The Catholic Priesthood

This is a long post (but I am sure you will learn something) 

The teaching of the Catholic Church on the priesthood is something I would like every Catholic, as well as non-Catholics, to understand.

You may have heard of this Latin phrase "IN PERSONA CHRISTI CAPITALIS"... that is exactly the summary of the church's teaching on the priesthood.

In Persona Christi Capitalis simply means 'in the person of Christ the Head."

To break it down, every ordained priest, as he celebrates the sacraments, is not acting or celebrating them on his own, but he is standing in the place of Christ. 

What it implies is that the priest is never the one celebrating any of the sacraments even though he is the one that is physically present, but rather it is Christ himself who celebrates them. 

When the priest hears confessions, it is not his hand that offers absolution, but Christ's. At Mass, when the priest says “This is my Body,” it is not the priest that should be understood as talking, for the priest has no power to give us his body, rather it is Christ who speaks the words through him. 

If you read the book of Hebrews, you will understand the depth of this teaching. We all know that the Eucharist is Christ offering himself for us. In that sacrifice, Christ is both the High Priest and the Victim—both the one offering a sacrifice (the role of a priest) for sins as well as the one sacrifice being offered (since He offered up Himself). 

Below is a little background to the teaching. . .

During the fourth century, a group led by Bishop Donatus Magnus started teaching that only men who are without sin can administer the sacrament validly.

To them, if an immoral priest baptizes you, your baptism is no good. Likewise, if a less-than-perfect bishop was the one that ordained your parish priest, all the Masses he celebrates are just a waste of time. This heresy is known as Donatism.

St Augustine tackled this heresy. He argued that the real celebrant of each Sacrament is Christ Himself, so the priest’s moral state cannot affect the validity of the Sacrament. 

As the Catechism rightly puts it, "The sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God.” ~CCC 1128

The moment a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church (ex opere operato), the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

It is this teaching that makes all the priests equal. Truth is, every priest is unique and gifted differently, but you see, at the altar and in the confessional every priest is the same. It is Christ that uses the priest and not the other way round. The priests' words and actions are prescribed. He is a vessel for Christ, not a platform for his own grand ideas. 

Recently, there have been arguments on how some priests are not called and how it was their mum who takes them to the seminary simply because she wants to bear the name "Mama Fada." 

I think there is a disconnection here. In the Catholic Church, for one to say a priest is not called is to question the seminary training, the discernment process, the Holy Spirit, and even the validity of the person's ordination. You can express dissatisfaction with the priest's conduct, or you may hate the fact that he is on social media, but once he is validly ordained, he is called. God uses him, and the sacraments he celebrates are no less valid because it is Christ who celebrates them through him.

And talking about mothers taking their boys to the seminary, it is not a bad thing. It was Hannah who took her son Samuel to the priest Eli. Samuel did not become less of a prophet because it was his mum who took him there. The seminary process is such a rigorous process that if you do not want to be there on your own even if your mum took you there, you can't survive a day. Canonically, no priest is ordained below the age of 25. Anyone ordained was ordained because he chose to cooperate with God, not because the mum wants to be called "Mama Fada."

#PurestPurity