110. Holy Thursday (II)

Meditations no. 156 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The institution of the priesthood at the Last Supper.

Motivated by his own love and by his desire to teach us to love, Jesus came on earth and has stayed with us in the Eucharist. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end: that’s how St John begins his account of what happened on the eve of the pasch when Jesus took bread and after he had given thanks, broke it, and said, This is my body which is given up for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying: This is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

At the Last Supper, Jesus left to his beloved Spouse, the Church, in the words of the Council of Trent, a sacrifice which is visible, in keeping with what the nature of man requires: the sacramental Sacrifice of his Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine. But as sacrifice and priesthood are so united by God’s disposition that in the old and the new covenant both have existed … we must also hold that the Church has a new visible and external priesthood which has taken the place of the old priesthood, And so the solemnity of Holy Thursday is especially important for the priests of the Church. It is the feast of priests, Pope John Paul II has written. It is the birthday of our priesthood, which is a sharing in the one Priesthood of Christ the Mediator. On this day the priests of the whole world are invited to concelebrate the Eucharist with their bishops, and with them to renew the promises of their priestly commitment to the service of Christ and his Church.

In the Work we rejoice with all Christians, and we thank God for the gift of the ministerial priesthood with which he has chosen to enrich the Church. We pray for all priests, so that they may live out their personal vocation to the full, with a holy pride in their calling from God. Helping priests, giving them supernatural life, or teaching them to be in love and showing them that they are not alone, means saving them. And saving a priest means saving thousands of souls.

We venerate priests because of their special identification with Jesus Christ.

The priesthood leads one to serve God in a state which, in itself, is no better or worse than any other: it is simply different. But the priestly vocation is invested with a dignity and greatness which has no equal on earth. St Catherine of Siena put these words on Jesus’ lips: I do not wish the respect which priests should be given to be in any way diminished; for the reverence and respect which is shown them is not referred to them but to Me, by virtue of the Blood which I have given them to administer. Were it not for this, you should render them the same reverence as lay people, and no more. … You must not offend them; by offending them you offend Me and not them. Therefore I forbid it and I have laid it down that you shall not touch my Christs.

Some people keep searching for what they call the “identity” of the priest. How clearly St Catherine expresses it! What is the identity of the priest? That of Christ. All of us Christians can and should be not just other Christs, alter Christus, but Christ himself: ipse Christus! But in the priest this happens in a direct way, by virtue of the sacrament.

This is the most profound reason for our veneration for all priests: their very special identification with Christ, communicated by the sacrament of Holy Orders and actualized especially in the celebration of the Holy Mass. All priests, our Father told us, whether they are sinners like me, or very holy as are some others, are never themselves at the altar. We are Christ, who is renewing his Sacrifice of Calvary …

At the altar I am Christ! I renew in an unbloody manner the divine Sacrifice of Calvary and I consecrate in persona Christi, acting Jesus Christ, because I give him my body and my voice, my hands, and my poor heart, which has so frequently been stained, and which I want him to purify.

Among our intentions today, prayer for the holiness of all priests takes first place. We make our own the sentiments and desires of our Father, who was moved to write: I pray to God our Lord to give all of us priests the grace to perform holy things in a holy way, to reflect in every aspect of our lives the wonders of the greatness of God. Quoting from St Gregory, our Father says: Those of us who celebrate the mysteries of the Passion of our Lord must imitate what we perform. And then the host will take our place before God because we will have made ourselves hosts.

We should pray that the Church may never lack holy priests.

In order to carry out worthily the mission they have received, priests must aspire to sanctity with all their might. We understand, with the whole tradition of the Church, that because of the priesthood’s sacred functions, it requires much more than an honest life: it demands a holy life of those who exercise it, for they have been constituted mediators between God and mankind.

Thanks to the goodness of God, there are countless priests who correspond faithfully to God’s grace. If you ever come across a priest who apparently does not seem to be following the teaching of the Gospel (do not judge him, let God judge him), bear in mind that if he celebrates Mass validly, with the intention of consecrating, our Lord will still come down into his hands, however unworthy they are. Where could you find greater self-surrender and annihilation? Here in the Sacred Host it is greater than in Bethlehem or on Calvary. Why? Because Jesus’ heart, filled with a desire to redeem, does not want anyone to be able to say that he has not been called. He goes out to meet those who do not seek him.

That is real Love! When it comes to speaking of Christ’s Love, we are lost for words. He has so abased himself that he accepts everything, he exposes himself to everything - to sacrilege, blasphemy and the cold indifference of so many people - in order to offer even one man the chance of hearing the beating of his Heart in his wounded side.

Here we have a priest’s identity: he is a direct and daily instrument of the saving grace which Christ has won for us. If you grasp this, if you meditate on it in the active silence of prayer, how could you ever think of the priesthood in terms of renunciation? It is a gain, an incalculable gain.

The priesthood is the highest dignity a person can receive on earth, except for the grace of the Most Blessed Virgin’s divine Motherhood. And even then, our Mother Mary, the most holy of creatures - only God is more holy - brought Jesus Christ into the world just once; priests bring him into the world, into our soul and body, every day: Christ comes to be our food, to give us life, to be, even now, a pledge of future life.

Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, has chosen to perpetuate his priesthood through human instruments. Let’s ask him today, the anniversary of the institution of the sacrament of Holy Orders, that there may be many holy priests in the Church dedicated to the service of all souls. Let us implore him to raise up abundant, select priestly vocations, in all the corners of the world. We also ask God always to give us the priests we need in Opus Dei so as to be able to carry out the task he has entrusted to us throughout the world.

As our Father writes: The Church needs priests, and always will. Ask the Blessed Trinity for them each day, through our mother Mary.

And pray that they may be cheerful, hard-working, effective; that they may be well-trained: and that they may sacrifice themselves joyfully for their brothers, without feeling that they are victims.