voice from eden: Spiritual voice (9): from "Be My Priest," by Lev Gillet

a voice from eden: Spiritual voice (9)What a meditation on Priesthood and the sacrifice of the Mass!

Vox has offered us a gift. What I found inspiring, in particular:

the essence of every priesthood has always been the act of sacrifice. The Christian priest is first of all one who performs a sacrifice; but he is such only by virtue of his participation in the sacerdotal act of our unique and sovereign High Priest, Jesus Christ.

The Sacrifice of Christ is the center and the summit of all Christian worship.

and:

He will explain to the faithful that the Holy Eucharist does not consist merely in receiving the Body and Blood of our Savior. It is above all a spiritual sacrifice. To be sure, the sacrifice of the Cross, which takes away the sin of the world, was offered once and for all. Our earthly eucharist do not constitute a new sacrifice; rather, they offer to people of today the unique and eternal grace of Christ's own sacrifice.

Together, the priest and the people offer our sacrificed Lord. Yet Christ and His Church require as well that the priest and the people offer themselves, with Christ and in Christ. Every particle of bread the priest has arranged around the "Lamb" or cube of bread placed in the center of the diskos (the paten) and consecrated--every one of these particles, representing the faithful, both living and dead, as well as particular believers for whom special prayers have been requested--is poured into the chalice at the end of the service. This act signifies that we are all spiritually plunged into the Blood of Christ. We become through the Liturgy participants in His Passion, His Death, and His Resurrection.

The priesthood of the ordained centers on the Eucharistic sacrifice. He presides over the sacrifice in which we, baptized in Christ as prophet, priest and king, offer together with him all of our lives to Christ. Thus, at mass do we most closely resemble what God has called us to be, echoed in the words of Jewish scripture, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." (Exodus 19:6, NAB)

The priesthood of the laity centers on the sacrifice inherent in evangelization. For the laity are "front line of the church". They bring Christ and His Gospel to every one they encounter. They are the ones that transform culture and infuse civil society with the light of Christ, as clearly described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The vocation of lay people

898 "By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will. . . . It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and maybe to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer."431

899 The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church:

Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church.432

900 Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it.433

The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office

901 "Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives."434

I struggle to live this call. It's way to easy to just show up and put in my time. It's tempting every day to just surrender to the dysfunctional pop culture that my students often try to live during class. I sacrifice my pride every day. Still, to exemplify how to live a truly fulfilling life more than recompenses me. To be able to model responsible living and the glory of growth is a singular privildge of my vocation. Many former students remind me every day how my witness has changed their lives.

And then there's my family. Any one that has young children understands just what sacrifice is involved in lay life. I should have finished this post an hour ago. However, my son woke up from his nap. After watching some children's shows, he entered his room. Then it was quiet. I should have known. He returned shortly with a toy tea cup full of wet naps.

And I wouldn't change a moment of it for all the Guiness in Ireland. There's a joy that comes from family life that is so sublime it is difficult to describe. All the sacrifices, large and small, are so worth it.