 Let's begin with a prayer In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Dear Jesus so lovable. Thank you for the gift of our faith the gift of the sacraments and indeed of the priesthood The ways in which each of us shares in your priesthood by baptism and Also for the ministerial priesthood for the shepherd's who lead our flock Fan into a flame the gifts that we have received by the imploring of the Holy Spirit So that we may bless your name and offer fitting sacrifice and worship Help us to trust in you in your name. We pray amen in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen So with this afternoon's talk, I'd like to mention or to focus on two principal things One the intention of Christ in establishing priests as ministers of God of his holiness We'll be going through leapfrogging through a few passages Pointing out one or two things about each passage that show us Christ's intention for making The apostles and their successors priests and also the ways that he depicts himself as a priest Secondly, then we'll talk about that key distinction between the common priesthood by baptism and the ministerial priesthood For leading the community in worship. So those are the two Focuses here and I will definitely be littering my presentations with certain just stories that share with you My joy at being a priest and the ways that I've found it helpful to pray each one of us as a priest And goodness, I'm a teacher, but I'm out of practice this summer. I'm losing my voice So pardon me if I have to take a sip of water every once in a while I don't know how Scott Dr. Scott Han does it. He gives so many talks or if anybody's a high school teacher I don't know how you do it But let's begin with a discussion about Christ's intention. Oh and just a word about what what I'm using There are two principal books that I'm using for the content of this talk along with what I know myself One is John Bergman's book Jesus and the Old Testament roots of the priesthood a very good understandable biblical theology That is I would say popular in the sense of for everybody that leans into good scholarship But it's not overly academic. It's very good This one the theology of the priesthood by Jean Galot a Jesuit priest who used to teach in Rome is Definitely more on the academic biblical theology side of things not so much on the relevance to life But the data is so good and you can tell that this guy knows and loves the priesthood So I'll be drawing a lot from these two resources and from what I've learned myself So let's begin by talking about Christ's intention Basically, we have to ask the question given the fact that Jesus is never called a priest in the gospels or even in the letters of Paul and others and The fact that that word priest doesn't appear for the apostles at least and for the disciples in the gospels So how and why do we say that he was a priest in fact a high priest that language is all over the letter to the Hebrews? We won't be focusing on there the Hebrews today in in depth because There the Hebrews focuses exclusively on the ministerial priesthood of Jesus and how his priesthood is from the order of Melchizedek not Levi and so it's not the hereditary chain of Levi and his clan It is an amazing treatise on what Jesus's sacrifice actually meant and looked like and Probably the best book on there the Hebrews that I've ever read is Fulton Sheens The priest is not his own if you want to know what a priest is a Catholic priest is to this day read that It's the best commentary on on the letter to the Hebrews But instead we're gonna focus on Jesus's words in the gospels But then also Paul's words in his letters and the data that we find in the book of Revelation So let's jump right in and talk about certain passages in the gospels that depict Christ as a priest and then depict him Intending his apostles and successors to be priests themselves John Berksmith starts us with the presentation at the beginning of Luke's gospel in chapter 2 a Curious fact about his presentation in the temple the scene does not say anything about redeeming Jesus and Nothing about buying him back from his priestly role. This goes back to Old Testament times In the beginning of the Hebrew faith the had of each family meaning the firstborn son Functioned as a priest for the family lifting up sacrifices and offering a blessing Then after the sin of the golden calf in Exodus 32 that changed and the priesthood was restricted to Leviticus or to the to the Levites and so in instead of a father offering his firstborn son to be a priest in service of God Instead he would offer his child to God But would ransom him meaning by his son back just like God Ransomed his firstborn son the Hebrew people out of Egypt in the Exodus and so the offering that was to be given at The presentation of one's firstborn son was a gesture of getting a child back to not have to leave him in the temple to be a priest Notice what the father of Jesus father and mother of Jesus do when they present him in the temple Luke did not believe that Jesus was ever bought back from God Jesus was brought to the temple and presented because he would serve in a priestly role Luke even quotes