Wednesday in the Second Week of Easter, April 10, 2024

John 3, 16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  God could in no way demonstrate and act on his love for the human race he had created than by “giving” his only-begotten Son.  The Greek verb can mean “delivering”, “handing over”, and “entrusting”.  The Father “handed over” to us his only Son whom he loves, and who loves him, with an infinite love.  This is hard for us to comprehend, and so Jesus told a parable to portray it.  In the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21, 33-46), a landowner sent his servants to collect rent from men to whom he had leased his land.  The wicked tenants beat and killed them rather than comply.  The outrageously patient landowner then sent his son, thinking, “They will reverence my son” (Matthew 21, 37).  But they did not.  The father sent his son to certain death at their hands, and the son obeyed him.  What could be more pathetic than this, that the father valued the wicked tenants, already guilty of murder, over his son, whom he loved as himself?  Or that the son loved his father more than his own life?  This is love beyond our experience and beyond our comprehension, and that is the point of the parable, to show how far God’s love for us exceeds our ability to understand.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  God so desires us to be saved, in his tremendous and unmerited love for us, that he makes salvation our default destiny, and not the damnation we all deserve because of our sins, for which his Son died.  All we need do is to walk through the gates which he has opened for us.  We do this through our obedience in carrying out his will and his commandments and by our worship of him in the Holy Mass.

The third article in our continuing series on the Holy Mass: What is a priest?

Religions from time immemorial have featured sacrifices as the essential way of worshipping God or the gods.  Sacrifices were conducted following rules as to when, where, and what.  Properly conducted sacrifices were mesnt to please the gods and forestall evil.  Generally, these were for the benefit of society at large, but could also be arranged for personal purposes.  There were also rules governing who was responsible for conducting these sacrifices.  In the days of the Hebrews, Almighty God appointed Aaron and his sons, descendants of Levi, the son of Jacob, as the priests who would render sacrifices to him.  Other descendants of Levi acted as their assistants in this work.  The priesthood, then, was passed on according to heritage.  The high priest was determined in a way similar to a hereditary monarchy.  This was in accordance with the Law.  In the years during which the Greeks and then the Romans occupied Israel, the high priesthood was doled out to individuals who paid for the privilege.  Caiaphas and Annas, for instance, did not come from the tribe of Levi, much less were they of the family of the high priesthood.  For them, their positions had merely a political aspect.  In their minds, at least, the office made them the leaders of the Jews.

Jesus Christ restored the priesthood in himself, fulfilling the prophesy of Psalm 110, 4: “The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.”  He accomplished this through his taking on a human nature and by offering his life on the Cross as a propitiation for out sins.  While his Sacrifice is perfect, he commands that it be continually presented to the people for whom it was made — this is the Mass.  To do this, he commanded his Apostles to “do this in memory of me”, thus ordaining them in his own Priesthood.  And this is the key to understanding what a Catholic priest is: one who is ordained to share in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.  Membership in this Priesthood is not dependent upon heredity or bribes.  Those to be ordained are chosen by the Catholic bishops, the successors of the Apostles.  Their principal work is to continually present the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as well as to administer the other sacraments, such as baptism.  A man does not automatically gain the power to do this when he is ordained: his bishop grants this to him.

There are many people, including priests, who understand the offering of the Mass as merely one of his duties, and one which is best conducted hurriedly so as to get on with other activities, but a priest — of any religion, but above all for the Catholic religion — exists for the Mass (and for the worship of God through the recitation of the Divine Office, which is related to the Mass).  A priest may be good at many things and busy himself with much work but if he does not center his life on conducting the worship of God, he will not be a good priest.

Next: How Does the Mass Begin?