Women Priests

Appreciating the role of the common priesthood

01/21/2019

Hebrews 5:1-10 Brothers and sisters: Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: You are my Son: this day I have begotten you; just as he says in another place, You are a priest foreveraccording to the order of Melchizedek.

Every book of the bible was written by an inspired author and intended for a particular community. In the case of the Letter to the Hebrews, scripture scholars generally agree it was written to Jewish priests who had converted to Christianity. Hebrews is replete with dense theological reflections on the priesthood of Jesus Christ and leaves most readers scratching their heads about its meaning. So, you might hastily conclude: Good, I am not a priest so Hebrews is not intended for me. I can skip it! Not so fast.

The Church as consistently taught that there are two kinds of priesthood: the “ministerial priesthood” (those who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders) and the “common priesthood of all the faithful (those who have received the sacrament of baptism). In other words, all the baptized are called to be priest, prophet and king. And that means further that in the Catholic religion we have women priests! There is a lot of controversy these days about whether women should be ordained as priests. But I believe that overlooks our basic belief about baptism: baptized women are already priests in a very real and irrevocable way. Women priests is not semantics; this is a sacramental reality.

The Letter to the Hebrews is dominated by a mysterious man named Melchizedek. I even wrote a paper in the seminary with the cheeky title, “Who the Heck is Melchizedek.” I earned a master’s degree more for my creativity than for my content. What I discovered as I researched the figure of Melchizedek is that he represents the ministerial priesthood, those who hold the office and responsibility of priestly service. But I also learned that the common priesthood of the faithful has a similar but distinct function, namely, to offer sacrifice. We read in Hebrews: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin.” In other words, ministerial priests (like me, Fr. Stephen, Bishop Taylor, and Pope Francis) stand on one side of the altar to offer sacrifice. But common priests (like Suzanne McGraw, Ruth Bruick, Shelly Gilker, and Sr. Mary Sarto) stand on the other side of the altar and also offer sacrifice; a distinct sacrifice, but nonetheless a sacrifice. But notice we all come to the altar and offer sacrifice – to offer sacrifice is both the definition and the duty of a priest according to Hebrews, and that includes women priests.

That is why at mass, after we place the gifts of bread and wine on the altar, the priest says: “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father.” All priests offer gifts and sacrifices, both male priests and female priests. If anyone asks you, “When will the Catholic Church finally have some respect and equality for women and ordain them as priests?” You can confidently answer: “Women are already priests in the Catholic religion; they too stand at the altar at Mass and offer their gifts and sacrifices that are acceptable to God.

Yesterday, I was blessed to meet a very holy and humble woman priest, although she probable did not know she was a priest. She suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS for short) and is often in excruciating pain. She is 51 years old and lives with her spunky 70 year old mother, who actually takes care of her. It was so painful for her to sit upright that, at one point, she asked if I minded if she could put her legs on the couch. I said, “I’m so sorry for your pain, please make yourself comfortable.” We talked about her two daughters and her 7 month-old grandbaby, whom she was especially excited to see.

But what really touched me about this sweet lady was she was not bitter about her illness but rather cheerful and very affable during our whole discussion. She was clearly offering up her pains and problems as “a sacrifice acceptable to God the Almighty Father.” As I left her home, I thought to myself: she is a better priest than I am. God must be very pleased with her gifts and sacrifices, as indeed he is with the sacrifices that all women make for their husbands, their children, their neighbors, and for the world. We would be in a world of hurt, if we did not have women priests offering up their sacrifices.

We will be reading the Letter to the Hebrews for several more weeks, finally finishing on February 9. So, get used to it. Don’t dismiss this densely packed letter as only for ministerial priests like Melchizedek. It is intended for all priests, including women priests. Every priest stands at the altar offering gifts and sacrifices acceptable to God.

Praised be Jesus Christ!