Ordination

The validly ordained priest acts “in persona Christi”, or “in the person of Christ” , representing the person of Christ. It is not the priest who administers the Sacraments. Christ does so using the physicality of the ordained minister’s presence to manifest His own presence. A priest is commonly addressed with the title “Father”.

Catholic priests are ordained by bishops through the sacrament of Holy Orders. The Catholic Church believes that Catholic bishops were ordained in an unbroken line of apostolic succession back to the Twelve Apostles, as depicted in the Holy Bible. The ceremony of Eucharist, which Catholics believe can only be performed by priests, in particular derives from the Last Supper, when Jesus Christ blessed and distributed bread and wine in the presence of the Twelve Apostles. In the Gospel of Luke(22:19-20) Jesus is recorded as commanding them to “do this in memory of me”.
See also Acts of the Apostles 2:42

Catholic tradition and the Sacred Scriptures, (Acts 1:15-26 & 6:1-7), says the Apostles in turn selected other men to succeed them as the bishops (episkopoi, Greek for “overseers”) of the Christian communities, with whom were associated
presbyters (presbyteroi, Greek for “elders”) and deacons (diakonoi, Greek for “servants”).

The theology of the Catholic priesthood is rooted in the priesthood of Christ and to some degree shares elements of the ancient Hebraic priesthood as well. A priest is one who presides over a sacrifice and offers that sacrifice and prayers to God on behalf of believers. In Christian theology, Jesus is the Lamb provided by God himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Before his death on the cross, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples (the Last Supper) and offered blessings over the bread and wine respectively, saying: “Take and eat. This is my body” and “Drink from this all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26–28 Jerusalem Bible). The next day Christ’s body and blood were visibly sacrificed on the cross.
Catholics believe that it is this same body, sacrificed on the cross and risen on the third day and united with Christ’s divinity, soul and blood which is made present in the offering of each Eucharistic sacrifice which is called the Eucharist, or the Mass.
Thus Catholic priests, in celebrating the Eucharist, join each offering of the Eucharistic elements in union with the sacrifice of Christ. Through their celebration of the Holy Eucharist, they make present the one eternal sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
Catholicism does not teach that Christ is sacrificed again and again, but that “The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice.”
The Catholic Church holds the Jewish concept of memorial in which “..the memorial is not merely a recollection of past events….these events become in a certain way present and real.” and thus “…the sacrifice Christ offered once and for all on the cross remains ever present.”
Properly speaking, in Catholic theology, expressed by Saint Thomas Aquinas, “Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers.”
Thus, Catholic clergy share in the one, unique, Priesthood of Christ.
The Canon Law of the Catholic Church holds that the priesthood is a sacred and perpetual vocational state, not just a profession. By virtue of ordination to priesthood the individual is ‘ontologically’ changed. An indelible mark is imprinted upon his soul and his nature is conformed to that of Christ, the Eternal High Priest.

That is GREAT news.

If you feel you might have a vocation to Ordained Ministry or the Religious Life, or to find out more about how to discern if you have a vocation please contact our Vocations Director in the Diocese of Menevia:
Fr. Matthew Roche-Saunders on 01437 762284 or at vocations@menevia.org
You can also look at our Diocesan website for more information.

Please keep in your prayers the Rev. Robert Davies and Mr. Gregory Beckett, both of whom are preparing for Ordination to the sacred Priesthood in our diocese.