The Priesthood as a Mediator: A Pentecost Homily Reflection
Offertory
"Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice..."
Summary of Headings
- Introduction: The Joy of Celebrating Pentecost
- Understanding the Priesthood Through St. Thomas Aquinas
- The Role of the Priest in Holy Mass
- The Importance of Vocation
- Concluding Reflections and a Call to Action
Introduction: The Joy of Celebrating Pentecost
My dear faithful, As I mentioned it is a great joy for me to be here to offer this first Mass on Pentecost for the faithful here in Davie. And given that it is this beautiful feast day when the Holy Ghost sends out the Apostles. It is my first Mass as well as it is a Jubilee year. In which our Superior General Father Paglia Rani has asked us to pray for vocations.
Understanding the Priesthood Through St. Thomas Aquinas
I would like to speak about the priesthoods. About what it means to be part of this priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This great gift that God has given to us. And we can consider it, perhaps we have heard it many times, but what is a priest? What does it mean to be part of the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ? And St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the answer. St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the answer. By saying that the priest is essentially a mediator. He is one who stands between two extremes. And we can make the comparison with a bridge. There are two different bits of lands and they are separated by a body of water. And the bridge is between the two of them. There is a connection. So to a mediator.
And the bridge is between the two of them. And St. Thomas Aquinas explains that in order to be a mediator, the mediator itself must have a part from both of these extremes, both of these points he is trying to connect. Just as the bridge connects and it touches this part of the lands, and it touches this part of the lands. And so what are these two extremes? These two points that the priest is trying to connect? It is God and sinful man. And so in order to be the mediator between the two, and to have a portion from both, it could not be God in himself. And it could not be man in himself. But it had to be a God-man. It is our Lord Jesus Christ. And for which reason St. Thomas Aquinas says, and concludes it is based on the hypostatic union itself. On this reality that there is one person, but two natures. And so our founder Archbishop Lefebvre, he sums it up so rightly by saying, there will never be more than one priest, one sacrifice, and one victim. It is our Lord Jesus Christ.
And while that is already a very profound reality, our Lord Jesus Christ goes a step further. And as he calls others to share in this mission, in this priesthood, and so while he was the only person that could merit grace for us, on the cross, by his sacrifice, he does call others, to apply this grace. Which is what St. Paul says of us in the Corinthians, we are dispensers of the mysteries of God. And we are truly priests. Even though we have just said our Lord Jesus Christ is the only priest, on the day of our ordination, we received a special character. A character by which we are so conformed to our Lord Jesus Christ, that we can even act in his name. We put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and we truly become an alter Christus, another Christ. Such to the point that St. Paul in his epistle to the Galatians says, I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. And so he says to us, as the Father has sent me, so do I send you.
The Role of the Priest in Holy Mass
And so what is the role of the priest? And to answer this question, we can just look at his main function, which is holy mass. At holy mass, the priest is looking two ways. He is first of all looking up, towards the Father in heaven. And that's his main role. But he is also at various points looking towards the faithful. And that's because he is acting as mediator. He is offering something on behalf of men to God. And he is offering something to God on behalf of men. And so on behalf of men, the priest is offering to God, the prayers and satisfaction of the people.
We can only imagine how important this role is today. We see the sins in society, the sins of our own families even, the sins of the priest himself. For which reason, in the whole mass it is expressed, but it is especially expressed in the very first prayer of the offertory, in which the priest grabs the pattern with the host on it, and he says, Sushipesanghyeo, Antepatera, Omnipotens et Eterne Deus. Receive, O Holy Father, this spotless host, which I offer for my own sins, for the sins of those around me, and for the sins of all faithful Christians, living and dead. The satisfaction for sin. And then, looking the other way, he offers to the people, on behalf of God, we could say many things, the sacraments, doctrine, blessings, and it's all true. But what he essentially offers to the faithful is the very life of God, His sanctifying grace.
The Importance of Vocation
And it's the great mystery of our life, that we are called to remain living creatures, and yet live a divine life, the life of God, His own life, which begins here in this world, with sanctifying grace, and is lived precisely through our three virtues, of faith, hope, and charity, by which we know and love God as He Himself knows and loves Himself. And that is not different to the life of heaven, only in the modes, only in the way. We have the imperfect mode in this life, but in heaven it will all be perfected, that faith, by which we know God, will become vision of God, that hope, by which we hope to see God one day, will turn into possession of God, and that charity will be confirmed in glory forever. How is it to begin, and how is it to be brought to its completion? It is through the priesthood. So we can see the great dignity, even the great responsibility of the priesthood.
And we might ask the next question, well, how does a vocation even start? Who would even think of saying, well, I'm responsible, I'm worthy of this office. Who would even think of standing up and saying that, and taking this position for Himself? And St. Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews says, no one, no one takes this office unto himself, unless he be called by God. And that's where we come to the roots of the word vocation, comes from the word vocare, which means to call. It's a calling from God firstly, and then the calling from God.
And we can see that in so many examples in history. Or we can just take one, which is the head of the apostles, St. Peter. There was a time where he was fishing. And our Lord came to him and said, come, I will make you fishers of men. His vocation.
Concluding Reflections and a Call to Action
And so with all that in mind, I think we should draw some conclusions. And of course apply it to our own lives. And I think I can summarize it in just three conclusions, which is, the first one is for our young men and women in the parish, to ask themselves, do I have a vocation? Am I called to be close to our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, if I am a young man to be a priest? Or, if I am a young woman, am I called to be close to Our Lady at the foot of the cross, to be a nun, a religious?
And for all of us, I think the immediate objection comes up, which is that, Father, it sounds wonderful, but I'll be honest with you, I can't see myself as a priest. I can't see myself as a brother, or a sister, or religious, whatever it may be. I don't think, I'm capable, or worthy. And once again, we look at the example of Saint Peter, in that same episode where he was called by our Lord Jesus Christ. Right before that, he saw a glimpse of the greatness of our Lord. He saw, the miraculous draught of fish. He had caught nothing all night, and then our Lord Jesus Christ, in the morning said to him, let down the nets. And he lets them down, and he catches such an enormous amount of fish, that he could barely bring it to land. In fact, they couldn't. And he saw this miracle, the greatness and the holiness of our Lord, and he fell at his feet and said, Lord, depart from me, for I'm a sinful man. If you're looking for an apostle, a disciple, someone to be with you all the time, I'm the last person you want. I'm just a poor fisherman. I'm not worthy. And yet this is the first Pope. This is the first Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ on this earth.
And he was absolutely right. And it's interesting, the response of our Lord, which is that he doesn't respond to that comment. He merely ignores that comment. And he's not going to respond to that comment. And he's going to say, he helps St. Peter up, and he says, come, I will make you fishers of men. In other words, it's not our own talents, our own gifts or qualities or anything that we possibly can offer to our Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, it doesn't mean that everyone has a vocation. But merely to say, I can't see myself as a priest or a religious, is not a good reason. It is firstly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that will make us into good priests and religious. He calls, and he calls freely. And so that's the first thing for those young men and women in the parish to ask themselves, if I have a vocation.
The second thing applies to all of us, whether we be priests, religious or lay, is to have a certain devotion to the priesthood. To understand the importance of a sacramental life. And at the same time, to understand that you are always going to our Lord Jesus Christ whenever you come to the priest. You may go to this priest for Mass, you may go to that priest for confession, you may get a blessing from that priest. But essentially you're going to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one priest, the true priest. And so, at the same time though, he will not, he will not do all this himself. He does ask for the cooperation of men. And for that reason, it's the duty, our duty especially this year, to ask the Holy Ghost for more vocations. To bring this kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ to the four corners of the world. We need vocations for that. And for that reason, we not only have to have a sacramental life, but also we have to see the importance of having more priests. As I was saying at the third order meeting on Friday for those who were there, Archbishop Lefebvre says, the church will be holy insofar as she has holy priests. And so that's the second thing, is to have a devotion to the priesthood, to pray for more vocations.
And the last thing is of course, to pray for those who are already priests. To pray for your priests, because as Saint Paul says in his epistle to the Corinthians, we have these treasures in earthen vessels. We don't stop becoming sinners once we become priests. We can still fall. And unfortunately, it happens sometimes. And for that reason, we do rely on the prayers of the faithful in order to be brought to heaven ultimately. And if you do that, you must understand as well that a priest never goes to heaven alone. He always takes with him a handful of faithful. And so if you pray for your priests, you in fact participate in the work of redemption itself, in our Lord's own work.
So those three considerations for the young men and women to ask themselves if they have a vocation, to have a devotion to the priesthood and pray for more priests, and to pray for those who are already priests, I leave those three considerations with you.
And lastly, I'd like to finish this sermon with a small story of Saint John Bosco. Who had a dream. So what had happened was he had a student as we know, Saint Dominic Savio, a very holy boy who died at the early age of 15. And after his death, he appeared to Saint John Bosco in a dream. And in this dream, he was wearing a robe of glory. And Saint John Bosco understood he was in heaven. And then Saint Dominic Savio showed him what he called the Salesian Garden. And he said to Saint John Bosco, look inside, Father. And he looked in and he saw a multitude of boys, there were so many of them. And Saint Dominic Savio said to him, these are all the boys, these are all the boys that were, that are, and that will be saved through the order that you started. And he said, what is the Salesian order? Because Saint John Bosco had started this order. And he couldn't, and Saint John Bosco was overjoyed. He couldn't believe how many boys there were. It was incredible. And Saint Dominic Savio said something very interesting to him, which is like, yes, Father Bosco, thanks be to God, there are many vocations. And yet there will be so many more if only you had a greater faith. And you had a greater confidence in God. And we're talking about Saint John Bosco here. And even he needed more faith. And so for that reason, when we ask for vocations for the rest of the year, when we go to the Holy Ghost asking to inflame our hearts, we keep this in mind that if we have a greater faith and confidence, we'll have so many more vocations.
And so with that, we can perhaps ask our Lord today in Holy Communion, Lord, what would thou have me do? Is there something more you want me to do? Do I even have a vocation? And then we can also ask our Lady the same question. So of course, she is the mother of every vocation because she's the mother of the priesthood. We can ask her the same question today in a small prayer after our Holy Communion and ask her, what will thou have me do? And she will say the same thing that she said to the servants at the wine feast of Cana, whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.