every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord That's the consecrated status Bergma says of a firstborn son before he was bought back Redeemed and replaced by the Levites and here's the key Luke does not quote the latter passage about the calf and this child having to be redeemed Instead Luke says that Mary and Joseph offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord a pair of turtle doves Or two young pigeons that is not the redemption sacrifice Rather it is a sacrifice for the ritual purification of a mother from Leviticus 12 After a mother was completely healed from childbirth you would offer a sacrifice on her behalf Which would mark the beginnings the return of ritual cleanliness for her In other words the parents of Jesus didn't offer a redeeming sacrifice Because it wasn't their intention to take their son back to keep him from being a priest they brought him to the temple and Left him there just like What happened to Samuel? Hannah brought Samuel to present him at the temple and he stays at the temple He is not redeemed and he eventually becomes priest Bergma says this this may explain some of the reasons behind the finding of the child Jesus in the temple Essentially, he's a model of Samuel Jesus might have known that he hadn't been redeemed as a baby and when Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple the second time He thought it was now time to fulfill his priestly duties to stay there to instruct in the law Just like Hannah left Samuel Luke might be portraying Jesus like Samuel as the rare exception of an Israelite firstborn who was not redeemed But instead serves as a priest That's a good way. I think to read the presentation and the finding of Jesus in the temple in light of that priestly background From the book of Leviticus Now let's move on to another passage Especially the analogy that Jesus draws with the apostles You may recall the famous instance of in Matthew 12 Jesus's disciples are picking grain on the Sabbath and the Pharisees say hey, come on. What gives you can't do that You're not even following the law. You shall not work on the Sabbath How does Jesus respond? Don't you remember what David did with his men when they were hungry how he went into the Temple at Knob a priestly village took the bread of the presence Which only the priest could take and gave it to his members to eat if David could do that And I'm so much more than David. How much more should I also be able to do that the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath In other words, Jesus is comparing himself to David who was declared by Psalm 110 a Priest forever in the line of Melchizedek a Quick recap from what I mentioned in our workshop before this about priest in the Old Testament Before the Levites were the official priests every patriarch served as a priest of his family and it was inherited Passed down from generation to generation Then the golden calf instance happens So God takes the priesthood away from the people and restricts it to the Levites And from that time on it was only members of the tribe of Levi who could be priests But then a bird we remember that Abraham After a victorious battle comes near the city of Shale of solemn Salem Jerusalem and encounters a mysterious man Melchizedek a king without father or mother Absent of origin who offered bread and wine and blessed Abraham It's believed by the rabbis that Melchizedek was shem one of Noah's sons In other words the patriarchal priesthood before the Levites was passed down to Melchizedek who was also a king So David starts doing all these priestly things Taking the Ark of the Covenant wearing the priestly garments taking the bread of the presence because he's acting like Melchizedek King of Jerusalem a king and a priest Jesus who is not of the tribe of of Judah, excuse me of Levi himself asks acts like a priest because he is from David So that's what's going on here when Jesus compares himself to David here by taking the grain and He compares his apostles to David's sons his men in a situation where they performed a priestly act eating the bread of the presence Which is a type of the Eucharist? Jesus's logic here is that as temple priests he and his apostles are allowed to work on the Sabbath Pope Benedict commented on this passage in his Jesus of Nazareth books by saying this seems like a bold claim if I as a Catholic I'm saying here that David meant to be instituting a new priest here people might think oh, that's the Catholics reading in Catholic theology to the Old Testament so Pope Benedict cited the rabbi Jacob Noisener who commented on this instance of Matthew 12 saying this Jesus and his disciples may do on the Sabbath what they do Because they stand in the place of the priest in the temple Jesus here established a new priesthood So even a Jewish scholar picked up on Jesus's action of letting the disciples pick grain he was speaking priestly and letting his disciples do a priestly thing another passage that we find very familiar Matthew 16 the famous instance of Peter Confessing his faith in Jesus who says blessed are you Simon son of Jonah? Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly father your Peter on this rock. I will build my church Notice what he says then to Peter. I give you the keys of the kingdom Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven That same authority binding and loosing is extended to all the rest of the apostles in chapter 18 to chapters later The phrase to bind and to loose in the days of Jesus was a common metaphor for rabbinic preaching the rabbis had the authority to bind the people to certain interpretations of the law and Then also to loosen them from errands interpretations of the law. So to bind and to loose had resonances in Old Testament times of the rabbis and also the Sadducees the priest who would teach God's law This is funnily echoed in an infamous instance in the recent church history. I'm from St. Louis, Missouri Our I should say our probably our most famous Bishop was Bishop Archbishop Kenrick Kenrick after whom our seminaries named famously went over to Rome for the first Vatican Council at which Papal infallibility was defined that when the Pope speaks in union with the bishops or on his own as Chief Shepherd of the church in full authority on matters of faith and morals. He cannot air He is preserved for mayor because of what Jesus said to Peter here Kenrick didn't like that Kenrick, he didn't necessarily disagree with it But he didn't think it should be Declared as dogma because he thought that would hurt our Our ecumenism with Protestants. Okay fine So he left he left the first Vatican Council a day early So he wouldn't have to vote against the majority great one Bishop stayed who voted no The Bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas He voted no So that after that vote it was passed unanimously minus one and all the bishops of the world who are still there Went to the Pope and pledged loyalty to him and when the Bishop of Little Rock came to the Pope His aide whispered down in his ear. This is the guy from Little Rock and the Pope said apparently Little Rock meets big rock. Yeah, he was mortified. Oh man Peter as As priests had the ability and the authority to bind people to certain doctrine And so even there Jesus is establishing that priestly power of teaching Now probably my favorite one is the feet washing in John 13 Priests in the book of Exodus had to wash their feet before entering the sanctuary and performing any kind of ministerial duty The foot washing of the Apostles happens of course right before the institution of the Eucharist and It's really interesting that of all the priestly garments that are described in the book of Leviticus. There's one article missing shoes The priests feet are described as being unclothed Why is that? mentioned just as a recap of what I said in the former in the in the last workshop the way to Purchase something in the Old Testament times old Old Testament times was if I wanted to sell a field to you I would take my shoe off give it to you you'd pay me you'd put the shoe on your foot and stand on the ground that you Just purchased exchange of sandal was a way of taking possession and purchasing Which is why? God said to Moses don't come closer to this burning bush take your sandals off your unholy ground You have no claim of ownership over God Which is why John the Baptist says I'm not the bridegroom. I can't even loosen this sandal. I don't own him So likewise priests in the Old Testament went on with into the service of the sanctuary without shoes on Because it was a moment of humility for them You don't own the divinity you are the servants of the divinity and of course, what does Jesus do here? He comes as a servant and instructs the disciples to imitate him in service Now Jesus says this After Peter protests, you're not gonna wash my feet if I do not wash your feet you will have no part in me The Greek word for parts or portion is Mary's M. E. R. I. S It's use in the Old Testament is exclusively priestly Numbers 18 to 20 the Lord said to Aaron you shall have no inheritance in the land neither shall you have any portion among them I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for their portion portion portion portion is explicitly priestly imagery Priests have no portion in the land of Israel because God is theirs. He provides for them Similarly Jesus is saying you got to let go of everything you already left everybody in the boat I'm calling you again. Leave everything behind and just have me so that you are no one but me It's priestly imagery then another instance from John chapter 13 through 17 that is the the Last Supper in John Chapter 17 is called the high priestly prayer of Jesus Why because Jesus interrupts his discourse with the disciples and speaks to the father in their presence so that they can hear it His prayer takes the exact same structure of the high priestly prayer on the day of atonement the high priestly prayer first First he speaks and prays to God then he prays for himself Then for the priests then for the people How does Jesus speak first? He talks to God Sanctify your name then he talks about these Disciples consecrate them in the truth and then he speaks about the rest of the world I give my life for the rest of the world. He's being depicted as doing the high priestly thing To pray to God on the day of atonement