Last week we saw how candidates are trained for the ordained Ministry of the Church.  After being ordained Deacon they go to work in parishes.  Some choose to remain as deacons but most become priests.  And so, twelve months later there comes their ordination to the priesthood when they receive the Sacrament of Holy Order, this time to make them Priests.

Minister

The minister of the Sacrament of Holy Order is the bishop.

Matter

The matter is the laying on of hands on the heads of the candidates.  At the same time other priests also put their hands on the heads of the candidates for the priesthood.

Form

In Common Worship the words used are,

“Send down the Holy Spirit on your servant N
for the office and work of a priest in your Church”. (1)

During the Declarations which precede the ordination, the bishop addresses the congregation and explains what is involved in the “office and work” of priests.  This includes:

“They are to be messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord; they are to teach and to admonish, to feed and provide for his family, to search for his children in the wilderness of this world’s temptations, and to guide them through its confusions, that they may be saved through Christ for ever.  Formed by the word, they are to call their hearers to repentance and to declare in Christ's name the absolution and forgiveness of their sins”. (2)

In the Prayer Book the words used are: “Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands.  Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained.  And be thou a faithful dispenser of the Word of God, and of his holy Sacraments; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen”. (3)

Inward grace

The inward grace is the gift of the holy priesthood.  The Sacrament of Holy Order, like that of Baptism and Confirmation, makes a mark on the soul which can never be removed.  This is called the ‘indelible character’.  Once people are priests, they are always priests.

A priest is one who has been appointed to stand between God and human beings in order to bring people to God.  We call Our Lord the Great High Priest because he alone is both God and Man and by giving himself as a sacrifice on the Cross has made it possible for all humankind to be brought by him to God.

The Order of Priesthood

Now let us go back and see how the Apostles, in accordance with Our Lord’s intention and will, formed the Order of the Priesthood.  Our Lord gave the Apostles all the powers of the Christian Ministry when he gave them the authority to act for him as his personal representatives.  In particular, he gave them special authority to act for him, the Great High Priest.  For, since it was as our Great High Priest that he offered himself as a Sacrifice to God for the forgivenessof our sins, so he appointed the Apostles to be his high-priestly representatives in these two particular ways.  First he gave them the power to consecrate the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist – “Do this in remembrance of me” (NRSV, Luke 22: 19,20) – so that he could continue to offer himself in the Eucharist as a sacrifice to God.  And secondly, he gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins – “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them…” (NRSV, John 20:23).

In every place where the Apostles planted the Church on their missionary journeys, they ordained elders or presbyters to be in charge of the Christian congregation.  To these presbyters they gave some of their own Apostolic powers.  In particular, they gave them a share in their own high-priestly authority as representatives of Our Lord, the Great High Priest.  This made it possible for the presbyters to celebrate the Eucharist in the absence of the Apostles.

The bishops, who in time took the place of the Apostles, did the same.  If they were present on a Sunday, they celebrated the Eucharist themselves.  But if they were away they appointed a presbyter to celebrate it.  So St Ignatius, who was Bishop of Antioch in Syria, and was martyred around the year 107 AD by being thrown to wild animals in the Colosseum at Rome, wrote this: “Let that eucharist be considered valid which is under the bishop or him to whom he commits it”. (4)

In the fourth century, when the persecutions ended and many churches were built, it became the normal thing for the presbyters to celebrate the Eucharist in them, and they were then called Priests to distinguish them from the bishop who was still known as the Christian high priest.

When, therefore, priests are ordained, they are made high-priestly representatives of Our Lord who is our Great High Priest.

The duties and work of priests

Let us see what a priest’s real work is.  Briefly, it is to honour God by administering the Sacraments of the Church, by teaching the Catholic Faith, and by saving souls.

Offering worship to God

The first duty is the first duty of everyone, to offer worship to God.  And in the case of a priest that means to act for Our Lord, the Heavenly High Priest, by celebrating the Eucharist, in which Our Lord both offers himself, and is offered by us, to God, and also brings us before his Father’s Throne

Honouring God: saving souls

The second duty of priests is to honour God by turning people from their sins; in other words, to save their souls.  The teaching of the Catholic Faith and preaching will often have this as its purpose.  Furthermore, an important part of the work of priests is hearing confessions and giving God’s complete forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) to those who are truly sorry for their sins.  Priests, like the Apostles, are called by Our Lord to be “fishers of men” (Jerusalem Bible, Mark 1:17), which means catching souls for him, catching those who very often are unwilling to be caught until they actually are.

Honouring God: helping people to follow Jesus

The third duty of priests is to honour God by leading their people in the way of holiness and helping them to become like Jesus himself.  To do this, they will teach the Catholic Faith and in their preaching they will hold up Our Lord before their people as their example and persuade them to follow that example themselves, teaching them how to live and to die as the children of God.  And in the Sacraments, and especially in Holy Communion, priests are there to give their people, from Our Lord himself, all the strength and life they need in order to do this.

Besides the powers which we have already mentioned, priests are also given power to bless.  It may be the people, as at the end of the Eucharist, or it may be things, such as the water used in the Sacrament of Baptism, or holy water, or a new house or a crucifix.

SUMMARY

1. The Apostles ordained priests (at first they were called presbyters) with power to be representatives of Our Lord, the Great High Priest, and as such to celebrate the Eucharist, to forgive sins, and to bless.  Only priests can do this priestly work of Our Lord, standing between God and human beings to bring people to God.  Priests can only be ordained by a bishop.

2. The chief work of priests is to offer worship to God by celebrating the Eucharist, and to honour God by saving souls and by leading their people to Heaven.  They will do this chiefly by teaching the Catholic Faith, by preaching, and giving their people the Sacraments of the Church.

Note

There is a difference between the ‘Priesthood of the Laity’ and the ‘Ministerial Priesthood’.  As the Church is the Body of Christ, who is the Eternal High Priest, so it is a priestly body and its members share accordingly in his priesthood (Exodus 19:5,6; 1 Peter 2: 5,9; Revelation 5:10).  Ordained priests, however, are representatives not only of the Church but also of Our Lord who is its Head, and they can be that only if they have received from Our Lord that express Commission which was first given to the Apostles. 

References

1. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2007) Common Worship.  The Ordination of Priests, also called Presbyters.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/ordinal/priests.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).

2. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2007) Common Worship.  The Ordination of Priests, also called Presbyters.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/ordinal/priests.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).

3. Church of England (1662) The Book of Common Prayer.  The Form and Manner of the Ordering of Priests.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/texts/ordering-of-priests.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).

4. Ignatius of Antioch (1st century AD) Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, in Kidd, B.J. (1920) Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church No 19, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.