Mar 28 Fri
Today, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the priestly ordination of St. Josemaría.
All human beings have been redeemed by Christ the Priest. “The Word was made flesh to save men, to make them one with Him: this is why He came into the world."
Moreover, God made some men sharers in his ministerial priesthood, consecrating them and dedicating them to that service through the Sacrament of Orders.
St Paul says: “Because Jesus Christ lives forever and his Priesthood remains for all eternity." It is eternal and it is made eternal in us, his priests. Thus, when the priest consecrates, when he renews the Holy Sacrifice, he consecrates the Body and the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and he can say: ‘This is my Body’: the Body of Christ. ‘This is my Blood’: the Blood of Christ. The priest is another Christ."
If all Christians are ‘alter Christus’, other Christs, due to the marvelous and unique fact of having been baptized, the priest is another Christ also in a sacramental way, by the priestly ordination which configures him with Christ the Head of the Mystical Body. It enables him to act in Christ's name, with the power to renew the eucharistic Sacrifice, to forgive sins, and to preach the Word of God with authority. For this reason, the ministerial priesthood requires sanctity of life, a love able to stand up to all sacrifices, and an unconditional dedication to his mission.
St. Josemaría wrote, “What was God asking of me? He was asking for fidelity to his plans, for generous correspondence to his desire to open up the divine pathways of the earth. He was asking for a loving and firm fortitude, so that his Will would find an opening among men. Thus, I feel the grave responsibility to correspond to the mercies of God with an attitude of vigilant and loving firmness, so that nothing and no one will be able to force, to disfigure, the specific features that God has wanted to impress in this way of ours, which is a new way in the life of the Church."
The Church asks her children to pray for the sanctity of priests and an increase in priestly vocations. It is a duty of all the Christian faithful. St. Josemaría reminded us of it in his catechesis to thousands of people: “You must pray very much, so that we priests will be extremely faithful all over the world because every day, when we go up to the altar, we lend our Lord our body and our voice. It would be very sad if we betrayed the fidelity we owe Him, because we are Christ himself."
Priests are instruments of grace, despite their personal limitations. St Augustine explains, “The spiritual power of the sacrament is like light: it arrives pure to the objects it illuminates, and it is not stained even though it passes through a dirty medium. Nonetheless, ministers should be holy, and they should not seek their own glory, but rather that of the One they serve."
Thus, we should pray and mortify ourselves for them, so that they will be as God wants: faithful servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries.
Video: