,
may aspire, without scruple, to the priesthood, the highest of
dignities and the greatest of careers open to man.
One day our Lord, instructing His disciples before sending them to
preach His coming, said: "The harvest, indeed, is great, but the
laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
send laborers into his harvest" (Luke x: 2). And this has been the cry
through all the ages--"Send laborers into the harvest!" The Church has
always needed good spiritual laborers, men and women, who would be
willing to work for God and their neighbor, to extend the Kingdom of
God, and this is true to-day of our own beloved country. A host of
spiritual laborers is scattered over our land, but the cry is ever
repeated, "We need more, the work is too great for our efforts, and
all the harvest is not being garnered."
Will you, dear reader, make one more worker in God's field, one more
reaper of His harvest that is ripe and falling to the ground because
there are none to gather it?