Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 18, 2014 - 5th Sunday of Easter - A
[Acts 6:1-7; 1 Pet 2:4-9; John 14:1-12]Come to him, a living stone rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [1 Peter]
"You are all priests!" I exclaim during the first night of a parish mission! This startles many good people who are accustomed to the priest being that guy in the Roman collar or vestments. The problem is that the folks in the pew have forgotten about their baptism! It is only recently, or least since the Second Vatican Council that the "priesthood of the baptized" has begun to emerge from the centuries of "clericalization of priesthood" and "centralization of power" that has characterized the way in which the Catholic church has organized its ministry! It took a long time for all of this to happen and it will take a long time to correct it! The roles of bishop and ordained clergy will remain, but the role of the laity will continue to emerge and receive its proper emphasis instead of the "pray, pay, obey" model that came to prevail for so long.
The scripture from 1 Peter today reminds us of our common priesthood. At the celebration of the Eucharist, it is not only the ordained priest, acting in persona Christi, who offers the gifts. It is the entire church, especially those present for the celebration. It is not the priest, but the Holy Spirit, that transforms the gifts into the Body and Blood of Christ. The congregation is not supposed to be a passive observer of the actions of the priest! All of this may be found in the Second Vatican Council document on the Sacred Liturgy, but I doubt very many of us have read it to see how startling its teachings are!
The first scripture today from Acts shows us that the early church had to work its way through the many problems of community living and ministry. The "deacons" appointed then were not necessarily the "deacons" we have now! But the restoration of the "Permanent Diaconate" seems to me to have been a kind of step in the direction of recognizing the greater variety of ministry in our church, not to mention all the incredible labor of non-ordained female and male religious in the history of the church! The existence of lectors and Lay Ministers of the Eucharist are a further sign. All of these "ministries" encountered resistance to their establishment from entrenched attitudes, but have gradually become part of the liturgical landscape. The Letter of Peter continues to call all of us to reclaim our baptismal priesthood and be greater participants not only in the celebration of the Eucharist but in the whole life of the church! AMEN