Catechumenate Topic: Holy Orders

Catechumenate Topic: Holy Orders

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate (Bishop), presbyterate (priest), and diaconate (deacon).

The sacrament is given by the laying on of hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit given by a Bishop.

John 20: 19-23; Matthew 16:13-20

In the Old Testament one of the Twelve tribes of Israel was set aside by God to offer sacrifice for the atonement of sins, to offer thanks giving, to proclaim the word of God, and to the lead the people of God in liturgical celebration. The Tribe of Levi was chosen because they did not worship the golden calf when Moses was on the mountain, while the other tribes did.

Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men."15

The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High," as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek";16 "holy, blameless, unstained,"17 "by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,"18 that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross. Melchizedek also offered a sacrifice of Bread and Wine.

Christ is our Priest. There are two words in Greek for Priest.

Iereas is the word that is used for the Priests of the Old Testament, and other religions. Iereas is a priest who offers up a sacrifice of another as vicarious victim, an example of this is the lamb offered at the Passover meal, or in pagan religions they would offer up children to the demon gods. It costs the priest nothing to offer up this type of sacrifice. Christ is this type of Priest, but he did something that had never been done before, he offered up an innocent victim for the forgiveness of sins, but He was the victim. For the first time, the offerer of the sacrifice was both Priest and Victim.

The second word is Presbyter which means elder. This is the word used to describe the priest of Christ. They have no priesthood of their own; they are consecrated to Christ’s own priesthood, sharers in his mission, stewards and servants of His house. As Christ is both Priest and Victim, so Christian Priests configured to Him are both Priests and Victims, for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. This is what it means when a priest acts ‘in persona Christ Capitis’, the priest is not operating on his own, Christ is operating through him.

A Bishop receives the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. They are called to serve the role of Apostle for the local Church entrusted to them. This Apostolic Succession goes back unbroken to the 11 Apostles Christ himself commissioned. They are given a special grace to guide, teach and shepherd the people of God. Bishops are stewards of Christ mission. A bishop’s call is to proclaim the truth.

To accomplish this mission, a Bishop consecrates priests in his diocese to help him in his task. They are priests of the New Testament, priests of Christ, but they rely on the permission of the Bishop to conduct their duties. A priest’s call is for the forgiveness of sins, and giving of the sacraments of the Church.

The lowest form of the sacrament is the Deacon; the deacon is not consecrated into the priesthood of Christ, but into the ministry of Christ. As Christ was a servant to all, so is the deacon. The deacon’s call is to serve.

One controversy today is Roman Rite Catholic Priests are not allowed to be married. The tradition of the Church has always held since St. Paul was writing the New Testament letters, that it is better for a priest not to be married so that he can focus on his ministry to the people of God. Another tradition was that if a man was already married he could be ordained to the priesthood, but the decision was up to the bishop. That is why in some Eastern Catholic Rites there are priests who are married. The Patriarchs of those Rites have decided to accept those men. St. Peter himself was married. The Patriarch of the Roman Rite, the Pope, many hundreds of years ago decided to not accept married men into the priesthood, and no Pope has changed that. It is something that can be changed, but likely will not be. Deacons in fact can be married, but after they are ordained, they even if their wife dies can never marry again. This is an example of what is called a practice of the Church. A practice is the ways, and rules the Church operates under. Practices can be changed according to the times.

Another great controversy today is the ordination of women to the Priesthood.

Only men can receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. The reason for this is that Christ was a man in his Humanity. God is neither man nor woman, but Christ’s humanity was man. As such He is the bridegroom. Christ calls forth the Church, His Bride, and makes the Church fruitful that it gives life to the world. Forgetting what is carnal, understand this example. In the Eucharist the Church receives Christ the Bridegroom into herself, the result of this received grace is that we are transformed, evil is defeated, goodness is born into our lives. The priest operates in the ministry of the Christ, the ministry of the Bridegroom, and for this reason men are chosen by God. It is not an issue of superiority, but a matter of function. It is neither better to give or to receive, but only that we cooperate with the role that God has called us to live. Only men may be Father’s and Husbands, and only Women may be Mother’s and Wives. Marriage is only valid between a man and a woman. For this reason only men may be priests, and only women may be nuns. As a consecrated nun a woman is consecrated as a bride of Christ, a representative of the Church. This is a dogma of the Church. A dogma is a teaching held to be true by the Church, and cannot be changed. Truth can change.

So only a man consecrated to Christ in the priesthood may say the words of consecration, “this is my body”, “this is my blood.” This is a great compliment to men.

Another great compliment was given to women. When Christ was taken down and his body was laid in the arms of Mary, Mother of Priests, she was able to say those words in way that no priest ever can, “this is my body”, “this is my blood.”