¿Todos los cristianos son sacerdotes??

Saint Peter wrote, “You are a chosen race, un sacerdocio real, una nación santa, God’s own people” (1 Pet. 2:9). It is true that all Christians share in the priesthood of Christ through Baptism, yet this common priesthood is to be distinguished from the ministerial priesthood. What Peter said to the faithful in the New Testament, En realidad, was also said to Israel in the Old, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). Within the priestly nation of Israel, sin embargo, existed a distinct, ministerial priesthood, the Levitical priesthood. It is the same for God’s people in the New Covenant. Nosotros, también, are a priestly nation; and within our ranks exists a special, sacramental priesthood charged with presiding over the Sacrifice of the Mass, our communal act of worship.

Our view of the Mass as a sacrifice sets Catholics apart from other Christians. At Mass the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is made sacramentally present to us on the altar through the Holy Eucharist. This does not mean Jesus dies again at Mass. Rather we are in effect transported back through time to the very moment of His death so that we might witness and participate in that saving sacrifice.

In the Gospels, the Apostles are given the authority to preside over the Eucharistic celebration. We see this in the account of Christ’s multiplication of the loaves and fish, an Eucharistic metaphor, in which the Lord commands the Apostles to feed the people (Mate. 14:16). More directly, at the Last Supper, in the midst of instituting the Eucharist, the Lord commands the Apostles, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lucas 22:19). The Apostle Paul explained he was calledto be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offerings of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (ROM. 15:16). And elsewhere he wrote, “This is how one should regard us [es decir., los Apóstoles], as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries [es decir., sacramentos] of God. … For though you have countless guides in Christ, no tienes muchos padres. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15).

While the term “priest” may not have been widely used by Christians in apostolic times, likely to set their ministers apart from the priests of Israel (cf. ROM. 15:16, above), there is extensive evidence from the end of the first century forward of the term being applied to those who preside over the Eucharist. Writing in about the year 96 ANUNCIO., Por ejemplo, Pope Saint Clement clearly distinguished between the ministerial priesthood and the priesthood of the laity. “el sumo sacerdote,” el escribio, referring to Christ, “is given his duties: los sacerdotes [es decir., bishops] are assigned their special place, while on the Levites [es decir., deacons] particular tasks are imposed. The layman is bound by the layman’s code” (Carta de Clemente a los Corintios 40:1-5). As a matter of fact, this is the earliest recorded instance of the termlayman.

En aproximadamente el año 107, Saint Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch and a disciple of the Apostle John, escribió, “Good, también, are the priests; but the high priest [es decir., Cristo] is better, to whom was entrusted the holy of holies; and to him alone were entrusted the secret things of God” (Letter to the Philadelphians 9:1). He also counseled Christians tofollow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Seguir, también, el presbiterio como lo harías con los apóstoles; y respeta a los diáconos como respetarías la ley de Dios. Nadie debe hacer nada que tenga que ver con la Iglesia sin la aprobación del obispo. Debes considerar válida aquella Eucaristía que sea celebrada por el obispo o por quien él autorice. [es decir., un presbítero]. Donde el obispo está presente, allí que se reúna la congregación, así como donde está Jesucristo, there is the Catholic Church” (Letter to the Smyrneans 8).

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