(Originally published in MercySong Enews, Issue No. 8. To read more, click here)
For the last month we’ve been immersed in the Bread of Life discourse during Mass each week and so we figured we’d close out the month with a Eucharistic-themed newsletter. I was originally going to write about receiving Jesus and becoming Eucharist for the world, one of my favorite topics. But I was struck by two experiences that reminded me of something absolutely critical to all of this. We all know that sometimes we take for granted the unimaginable gift we’re given each day, all over the world, as Jesus is made present under the humble forms of bread and wine. Let’s be honest, there’s actually no way we can fully appreciate and give thanks for such an undeserved and miraculous gift. But we can try. We can always enter more fully into the mystery of His Presence and try to allow each reception of Holy Communion, each glance during adoration, to change us more completely into His image.
But do you know what else we often take for granted and fail to appreciate? The hands, the life, the sacrifice of the priests who, through their yes, allow the God of the universe to come physically into our midst and into our bodies.
So, one of the experiences I had was simply a conversation where someone was speaking of a priest in a way that perhaps could have been more charitable. But most of us have been there, right? I mean, priests are human and therefore broken and weak, just like the rest of us. And many of us, especially those who work or are involved in the ministry field, often come right up against lots of those very human aspects of the man and find ourselves frustrated, disagreeing, etc.
But the next experience was simply this: I went to Mass, heard the sacred words in hushed tone, looked up, and saw the hands raised high — holding Jesus. Usually I can’t take my eyes from Him, but this time I saw those hands, those consecrated hands that bless us and make all the most amazing life-changing graces of God present to us … and I wept. It’s easy to focus so much on the human weaknesses of these men of God, that we neglect to truly realize that each priest, “good” or “bad,” is no longer just a man, but truly “in Persona Christi,” in the Person of Christ, and to remember what He does for the world each day.
So I thought I’d just include some excerpts from some of the most profound writings of the saints on who the priest is for us. I hope they inspire you to love and appreciate our priests more (and pray for them!!), to look at their hands with awe for all they do, and to see anew how incredible the gifts of God are — that come to us through these hands.
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My children, we have come to the Sacrament of Orders. It is a Sacrament which seems to relate to no one among you, and which yet relates to everyone. This Sacrament raises man up to God. What is a priest! A man who holds the place of God — a man who is invested with all the powers of God. “Go, ” said Our Lord to the priest; “as My Father sent Me, I send you. All power has been given Me in Heaven and on earth. Go then, teach all nations. . . . He who listens to you, listens to Me; he who despises you despises Me.”
… Saint Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest; … If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest — always the priest. …
Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. … A priest, however simple he may be, can do it; he can say to you, “Go in peace; I pardon you. ” Oh, how great is a priest! …
When the bell calls you to church, if you were asked, “Where are you going?” you might answer, “I am going to feed my soul. ” If someone were to ask you, pointing to the tabernacle, “What is that golden door?” “That is our storehouse, where the true Food of our souls is kept. ” “Who has the key? Who lays in the provisions? Who makes ready the feast, and who serves the table?” “The priest. ” “And what is the Food?” “The precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. ” O God! O God! How Thou hast loved us! See the power of the priest …
If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. … When you see a priest, you should say, “There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul. ” At the sight of a church tower, you may say, “What is there in that place?” “The Body of Our Lord. ” “Why is He there?” “Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass. ” …
The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus. When you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Catechism on the Priesthood
by St. John Vianney (A.D. 1786-1859)
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… St. Ignatius, Martyr, says that the priesthood is the most sublime of all created dignities … St. Ephrem calls it an infinite dignity: “The priesthood is an astounding miracle, great, immense, and infinite.” St. John Chrysostom says, that though its functions are performed on earth, the priesthood should be numbered among the things of Heaven.” … Innocent III says that the priest is placed between God and man; inferior to God, but superior to man. … St. Ephrem says that the gift of the sacerdotal dignity surpasses all understanding. For us it is enough to know, that Jesus Christ has said that we should treat his priests as we would his own person: “He that heareth you, heareth Me; he that despiseth you, despiseth Me.” Hence St. John Chrysostom says, that “he who honors a priest, honors Christ, and he who insults a priest, insults Christ.”
“O wonderful dignity of the priests,” cries out St. Augustine; “in their hands, as in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate.” …
St. Augustine has written, “O venerable sanctity of the hands! O happy function of the priest! He that created [if I may say so] gave me the power to create Him; and He that created me without me is Himself created by me!” ”
The Dignity and Duties of the Priest
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
“But our wonder should be far greater when we find
that in obedience to the words of his priests
— HOC EST CORPUS MEUM —
God Himself descends on the altar, that He comes
wherever they call Him, and as often as they call Him,
and places Himself in their hands.”
~ St. Alphonsus Liguori
The Dignity and Duties of the Priest
