Sunday, September 23, 2012
324. What place does the sacrament of Holy Orders have in the divine plan of salvation?) (part 1)
(Comp
324) 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)
“In brief”
(CCC 1590) St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: "I
remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on
of my hands" (2 Tim 1:6), and
"If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble
task." (1 Tim 3:1) To Titus he
said: "This is why I left you in Crete, that you amend what was defective,
and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you" (Titus 1:5).
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1539) The chosen people was constituted by God as
"a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:6; cf. Isa 61:6). But
within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi,
and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance (Cf.
Num 1:48-53; Josh 13:33). A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the
priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests are "appointed to act on
behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."
(Heb 5:1; cf. Ex 29:1-30; Lev 8). (CCC 1540) Instituted to proclaim the Word of
God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and prayer (Cf. Mal 2:7-9),
this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about salvation,
needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a
definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish
(Cf. Heb 5:3; 7:27; 10:1-4).
Reflection
(CCC 1541) The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the
priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the institution of
the seventy elders (Cf. Num 11:24-25), a prefiguring of the ordained ministry
of the New Covenant. Thus in the Latin Rite the Church prays in the
consecratory preface of the ordination of bishops: God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,… by your gracious word you have established the plan of your
Church. From the beginning, you chose the descendants of Abraham to be your
holy nation. You established rulers and priests and did not leave your
sanctuary without ministers to serve you.... (Roman Pontifical, Ordination of Bishops 26, Prayer of
Consecration). [IT CONTINUES]
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