when sins and debts are forgiven Just like his sacrifice on the cross is the moment when our the debt of our sin is being canceled So even though Jesus is never called priests and doesn't call himself a priest He's acting in a priestly way very intentionally That's also the passage in which in chapter 15 Jesus prays he says to the disciples. I want my joy to be in you and your joy to be complete I have to tell you a story of Particularly priestly joy that is one of the most vivid moments for me in my ten years of priesthood In which I am so grateful to be a priest and I'm so humbled to be so I Lived in Rome for nine years doing studies for a doctorate and now I teach at our seminary Nine years is a long time to live in Rome if you've ever visited Rome It's a wonderful place to visit but a terrible place to live If you want to get something done Let's say you've got three or four things to do in a day if you get one of them one done It's a success and you should probably have some gelato to comfort yourself One day when this must have been somewhere around 2016. I had three chores to run. I had to print off something at the printer to submit for my doctorate and pay cash To the university for my sub for my tuition Not to get a receipt for it. I had to print something off Then I had to go to a Vatican congregation and make an inquiry about a Marriage annulment case that we've been waiting for for four years and St. Louis and then I had to pick up somebody's diploma I thought oh Please help so everything went wrong. I went to the printer shop and the printers broken They couldn't do it, but I waited there until they fixed it and they printed what I need on the way to the bus stop I talked to a poor man who wanted to know who just wanted to chat a little bit. He's a guy Giovanni I know him really well and in the meanwhile there goes the 64 bus missed that one had to stand at the bus station for quite a while. There was a protest that day I went to the Vatican and I Asked around where this congregation is and I went into the wrong building Which I only found out 45 minutes after asking where is this place? And then I went to the right building and it was already closed for lunch and wouldn't open for the next day Huh, I left and I found I was just I was approached by several Peruvian Pilgrims and they asked me for an explanation about why is this called St. Peter's? So I stayed and spoke with them for a while and by that time it was already around 1 and I thought I'm done There's no way if I'm failing this bad. I'm not even gonna try So I though thought you know what? Fine. I'm just gonna get on the bus and just go back to My house where I was living and hopefully get that diploma. I'm standing there at the bus stop praying my brewery dressed with my cassock and I hear somebody from behind me say in another language not English my father and I turned around and there's this lady Who said hi and I thought oh boy So I knew we were just going to talk and so I closed my morning prayer didn't get that done that morning did it later and She wanted to know how to get back to her hotel with her best friend she must be like 45 years old and I said well It's really hard to explain because I know this language but not great and the bus that they needed is coming I said I'll show you fine. So I went on the bus and gone on it with her We started talking a lot about beauty faith and why what st. Peter's means and what they believe and she asked me What's one of your favorite biblical passages? How am I gonna explain this? So I just whatever first came to my mind. I said and that was that I'm Jesus's compassion on the on the crowd that when he saw the crowd that was hurting It says that he a splognis they in Greek that is his he felt it like it sucked him in the gut his Intestines and testins literally how deep his compassion is for us And I saw that she was starting to cry that oh and then she said well Give me one more pastors that I should pray with So I said John 11 the single shortest sentence in the English language Bible You know Lazarus has died Martha comes out cool calm and collected Lord if you had been here He wouldn't have died and he has this rational discussion. I am the resurrection. Do you believe? Yes, Mary comes out screaming and says in bad Greek my brother you hadn't here and been not died and It says that Jesus saw her heard the weeping and he wept and Holy cow she erupted in the middle of this crowded crowded bus Screaming and sobbing and crying and now everybody's looking at me like what you I don't know And she said father you would have no idea I That Jesus in his humanity could suffer with us I And then she's she's speaking really loud everybody can hear this I've been away from church for 30 years Because at the pressure of my then boyfriend I had an abortion and I Have been so afraid that God has been so angry with me That I'm going to hell and that I have no place in the church I have not gone one day with the joy that I used to have and You're here telling me that he suffers with me and shares that sorrow and I said yes, and The bus station of a bus station came up and she said I think I know what I need to do so we got off