Rev José Mario O Mandía
jmom.honlam.org
Two of the seven sacraments are called sacraments at the service of communion and mission: Holy Orders and Matrimony. The CCCC (321) explains what they are: “Two sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, confer a special grace for a particular mission in the Church to serve and build up the People of God. These sacraments contribute in a special way to ecclesial communion and to the salvation of others.”
Let us talk about Holy Orders.
COMMON PRIESTHOOD & MINISTERIAL PRIESTHOOD
We have seen previously that Jesus Christ is Priest, Prophet, and King (cf BST 64), and that all the baptized share in this mission (cf BST 65, 84 & 89). As the CCC (1591) teaches, “The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the ‘common priesthood of the faithful.’ Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists another participation in the mission of Christ: the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ the Head [in persona Christi capitis] in the midst of the community.”
The CCCC (336) further adds: “Ordained priests in the exercise of their sacred ministry speak and act not on their own authority, nor even by mandate or delegation of the community, but rather in the Person of Christ the Head and in the name of the Church. Therefore, the ministerial priesthood differs essentially and not just in degree from the priesthood common to all the faithful for whose service Christ instituted it.” This is why the ministerial priesthood carries out the priestly, prophetic and royal function of Christ in a way that differs from that of the rest of the baptized faithful (cf BST 88).
WHY IS IT CALLED ‘HOLY ORDERS’?
The CCCC (323) explains: “Orders designates an ecclesial body into which one enters by means of a special consecration (ordination). Through a special gift of the Holy Spirit, this sacrament enables the ordained to exercise a sacred power in the name and with the authority of Christ for the service of the People of God.”
ARE PRIESTS REALLY NEEDED?
The CCCC (324) reminds us of what Sacred Scripture says.
“This sacrament was prefigured in the Old Covenant in the service of the Levites, in the priesthood of Aaron, and in the institution of the seventy ‘Elders’ (Numbers 11:25). These prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus who by the sacrifice of the cross is the ‘one mediator between God and man’ (1 Timothy 2:5), the ‘High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek’ (Hebrews 5:10). The one priesthood of Christ is made present in the ministerial priesthood. ‘Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers’ (Saint Thomas Aquinas).”
We need priests because we, sinners, need mediators who act in the name and with the power of the one single Mediator and Redeemer who is Christ.
ARE THERE RANKS OR DEGREES IN HOLY ORDERS?
The CCCC (325) says: “The sacrament of Holy Orders is composed of three degrees which are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: the episcopate [bishops], the presbyterate [priests] and the diaconate [deacons].” These three degrees constitute the hierarchy of the Church (cf BST 85).This hierarchy, the visible authority in the Church, was established by Jesus Christ himself. The CCCC (179) teaches: “Christ instituted an ecclesiastical hierarchy with the mission of feeding the people of God in his name and for this purpose gave it authority.” The hierarchy is God’s will. It is part of God’s plan.
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