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Le Tour de Christ ®
Holy Sacraments
-share awareness of Holiness...
...through “The Holy Sacraments”-
(Lesson 8) -Holy Orders- (Lesson 8)
(Contact Us for login instructions to lesson video from Saint Benedict+Press)
There are two ways of participating in the priest-
hood of Jesus, that flow from the baptismal grace
of all cristians. The first is the common priest-
hood to which all baptized and confirmed are
consecrated. The second is the ministerial
priesthood, through the Sacrament of the
Order, which is at the service of the common
priesthood, a means in which Jesus Christ
unceasingly builds his Church. The ecclesial
service from the order ministry, is Christ
himself who is present in his Church as: Head
of his Body, Pastor of his Flock, High Priest,
Teacher of the Truth. In other words, the priest,
for the Sacrament of the Order, acts in the per-
son of Christ: “in persona Christi Capitis” (Read CCC
1547-1548). The sacrament of the Order complies
with the mission from Christ trusted to his
apostles, exercised in the Church until the end
of times. It is the sacrament of the apostolic
ministry that comprehend three degrees:
episcopal, priesthood, and diaconate. It is called
Order because the apostolic body is organized in
an order (the three grades); that goes beyond of
a simple election, as each order gives a special
gift of the Holy Spirit which allows to exercise
a sacred power that can only comes from Jesus
Christ. The ordain is also called “consecration”
because it is a “put aside” and an “invest” (clothe
someone with a certain quality) by Christ him-
self for his church (Read CCC 1536-1538; 1 Timothy 3).
Through the grace of the Holy Spirit the
ordained man is configured to Christ as priest,
teacher, and pastor. Jesus Christ resurrected,
by giving the Holy Spirit to his apostles, trusted
them his sanctifying power (Read John 20: 21-23),
and they became sacramental signs of Christ.
And through the power of the Holy Spirit, they
trusted this power to their successors. This “apos-
tolic succession” structures the whole liturgy life
of the Church. She himself is sacramental,
transmitted by the sacrament of the Order
(Read CCC 1087). To carry out such a great work,
Jesus Christ is always present in his Church,
in the liturgy, in the person of the ministry
(e.g.: priest), in the eucharist, in the sacra-
ments (e.g.: when the priest baptizes, is Christ
who is baptizing): “For where two or three
gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18:20…“Therefore, go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely, I am with you
always, to the very end of the world.” Matthew 28:19-20
(Read CCC 1088). A work for which God is perfectly
glorified and men are sanctified. Christ asso-
ciated always the Church, his beloved wife, that
invokes her Lord and by him gives worship to
the Eternal Father (Read CCC 1089). And finally,
a work that is protected against the powers of
hell: “Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by
flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of
Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed
in heaven’.” Mathew 16:17-19.