and I heard her confession and She came back to the faith and It just reflected on I was reflecting on this later if any one of those things that failed actually worked I Would not have met her and she might still be laboring under the weight of that sin Wisdom 8 1 the wisdom of God orders all things well So long as we priests Make ourself available The holiness of God is made available to others and so I learned that day how important it is to just be available To make God's holiness and his grace and sacraments available. That's the kind of joy I think that Jesus was promising the disciples when he said I want my joy to be in you and your joy to be complete The joy of those angels in heaven who rejoice over one repentance sinner coming back Ah, so when I love being a priest, I absolutely absolutely love it now, okay back to the text Okay, get back to my notes here Okay, one of my other favorite passages is Mark chapter 3 verses 13 to 16 When Jesus says you did not choose me. No, I chose you Jesus it says went up a hillside Called those whom he wanted to be with him and then to send them on their mission And it says twice Jesus made them the 12 Jesus made them the 12 This event happens here is Not only the choice of the 12 men one by one It's the Constitution of a group the 12 a group that bespeaks a new creation The verb to make reminds us of the Genesis account of creation and Again in Isaiah. We see this in reference to the establishment of God's people That word in Greek was also the Greek word used to describe the making of persons holy in The book of Leviticus Aaron and Moses were made holy and made priests and So Jesus making this group of 12 is establishing them as a new unit of Sanctity and holiness and priesthood and I love what the emphasis is on When Jesus calls them it says very specifically in the Greek He made them 12 number one just to be with him number two to send them I Read a convicting commentary on this passage that said we priests to my shame we priests very often Serve as canals of God's grace, but not reservoirs Burner of Clairvaux said priests all of us, but especially us ministers who were so busy doing xy and million of things We need to be reservoirs of God not just conduits We need to fill up so much with his presence and grace and prayer That the good things spill over into others Not just to pass God's blessings to others to pause ourselves and just have a moment with our Lord And that's a perpetual temptation for any priest a ministerial or baptismal It's so easy to get busy to do a lot of good and holy things But sometimes Jesus in his intention just wants us to rest with him Of course when it says that Jesus wanted them to be with him He's acting as God Exodus chapter 3 the burning bush God reveals his name to Moses and says in Hebrew Echyech Asher Echyech Which is translated literally as I will be who I will be we usually just say I am who I am There's a big debate about that word we don't actually know how it's supposed to be pronounced We say Yahweh, but that's actually our best guess the rabbis in order to keep his name from being Used improperly Would hide the proper pronunciation of the of the name of God They would write the letters without vowels, so Hebrew is a consonant a language with just consonants Eventually certain constants were used as vowels God's name itself is comprised in total entirely of those vowed consonants, which makes it very mysterious In many ancient manuscripts, they just flat out erased it to make sure that nobody would say God's name in vain So there's a big debate about how we pronounce it and what it means In the Hebrew tradition How they understand it is they understand it as an expression of God's fidelity. I will always be who I always am with you for you It's his has said his loyalty just like Jesus said I'm with you always he who is a manual So Jesus is telling his priests. I Want you I need you you're I need you to serve and I'm always gonna be with you a Good reminder for us, especially whenever we become discouraged in our ministry Okay Enough of that. Let's speak then about the two kinds of priesthood that we read about in the New Testament in the Gospels but also then later in later texts the priesthood of all the baptized the common priesthood and the ministerial priesthood Basically, these are two ways that we participate as Christians in Christ's priesthood, and that's the first and fundamental point It's not about us. It's about him. It's his power working in us We find Instances in the New Testament that seem to refer to a common priesthood Romans 12 verse 1 I Appeal to you therefore brethren by the mercies of God Present your bodies as a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship Paul is saying that each one of us who has become a Christian by baptism are called To imitate Christ in his act of self-gift of sacrifice of offering Offering to God the best things of our lives and also the difficult things and asking him to make them holy That ultimately goes back to Adam All the way back to the first man Adam's original priesthood What was his offering his body when he laid down into a sleep and God brought from it Eve? so too all Christians