← The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 214: Priests and the Presbyterate (2025)
00:18:45
The Catechism moves on from bishops—the episcopacy—to priests in the presbyterate, who share in the bishop’s ministry “in a subordinate degree”, to be “co-workers”. Fr. Mike dives deep into the service-leadership that priests are called to. “[A priest’s] whole life must be configured and must be conformed to Jesus Christ the high priest.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1562-1568.
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Fr. Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 214. We are reading paragraphs 1562 to 1568. I am using, as always, the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes a foundations of faith approach. But you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com ciy and you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Yesterday we talked about the bishops, the episcopacy as it were. Today we're talking about the presbyterate or the Presbyterian bitteracy, the priesthood essentially. And tomorrow obviously you can see where we're going with this. Deacons today we recognize that here are the ordination of priests, co workers of the bishops. And so what is the role? I'd say it like this. What's the dignity of the priesthood meaning? Like what is its most sacred character? That's what we're talking about here. What's the most sacred character, the special character of the priesthood? And then in many ways, like how are priests expected? In some ways, how are they expected to live? And we talked about this a couple days ago, that they're expected to, to exercise the divinely given power in a way that they imitate Jesus in everything. How did Jesus live out this priesthood? How did Jesus live out this ministry and this mission? Well, you know, he obviously he spoke the truth powerfully. He powerfully taught, obviously he bound up the sick and so he healed. He had this mission of sanctifying and making holy, making whole again. He. He had a mission of establishing and leading people, right? Jesus from the very beginning, he called people to himself and he led them. So like we said yesterday, with the office of bishop, this triple office, right, the trimary office, I don't know if that's going to catch on. The triple office of the bishop, which is to sanctify, to teach and to govern, the priest also participates in that. So remember, the priests are the co workers of the bishops and so they form A special kind of. A unique kind of brotherhood in the Church. And yet what's that brotherhood for? Well, is that ministry? For it is at the service of the people of God. That teaching, that sanctifying, that governing is always at the service of the people of God, for the glory of God the Father. So as we're going to talk about that today in paragraphs 1562 to 1568, let's. Let's just call to mind, not just call to mind. Let's call upon our Father in heaven by praying in the name of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Father in heaven, thank you. Thank you for bringing us to this day. Thank you for giving us the gift of your grace. Thank you for continuing to bind up the weak. Thank you for continuing to heal our wounds. Thank you for continuing to forgive our sins. Lord God, thank you for continuing to give us yourself in the Eucharist, pouring out your Holy Spirit upon us. Whenever we pray, whenever we ask you, Father, for your Holy Spirit, you hear the prayer of your children and you respond with love because you are a good father. We ask you if in this day, when we talk about priests, we ask you to please help these priests be good fathers. Help these priests be men after your own heart. Help them to govern, to teach, to sanctify in the way that you would. And we ask you to please bless our local priests. Make them holy. Help them where they need help, strengthen them where they need strengthening, heal them where they need healing. Forgive them of all their sins. And Lord God, help them to be the kind of man that we need. Help them to be the priests that we need them to be. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 214. We are reading paragraphs 1562 to 1568. The ordination of Priests Co workers of the Bishops Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his apostles, made their successors the bishops, namely sharers in his consecration and mission, and these in their turn, duly entrusted, in varying degrees, various members of the Church with the office of their ministry. The function of the bishop's ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ. Because it is joined with the episcopal order, the office of priests shares in the authority by which Christ himself builds up and sanctifies and rules his body. Hence, the priesthood of priests, while presupposing the sacraments of initiation, is nevertheless conferred by its own particular sacrament. Through that sacrament, priests, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are signed with a special character, and so are configured to Christ the priest in such a way that they are able to act in the person of Christ the Head. Whilst not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and notwithstanding the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own proper power, the priests are for all that associated with them. By reason of their own sacerdotal dignity and in virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, after the image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, they are consecrated in order to preach the gospel and shepherd the faithful, as well as to celebrate divine worship. As true priests of the New Testament. Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, priests share in the universal dimensions of the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles. The spiritual gift they have received in ordination prepares them not for a limited and restricted mission, but for the fullest, in fact, the universal mission of salvation to the end of the earth. Prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel everywhere. It is in the eucharistic cult, or in the eucharistic assembly of the faithful, that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office. There, acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass, they make present again and apply until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that, namely, of Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father. From this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength. The priests, prudent co operators of the Episcopal college and its support and instrument, called to the service of the people of God, constitute, together with their bishop, a unique sacerdotal college presbyterium, dedicated, it is true to to a variety of distinct duties. In each local assembly of the faithful they represent, in a certain sense, the bishop with whom they are associated in all trust and generosity. In part they take upon themselves his duties and solicitude, and in their daily toils discharge them. Priests can exercise their ministry only in dependence on the bishop and in communion with him. The promise of obedience they make to the bishop at the moment of ordination and the kiss of peace from him at the end of the ordination liturgy mean that the bishop considers them his co workers, his sons, his brothers and his friends, and that they in return owe him love and obedience. All Priests who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of order are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood. But in a special way, they form one priestly body in the diocese to which they are attached under their own bishop. The unity of the presbyterium finds liturgical expression in the custom of the presbyters, imposing hands after the bishop during the rite of ordination. All right, there we are. Paragraphs 1562 to 1568. Now, there's a lot of big words. I get it. There's a lot of things that if you've never been to an ordination, you might be thinking, sorry, what. What is happening here? I get it. Let's go back to the very beginning. I think this is. I. So beautiful, so powerful. Even if I wasn't a priest, I'd be. I'd be doing backflips over this. Because this is the love of God the Father, this is love of God the Son. This is the love of God poured out to us. That's what priests are supposed to be. That's what the bishop is supposed to be. It's the love of God poured out for us. So what? Why? Because Jesus wants us. He wants all of us to be holy. Jesus wants all of us to come into contact with him and with the Father. He wants all of us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, here is Jesus, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world. He has, through his apostles, made their successors the bishops, namely, shares in his consecration and mission. And so here are the bishops, priests who are sent out into the world to extend and continue the mission of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, who wants all human beings to know God. The Father wants all human beings to come into contact with the Father, to have a relationship with the Father. And I think this is just so, so powerful, so great. Moving on. We recognize, yes, bishops are the ones who share in the fullness of holy orders. They share in the fullness of Christ's high priesthood. Also, though the priests, nevertheless, they share their own particular sacrament, right through the sacrament, that sacrament of holy Orders, priests, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they're assigned with a special character and configured to Christ, the priests in such a way that they also, like we said yesterday with the bishop, are able to act in the person of Christ, the head, remember, in Persona Christi capitis. That's that term. Now, the. They don't have the supreme degree like the bishops are the ones who share in that fullness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they are given their own Special what they call sacerdotal dignity. So if you know Spanish, you know that sacerdote is Spanish for priest. And so you'd be like, oh, yeah, sacerdotal makes sense. Priest. Got it. But if you don't know Spanish, then you might say sacerdotal dignity. That doesn't make any sense. Well, it refers to priestly dignity. What does that mean? Well, it talks about in paragraph 1564 that in virtue of that sacrament of holy orders, the priests are consecrated. In order to do what? To preach the gospel to shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate the divine worship as true priests of the New Testament. Let's go back to those. They're consecrated to preach the gospel. Oh, that sounds like teaching to shepherd the faithful. Oh, that sounds like governing. As well as to celebrate divine worship as true priests in the New Testament. That sounds like sanctifying. Yes, you would be right. Priest, prophet and king. That role that we recognize all Christians have by the virtue of their baptism and that the bishops have by virtue of their ordination to the episcopacy, priests also participate and share in the same role of priest, prophet and king, of sanctifying, of preaching and of governing, of leading. And so in that leading, remember, keep in mind, the leading is the lens of service. Always, the leading is through the lens of service. No. Now, paragraphs 1565 and 1566 highlight a couple things. First thing, in paragraph 1565, that priests are called to preach, just like St. Paul says, in season and out of season. So they have this. This mission that goes on to say it's not a limited and restricted mission. It's meant to. This ordination prepares them. It's meant to prepare them for the fullest, in fact, universal mission of salvation to the ends of the earth, prepared in the spirit to preach the gospel everywhere. And so this is something that every priest needs to be reminded of, that his mission that's been entrusted to him is to be lived out, to be carried out in season and out of season. It's to be carried out with his whole life and not to be limited to just one area of his life, but his whole life must be, must be configured and must be conformed to Jesus Christ, the high priest, which is, of course, the call for every Christian, right? All of us are called to conform our lives to Christ. But there's this again, this unique way that we have to live out that mission with every breath. We have to live out that mission every moment. Now, I'm saying that as a priest and I'm Saying that as someone who doesn't do it, I mean, I want to. I recognize this is the high call, one of the high calls that, that I failed to live up to. But I want to because I hear it here and I hear the voice of Jesus in the scriptures and speaking to us through the Church, saying like, that's the call. So say yes to this. So here I am saying, okay guys, let's do this, knowing that I need to do it myself. Paragraph 1566 also highlights the fact that here is. Remember the office of sanctifying. It's in