Sacrifice as the Key to Understanding the Difference and Relationship Between the Priesthood of the Baptized and of the Ordained

I. Introduction

A precise understanding of the common priesthood of the baptized, both in relationship to Jesus Christ and vis-à-vis the ministerial priesthood of the ordained, continues to elude us, as evidenced by the appearance of a modern clericalism and novel attempts at sharing the duties of ordained priest with the laity. The common priesthood and the hierarchical priesthood both descend from divine origin and are rooted in Scripture and Tradition. Yet, in response to the emphasis placed on the common priesthood by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council—in stark contrast to the historical experience in some places of a heavily cultic priesthood distant from the laity—there has been a frenzy of disparate interpretations. Some of these have stripped both ordained ministry and the universal call to holiness offered to all the baptized of their unique connotations.

Rooted in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the life of the Church, the Priesthood of Jesus Christ himself becomes the source of the Christian understanding of priesthood and of the two manifestations of priesthood in the Church. The centrality of the life and ministry of Jesus, particularly his sacrifice on the Cross, is the core of the identity and experience of priesthood. Both in the sacred liturgy and in the life of costly discipleship, the sacrifice of Christ is manifest for the baptized and the ordained. The celebration of Christ’s sacrifice in the Eucharistic liturgy and the living out of the sacrificial dimension of discipleship is the key to understanding the priesthood of the baptized and of the ordained. Properly understood, both priesthoods mutually support and nourish one another for the complete flourishing of the whole Body of Christ. In liturgy and in life, the disciple is defined by his sharing in the sacrifice of Christ.

Pope Francis has been clearly emphasizing the importance of a personal encounter with Jesus as the foundation for all we are and do as a Church. To the members of the Society of Jesus gathered at the Church of the Gesù in Rome for the feast day of Saint Ignatius, Pope Francis delivered a homily using the emblem of the Society—the monogram IHS—to illustrate “the centrality of Christ for each one of us and for the whole Company, the Company that Saint Ignatius wanted to name ‘of Jesus’ to indicate the point of reference.”¹ Jesus Christ is the point of reference for the life of the whole Church, for the life of every disciple and, in a particular way, for our understanding of priesthood. The Christian life is an encounter with Christ.

Living the common and ministerial priesthoods is possible only when we understand the priesthood of Christ in which both find their origin. Pope St John Paul II spoke to the bishops of the northwest region of the United States on October 9, 1998 about the foundational role of the priesthood for understanding the proper role of the faithful in the sacred liturgy: “The sharing of all the baptized in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ is the key to understanding the Council’s call for ‘full, conscious and active participation’ in the liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14).”² This is true not only for liturgical participation but for the whole Christian life. Our sharing in Christ’s life, in particular his priesthood, defines how we live out the call to discipleship and our own individual vocations. We will see how Jesus builds on the ancient priesthood and leaves behind a new participation in his eternal priesthood that is manifest in the life of the Church.

II. Priesthood in the Old Covenant

God spoke to his faithful people from ages past through the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; Moses and the Judges; the Kings David and Solomon; in various and sundry ways through the prophets. In the Old Testament, “we can distinguish two forms of the reality of the priesthood.”³ First, “the non-specialized exercise of priestly functions” is “carried out by the...