In every age, human societies have felt the need to distinguish
some men as mediators between themselves and the deity, real or fictitious, to
whom they dedicate their faith. It is such a compelling sentiment and need
that, strictly speaking, we find virtually no exceptions to this rule over the
course of his- tory. For while our nature instinctively clamours for the
infinite, it yearns to establish a bridge that will help it span the
measureless abyss that separates us from God, and win the favour of this
Omnipotent Being, whose absolute perfection and purity our intelligence can
only glimpse.
Now,
the greater the notion that society has of the God it worships and honours, the
more perfection it will demand of the men that it establishes as the sacred
bond of unity with Him. Thus, in the Old Law, this perfection was imposed on
the priests of the Chosen People as a precept, precisely because they exercised
the role of intermediaries with the God of Israel: “They shall be holy to their
God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offer- ings by
fire to the Lord, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy” (Lv 21:6).
The
Incarnation of the Word raised the relationship between God and man- kind to
unheard-of heights. All the attributes of this relationship were surpassed by
an unimaginable phenomenon: the sacred bridge that united Heaven to earth would
no longer be comprised of mere mortals set apart by the people, but by the very
Son of God, made man, Jesus Christ, “designated by God a high priest” (Heb
5:10).
And
it is through Him, “holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted
above the heavens” (Heb 7:26), that other men will henceforth be priests until
the consummation of the ages, and, like the Apostle, they can say: it is
“Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). To the priest was granted the unsurpassed
dignity of acting in persona Christi, for through his ministry it is Jesus
Himself who teaches, governs and sanctifies.
Of this man raised to such a sublime height, the
faithful ask and require— today more than ever—not only the light of
uprightness and a good reputation, but also the splendour of true holiness. The
priest of Jesus Christ was not chosen to be served, but to serve. Yes, to serve
the faithful and the en- tire world, making a spectacle of his spotless purity
and his holiness. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may [...] give
glory to your Father who is in Heaven” (Mt 5:16).
From Heralds of the Gospel Magazine June 2013
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