the Eucharist that the priests exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office. So what are they doing? They're acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery. They're uniting the offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ, their head. And in the sacrifice of the Mass, they make present again and apply until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament. Jesus himself offering himself once for all as that spotless victim to the Father. And that's so powerful. This is, this is this, ah, man, the great mission. And what's basically what it is is what's, what's happening at every Mass when you show up for Mass and participate, you're offering, you know, you're offering yourself, remember, because you participate in the priesthood of Jesus as well, the baptismal priesthood, kingdom priesthood. So the ministerial priest, he's acting, he's uniting your offering of the faithful to the sacrifice of Jesus himself. And once again, how Jesus sacrifice his body and blood, soul, divinity, that action of his offering himself is once again presented and offered to the Father. He's offering not only Jesus, he's offering himself and he's offering you to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit with Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice, right? And once for all. Oh my gosh, it's so, so incredible. And here's how important this has to be. Here's how essential this has to be in a priest's life. It says that last sentence. For from this unique sacrifice, their whole priestly ministry draws its strength. Basically from offering Mass on a daily basis, their whole priestly ministry draws its strength. What's at the heart of the priesthood? What's at the heart of the priesthood is the priestly heart of Jesus, who offers himself to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit, who brings his people and includes them in this sacrifice, in this offering. So incredible. Now, as we know, the priest doesn't do this on his own, that he does this in union with his Bishop, he does this in dependence, not independence, but depending on his bishop and in communion with his bishop. And I don't know if you've ever been again to, as I mentioned earlier, to an ordination, priestly ordination. There is this promise, actually, even at the diaconate ordination, the promise of obedience they make to the bishop, the Mona of ordination. There is this moment where you place your hands together like you're praying, and then the bishop takes your hands in his and he says, do you promise obedience to me and my successors? And I do. Is the answer to that question the promise of obedience. And at the end, there's this sign of peace embrace. Typically, this is so powerful. I love this. At the last sentence in paragraph 1567, it says that promise of obedience and the sign of peace. It says kiss of peace. But it was an embrace. There was no kissing the sign of peace from him. At the end of the ordination liturgy, what does it mean? Means that the bishop considers him, considers them his co workers, his sons, his brothers and his friends. And that they in return owe him love and obedience. That what is being said here in the catechism is that, yep, there's a hierarchy here, but it's not meant to be a business. It's not yet. There's a structure here, but it's not meant to be some sterile, antiseptic kind of a situation. This is. This is a family. This is the family of God. And so the bishop, yep, considers his priests his co workers, their co workers in the vineyard, also his sons, because he's a spiritual father to them, also his brothers, because we share in this priestly ministry. And his friends, you know, what did Jesus say? Jesus, who's so high above all the rest of us, I mean, infinitely high above us. Jesus is God himself speaking to human beings. And he says, I no longer call you slaves because a slave does not know what his master is about. I've called you friends, called you friends. And the bishop is to consider his priests his friends in that way that Jesus considered his disciples his friends and something so powerful. And then in return, we owe him love and obedience. This is remarkable. Now, there's also a brotherhood in the priesthood, and that sometimes manifests itself in really, really great ways and sometimes just manifests itself in really thin ways. There are some dioceses that have such a massive and powerful fraternity, this collection of brothers, they're bound by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but also they have a uniquely even personal brotherhood. Some diocese, again, as I said, are just thinner. It's not like the brotherhood doesn't exist because it's always. It's unique. It's a mysterious. It's a sacramental brotherhood. But sometimes there's not that emotional brotherhood. And so there's some priests who are out there who, you know, they might find themselves alone, they might find themselves out in the field and. And without. Without brothers. I mean, they have them, but they might not, you know, be able to be in relationship with those brothers, being brotherhood with those brothers. So we pray for those. Those priests especially. We pray for those who, you know, it says from the Eucharist that you sacrifice of the Mass. Their whole priestly ministry draws its strength. Pray for those, those priests who have. Have lost their fire, lost their love for Jesus in the Eucharist, those who have lost their love for Our lady, those who have lost their love for God's people. We pray for them right now because that's not what God wants for any of them. That's not what God wants for any of us. And yet we're one family. We're one body. And we all have different parts. We have different. We're different members of this body, but we need each other. And so let's. Yeah, pray to God for those great priests you've had in your life. Pray to God that they continue to be great priests, that those who've started well, end well. We also pray for those who have started poorly or have lived poorly. We pray for them to be strengthened with faith, hope and love. We pray for them to be renewed. We pray for them be brought back to the heart of the Father. They may fall in love with God once again. In love with the Eucharist, in love with the people of God, in love with the sacrament of confession and that they walk in the fear of the Lord every day of their life. Let's pray for those priests. I am praying for you, and please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.