This week I would
like to concentrate on the second reading, which I would call the Practical Guide to Understanding the
Priesthood.
First of all the
reading comes from the Letter to the Hebrews, a lengthy sermon written to shore
up the faith of second and third
generation Christians of Hebrew ancestry. When the writer begins by mentioning
High Priests, he is speaking about two groups of people. He is referring both to the Temple priests of
the Old Covenant and Christian bishops and priests, the priests of the New
Covenant. He says that every high priest is taken from among men and made their
representative before God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin.
Before
Christianity this sacrifice would be some sort of animal. The sacrifice was
made to atone for sin. Jewish theology quotes Leviticus that says that blood
makes an atonement for the soul[1].
The Jewish feast of Yom Kippur,
celebrated last month on September 22nd -23rd, is the Day of Atonement, when
sacrifice is made for sin. This is not just an acknowledgment of sin. That
would be no more effective than an apology would be effective in removing a
murder charge. God has been offended by
the sins of mankind. Only a sacrifice can atone for the offence. Leviticus 16
gives these instructions: The high priest, after becoming ritually pure, first
offered a bull for his sins and the sins of his household. Then two goats were
set aside. Lots were cast, and one goat was chosen to be the scapegoat or
"Azazel." The High Priest slaughtered the other goat to atone for the
sins of Israel and brought the blood into the Holy of Holies. The scapegoat was
sent away to be lost in the desert after the High Priest laid both hands on its
head and confessed the sins of Israel. In this way, the sins of the nation were
symbolically carried off into the desert.
Two were brought
for sacrifice. One was accepted and one was released into the desert. And
Pilate brought Jesus and Barabbas before the people. One was sacrificed. One was released into oblivion.
A sacrifice has
been made. The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is the perfect sacrifice. He is
sacrificed once in history. This sacrifice is renewed mystically at Mass. It is the one sacrifice is for all
people. Jesus Christ is both priest and
sacrifice. The essential action of the
Mass is the offering of the Son to the Father. The Mass takes us to the Cross
and leads us mystically into the Eternal Now of God, as the priest offers the
sacrifice of the Son to the Father. We need the priests of the New Covenant to
replace the priests of the Old Covenant.
The Temple no longer exists. Nor
is it needed. In the New Covenant we need priests to offer the sacrifice of
Christ for the people and for himself.
Hebrews refers
to priests of the New Covenant when it says that a priest is able to deal
patiently with the ignorant and the erring because for he himself is beset by
weakness. It goes on to say that for
this reason, the priest must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the
people. Well, I hope the priest is patient and understanding. I hope I have been patient and understanding. There is an important point here. The priest of the New Covenant realizes that
he himself is attacked by weakness and sin in his own life. He realizes that
there are two sinners in that confessional, that reconciliation room. Please understand this, hearing confessions
is the most humbling ministry that a priest performs. We priests realize that no matter what we
hear, we are also sinners, responsible to God for giving into our weakness. Perhaps,
you have often heard me say, “If you ever go to confession to a priest and that
priest thinks he is better than you, he has a serious problem, not you.” When I minister the sacrament of penance,
hear confessions, I am acutely aware of my own sins. I am also edified by the
humility of those coming to receive the sacrament. When I celebrate Mass, I
make the eternal offering not just for the sins of the people but for my own
sins. Sometimes people will be concerned
that if they make an honest confession, the priest is going to think negatively
about them. The truth is that I think
far more highly about you than I do about myself. After all, you are the one humbling yourself
before God. I’m just the mediator. I
also need forgiveness, and I need the Eternal Offering for sin that is the
essence of the Mass.
Finally, Hebrews
says that no one takes this honor upon himself, but only when called by
God. No one has the right to be
ordained. Priesthood is not a job. It does not demand an equal employment
opportunity. Priesthood is a vocation, a
call from God. Why He chooses this
person instead of that person to be a priest is beyond me. Why He chose me still baffles me. Perhaps it’s to show that He has a good sense
of humor. Certainly it is to show that His power is made perfect in the
weakness of His priests, in my weakness.
When I grew up,
priests were often placed on pedestals. How horrible. A priest is not better
than anyone else. In fact, he has more to answer to than most people because he
has daily contact with the mysteries of God. Still, there are many people and
many priests who think that priests should not be seen as normal human beings.
That is really sad. It misses the whole
point of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He came to offer atonement for the sins
of all the people, including, and perhaps especially, his priests. Perhaps if people had a more realistic view
of who their priests are, and if priests promoted a more realistic view of whom
they are, there would be less scandal when the human weakness of the clergy
becomes evident.
I’m sure some of
you are wondering what all this has to do with you. Why did I decide to devote a homily to some
of the theological tenets of the Sacrament of Holy Orders? Well, it is because I don’t want you to
confuse the actions of the priest with the person performing these actions. So,
in summary, the priest’s main role is to renew the Eternal Offering of Christ
for himself and his people. He must recognize that he was called by God to
serve the people. He didn’t earn the priesthood, nor did he have a right to
this vocation. And finally priest and
people should realize that God’s power is made perfect in the weakness we all
have, including the weakness of His priests.
So I ask you
today to pray for your priests. Pray
that we might truly be priests of God serving His People •
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