Baptismal and Ministerial Priesthood

         

  THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST.

AT MASS.

Welcome to my ninth post on 'The Year of the Priest' Series. Each week until end of June 2010, this series will provide food for thought on the Year of the Priest', examine how we, as laity, can appreciate the gift of Priesthood in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and encourage our priests in this special year. If you missed my previous posts on this series, why not take a look.

PURPOSE OF THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST

Let us consider the purpose that Pope Benedict XV1 desired for this special Year.

On the 25 June 2009, Pope Benedict XV1 stated the purposed of the Year of the Priest was:

• ‘To help priests rediscover and reinvigorate their awareness of the extraordinary and indispensable   gift of grace that the ordained ministry is for he who receives it.

•  To help all of God’s people rediscover what the ordained ministry means for the whole Church, and for the world, which would be lost without the real presence of Christ mediated by the priesthood’.

In this Year of the Priest we are invited to learn about our own baptismal priesthood and vocation, and how this is distinguished from the ministerial priesthood and vocation of the ordained ministry.

BAPTISMAL PRIESTHOOD

By learning about our own baptismal priesthood and its distinction from the ordained ministry and developing a clear understanding of the ‘baptismal priesthood of the laity, that, the priestly charter of all baptized and confirm members of the Church, we will learn to appreciate at greater depths the specific ministry and role of the ordained ministerial priesthood.  This will be beneficial to both laity and to the clergy, as any mistaken confusion will be clarified between the two roles and both laity and clergy can fulfil the vocation given to them by Christ.

Yesterday I attended a Mass of the Anointing in my parish.  I became aware in a small visual yet significant manner of the two roles.  The priests anointed the congregation on the forehead and palms of hands with the sign of the cross with the oils.  When the congregation had been anointed, the four priests anointed each other- on the forehead and on the other side of the hands.  As I wondered about this difference, it occurred to me that on their ordination day, which I had been present at one of them, these priests were anointed on the palm of the hands as they received the sacrament of Holy Orders.

It is one very small gesture in a host of differences, but it reminded me to appreciate and rejoice the complimentary roles of the baptised priesthood of the laity and the ministerial priesthood.