Sacrament of holy orders makes Christ present to us
By The Catholic Spirit
Wednesday, 06 May 2009
The following is the weekly lesson from the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute.
Father Andrew Cozzens, theology professor at the St. Paul Seminary, taught about the sacrament of holy orders, focusing on the need for a sacramental priesthood. He said the Catholic priesthood is a sacrament with one purpose — to make Christ present.
God’s sacramental plan springs from the Incarnation, when God took on flesh and set up his church to continue to take on flesh in our midst for all time.
The sacraments are the Word taking on flesh, and the sacrament of holy orders is a gift to us of the Father’s love to teach, govern and sanctify us.
The priest makes the saving power of Christ present. Through the priest, we go to God directly, because the priest makes Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament and speaks the words of absolution.
We can’t have direct contact with Jesus if we do not have the priest who makes that power present through his sacramental ministry. Christ acts in all the sacraments.
St. Thomas Aquinas said: “Christ himself perfects all the sacraments. It’s he who baptizes. It’s he who forgives sins. It’s he who is the true priest who offered himself on the altar of the cross and by whose power his body is daily consecrated on the altar.”
Father Cozzens explained that, acting through the sacraments, Christ meets us directly and shares with us directly his power.
Therefore, the priest is God’s own way to become present to us. God gives this power to us in the sacrament of holy orders so we can have the real saving power of Jesus continue in our lives, today.
Join the journeyEach week a question is posed that will draw you into what is being experienced by the students at the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute.
Q How is the church’s necessity for an ordained priesthood in accord with the history of God’s people in the Old Covenant?
Read and reflect: Read paragraphs 1539-1545 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church; Exodus 19:6 and 29:1-30; Numbers 1:48-53; Hebrews 5:1 and 6:19-20.
A By Sean Innerst, from The Augustine Institute in Denver: At each stage of salvation, God called mediators to bear messages to his people and bring their needs to him.
Beginning with Adam, covenant leaders have acted as priests and prophets. . . . The high priests often acted as both religious and civil leaders in Israelite society. God knows our human need for leadership and direction. By installing Peter and the apostles and ensuring a continuity of the apostolic office of bishop and the priesthood, God has continued the pattern that he has used from the very beginning to direct his people to himself.
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The following is the weekly lesson from the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute.
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