are Called by God we hear Paul saying as priests to make an offering of self to God Just like we do every time we go to mass the preparation of the gifts that whole gesture is the laity's Chance supreme chance to exercise their priesthood lay on the altar whatever gift you can give God So that it can be joined by the minister to the one offering of Christ Represented at the altar I am I Was tasked by the diocese to offer a monthly mass in French for a group of Africans that moved to st. Louis right before COVID And I grew up in North Dakota That's farm. I'm very German Russian, you know, I've got my business. I'm not going to be too expressive. You've got your business And so the first mass that I did for these for this group of Africans a choir of 30 decked out in that their traditional garb swaying clapping belting out amazing French African spirituals. I was so edified by the procession for gifts people came from the very back and There were two people in front and then two people behind holding the gifts the two in front We're swaying up the aisle and they were rubbing their hands on the ground and then lifting them up and up in the air And they did that repeatedly and it made me think of what the priest does at the altar We give God the fruit of the earth and the work of our hands. We present to you. It was beautiful It was a beautiful expression of the priesthood of the laity. We give to God whatever we can and Offer it to be united to Christ's sacrifice on the cross I Scandalized our seminarians that I teach by saying so yesterday as I was swaying to the opening hymn. They're like His father lost his mind. No No, I Do once a month. Yeah, it's it's a really beautiful beautiful mass Okay, so that is one thing Another way so that's Romans 12 another passage is 1 Peter 2 9 quote You are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation God's own people so that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light More or less a direct citation of Exodus 19 5 Where God tells Moses to instruct the people how to be priests sacrifice and blessing Offer consecrate to God yourself and ask for his blessing on you and others sacrifice and blessing That's what Peter is saying to the whole Christian faithful a royal priesthood a holy nation St. Peter Christologus the church father comments as so He says how marvelous is the priesthood of the baptized for the Christian is both the victim that is offered on his behalf and the priest who makes the offering With himself and in himself he brings the sacrifice that he is to offer God for himself Very much a direct agency in what is going on St. Augustine likewise says just as we call all the baptized Christians in virtue of the one Charism So we also call them priests because they are members of the priesthood of Christ Catechism paragraph 1591 The whole church is a priestly people through baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ and Based on this common priesthood in order to its service there exists another participation in the ministry of Christ the sacrament conferred Catechism 1591 I Also love how the priest expresses this right after the presentation of the gifts pray brethren that my sacrifice and yours May be acceptable to God our Almighty Father Joining what the people bring to the altar with what the priest himself brings and as minister uniting it to this one sacrifice of Christ awesome So how does the lay faithful exercise their priesthood? John Berg's mode simple answer. He says sanctify the temporal order ordinary society inject and infuse Ordinary society with God's holiness Bring Christ to secular society Yes, hard to do very very hard to do never underestimate the power of a subtle witness Mother Teresa was noted for saying Don't pray in order to be seen but never be afraid to be prayed while see it would be seen while praying. I love going into the holy lands and Because Christians are such a minority over there you can pick them out in a heartbeat Especially when they are in a car almost every Christian car has hanging from the rear view mirror a rosary And it's amazing to be able to see and to show That's the faith that they bring into ordinary life and thereby are striving to consecrate it Okay, so that is the Baptist Baptist the priesthood of all the baptized Now the ministerial priesthood Notice that the men who are consecrated as ministerial priests have the authority to do the things that Old Testament priests used to do Perform sacrifice Luke 22 forgive sins John 20 and interpret God's law. I Get the question a lot from People that I lead in RCAA father. Why can't I just go straight to God and tell him? I'm sorry for my sins Why do I have to go through a priest? What is why does he need to know? Well John 20 the very first thing that Jesus did after the resurrection was a peer Well, I should say the very first time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection Behind closed doors. What does he do? He breathes on them and says peace to you Receive the Holy Spirit who sins you forgive are forgiven Kind of like what he had said in Matthew 16, whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and loose on earth is loosed in heaven Jesus