Fr. JC Maximilian

It was 3 a.m. on May 15, 2005 when first the beeper, and then the telephone started going off.  Like most people, I was not thrilled about being awaken with such a start.  I quickly got to the phone, so it would not wake up the other priests.  It was the hospital, like I knew it would be, and I heard the person say, “Father, someone on the fourth floor needs a priest.”  I asked them for the person’s name and room number, and was a bit annoyed when the person I was speaking with said they did not know.  I told him that I would get dressed and call him back in 5 minutes, so please have the name or at least the room number because I could not go through the whole fourth floor at 3 in the morning trying to find the person needing a priest.  When I called him back 5 minutes later, he told me he did not know the patient’s name, but it was in maternity.  I had never been called to the maternity ward, but my heart started beating faster because I knew it meant either a dying new mother or a dying new baby.

When I got to the maternity ward there seemed to be a silence even more profound than what would be typical given the time.  The nurse lead me to a room where a tiny baby boy laid in one of those clear plastic cribs.  There were several doctors and nurses gathered around this tiny baby, who was not crying, but rather struggling to breath.  Someone whispered in my ear that the baby was not going to make it, and the parents wanted the baby baptized.  I opened my sick call kit and asked for some water.  Then as I drew close to the baby, all the doctors and nurses also gathered around.  In the quietness of that early morning, they joined me in the prayers as I baptized and anointed that small, little baby who died not long afterwards.  A little later, I was taken to the parents of that little boy, and I prayed with them in their grief.

I guess I was at the hospital for about an hour, and when I got back to the rectory, I could not get back to sleep.  The prayers of those doctors and nurses, joining me in the rites of the Church was such a powerful experience.  While sad, there was also an sense of awe, a powerful sense of the divine.  It was not how I thought I would have started my first anniversary as a priest, but I could not have asked for a better way of celebrating the grace of my priesthood.

Today, Holy Thursday, is truly a celebration of the priesthood.  The only two Masses that can be celebrated today is the Chrism Mass (which Bishop Smith celebrated on Monday) at which the priests of the diocese renewed their priestly promises, and this Mass of the Lord’s Supper, commemorating Christ’s institution of the ministerial priesthood through His institution of the Eucharist.  It is appropriate for us to take some time to reflect on the meaning of priesthood.

If we look at the various cultures around the world we would find a variety of concepts of what is priesthood.  Often the priest is little more than a technician, trained in how to lead various rituals.  Often priests have the role of mediating between the worshippers and the divine.

Jesus came to establish a new priesthood.  In addition to being a teacher about the Kingdom of Heaven, and the mediator between us and God His Father, Christ Jesus was also the victim, offered up in sacrifice to redeem us from our sins so that we can share in the Divine Life.  As such, Jesus is the eternal High Priest; we have no need for another.  The priesthood established by Jesus is characterized by two aspects.  First, His is a priesthood not through inheritance, like the priesthood of Aaron, but rather through a call to consecration.  This call to be set apart for God, marks not just a part of His life, but Jesus’ entire life; His whole human self and existence on earth was marked by His consecration to His Father.  Second, Jesus’ priesthood exhibits a mission that is specifically pastoral; that is having the qualities of a shepherd.

We are all called to participate in this priesthood of Jesus.  There are two ways in which we participate in Jesus’ priesthood; the universal priesthood of all the baptized, and the ministerial priesthood.  Both draw, in distinct ways, from the Redemptive Incarnation of Christ Jesus.

The mission of the universal priesthood of the baptized is to worship in spirit and truth, and to offer spiritual sacrifices.  These spiritual sacrifices are not only for the benefit of all Christians, but for the benefit of the whole world.  As Jesus witnesses in His entire life, particularly in His sacrificial death on the Cross, to the Divine Life and Love, all the baptized in their common priesthood are also called to witness to this Life and Love with the entirety of their lives.  Those doctors and nurses who joined with me in prayer for that tiny baby boy was living their priesthood to the full.  Not just by their prayers, but by the service of their particular vocations to those in needs.  We are all called to live our lives in holiness.  This does not mean necessarily doing special things, but rather doing ordinary things in a way that witnesses to God’s love for all of us.

The ministerial priesthood, which Fr. Mick, Msgr. Ron and I share, is entrusted with a pastoral mission.  To us are given an authority which empowers us to proclaim the Gospel, celebrate the Eucharist, forgive sins, and lead the community of the Faithful.  It is a pastoral mission of service, not privilege.  At each celebration of the Mass, the ministerial priest takes up the prayers “in spirit and truth”, and the spiritual sacrifices of the entire community of Faith, and offers them to our Heavenly Father.  In acting in the “person of Christ the Head” the ministerial priest makes present the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, the spiritual food which gives us a share in the Divine Life so that we can continue to bare witness to Christ in the world.

In just a few moments we will re-enact the event of tonight’s gospel reading; the washing of the Apostles’ feet.  While the Apostles are consecrated to participate in the ministerial priesthood, it is important to note that in tonight’s gospel passage they are referred to as disciples.  Why?  Because they first participate in the universal priesthood of the baptized, of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus.  It is a reminder that we are all called to serve Christ and His Church.  We serve by our compassion for the poor, the homeless, the despairing.  We serve by witnessing to the love of Christ as the motivation for all of our actions.  We serve by making spiritual sacrifices, and worshipping in spirit and truth.  We serve by humbling clinging to Christ Jesus, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  In our participation in the Eucharist, we unite ourselves to  the One, Eternal priest, Jesus Christ, and we give thanksgiving to God, the source of all goodness.