Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 7, 2023 - 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]
The words of the First Letter of Peter seem to echo a similar idea in the Letter to the Ephesians: So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. [Ephesians 2:19-22] These images describe a faithful Christian as both temple and priest! The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD may have played a big part in the development of an image of the People of God as a living temple. Judaism, itself, moved from temple worship to synagogue observance. Christianity moved from Jerusalem as a center to the reaches of the Roman Empire and ultimately to Rome as a center of unity.
All of that is challenging enough, but what is often lost is the idea of the ordinary baptized person as a priest!! Yes, there is a priesthood of the laity! It is not just the one who has received the sacrament of Holy Orders who offers the sacrifice at the celebration of the Eucharist. The pastoral role of the ordained priest is broader than the sacraments. His role is one of leadership and unity of the flock as well as administrator of sacraments. (An ordinary baptized person can validly baptize someone!) However, the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity and all of us - lay or cleric - participate in that offering and, by virtue of our baptism, we are called to proclaim God's word and bear witness to it - put skin on it!
Pope Francis has made a point of reminding bishops and priests that they (and he) began life in Christ with baptism into the priesthood of the laity. That sacrament is the great "equalizer" in Christian identity. So, the responsibility to preach the gospel does not rest solely in priests, bishops and deacons. We are all part of the living temple and the holy priesthood. AMEN