Word to the Wise
Thursday, May 30, 2024 - Thursday in the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Pet 2:2-5, 9-12 and Mark 10:46-52]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. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. [1 Peter]
One of the accomplishments of the Second Vatican Council, which often goes unnoticed, is the restoration, as it were, of the priesthood of the laity. We receive this priesthood by virtue of our baptism. In the DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH [Lumen Gentium, para. 34], we read: "To those whom he intimately joins to his life and mission [Christ] also gives a share in his priestly office, to offer spiritual worship for the glory of the Father and the salvation of man. Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently borne - all of these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (cf. 1 Peter 2:5) In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God."
This concept was pushed well into the background in the period following the Council of Trent [1545-1560], perhaps in response to the Protestant Reformation, because it seemed to lessen the dignity of the ordained priesthood. But it is clear from Lumen Gentium that the whole Body of Christ offers the Eucharist, and not only the priest. This is why "full, active and conscious participation" is the goal of the liturgical reforms of the council. [cf. THE CONSTITUTION ON THE LITURGY, Sacrosanctum Concilium, para 14]. The Eucharist is not simply an act that takes place inside a church, but embraces all of the life of the Body of Christ. Hence all the baptized participate by right in the priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. The ordained minister is not ordained just to conduct a liturgical rite, but to serve the priestly laity in a special role given by the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Every pastor can tell us that the majority of their time is not spent in administering the sacraments!!!
The priesthood of the laity needs greater emphasis in order that the whole Body of Christ is enlivened. The move toward greater "synodality," spearheaded by Pope Francis is an example of this. The first scripture for today gives us that challenge. AMEN