Intended it to be the ordinary means of forgiveness of sins to go through the priests and Lo and behold, what does the priest say in the confessional during absolution? He makes reference to pardon and peace John 20 mention of the Holy Spirit and I absolve you of your sins direct citation of John 20 So in that way we see one key feature of ministerial priesthood being working for the forgiveness of sins Now what about this hierarchy a? Lot of people will point out that this whole idea of bishop priest and deacon is A later structure that is foisted on the early church by the Catholic faith that it's not found in the Acts of the Apostles The answer is no, but it is complicated Most explicitly in the letters of Paul and also acts the Apostles we see two ranks of service We see Episcopal those who are Episcopal the bishops literally it means Episcopus Epi on top of Scopus like a scope to look over they're overlookers They're the ones who I should say who look over they don't overlook the community They look over they watch over the community. They are called bishops then we have deacon I Those who are servants the deacons Who manage the material goods of the church who would preach and also who would tend to the poor? So what about priesthood? Where does that come in? Well, we see a bit of equivocation going on in Acts of the Apostles Some of the Episcopal are called presbyteroi Which is eventually where we get the word presbyter and through Middle English priest presbyter priest It meant initially old man presbyteros is an old man Paul writing the pastoral epistle says I Paul presbyteros He's an old man. He's by the time he is about to be killed Paul clearly was a bishop. How else could he otherwise make Titus and Timothy bishops in Crete and in Ephesus? So that word presbyteroi was used to describe bishops, but then also sometimes ministers who didn't fit in Either the Episcopal or the deaconate rather as an intermediary as one who ministered at the altar priests we would say St. Clement The third Pope Describes the Christian hierarchy calling them their old covenant names The bishop is referred to as the high priest the presbyteros he calls priests and the deacons he calls Levites So St. Clement of Rome 100 or 96 AD Living witness of the faith of the apostles takes up Jesus's language from John 17 the high priestly prayer and refers to the leadership of the church in those same categories Suggesting that very early on there was a three-fold structure to the hierarchy of the church So if anybody asks you where is that say it's already in seed form In Acts and Paul, but it's already super clear when Clement of Rome comes in in 96 AD And I think it's helpful to remember that Okay, a couple more passages here. Yes, a few more passages with regards to The ministerial priesthood that we find in the New Testament Actually, no one I forgot quite a few for all of you the priesthood of all the baptize Let's go through a few more of these my apologies I forgot these these are from Paul and I find them amazing Philippians my favorite letter of Paul It's the most personal letter of Paul. It's called his friendship letter He uses sacrificial language to speak of the faith of the community By its faith the community offers a sacrifice and performs a liturgy Paul will say things like I am being poured out like a libation on the sacrificial offering of your faith He's referring to the action of the community as in some way sacrificial an offering even Faith is not merely the adherence to truth as important as that is. It's also the attachment to Christ that bespeaks sacrifice Probably the most explicit reference to the priesthood of all believers is in the book of Revelation Where it's all over the place Revelation 1 6 Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to serve God our father Romans Revelation 5 20 the throne The crowd before the throne depicted as priests bowing down and offering their worship to God Similarly in chapter 20 the very end heavenly Jerusalem John sees and a vision all these people dressed in white garments Serving as priests at the altar of God and I love that how the Participation in Christ priesthood that all of you exercise now in sacrifice is a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy You'll be doing in heaven what we hope you are already doing now Joining your sacrifice what you bring to the offering of God Okay, and actually with that Those are the things that I wanted at least to cover in our workshop Thank you. Let's close with a prayer in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen Dear Lord Jesus we as a priestly people bring before you Our whole lives that which is most on our heart our families our friends our work Our hobbies our sufferings everything about us. We present to you asking that you sanctify them and sanctify us Make us holy as you are holy Fortify us so that we can make sacrifices in our life gifts of ourselves And through us, please bless the world Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end amen name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Oh, well the Lord be with you May almighty God bless you Father Son and Holy Spirit. Amen Thank you. Thank you