Serving the royal priesthood

Father Tom Fallati

My first Holy Week and Easter as a priest led me through the busyness of preparation for the Easter Triduum liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil, through the joy of preaching to a church packed with the faithful on Easter Sunday. 

Yet what made the experience even more fulfilling was the way I was prompted to reflect upon priesthood. At our diocesan Chrism Mass leading into Holy Week, the bishop both blesses the holy oils that are distributed to the parishes and asks priests and deacons to renew their ordination promises. As Bishop Scharfenberger led us through the renewal, I was moved in reaffirming the promises that I had made at ordination just last May.  

Priesthood was also a focus for me on Holy Thursday. In preparing for the homily, I reflected more deeply on Christ’s institution of the priesthood and what that means for all of us who have been baptized into Christ.

The priesthood of Jesus Christ

When we speak of priesthood in the Church, we tend to think only of the ordained priests. But this leaves out the far more numerous priesthood of all the baptized. 

The Church possesses one priesthood and one priest, namely, Christ our High Priest. Christ both offered sacrifice as our High Priest, and he made the perfect offering, that of himself. 

All of the baptized share in the one priesthood of Christ, “who has made us a kingdom, priests for his God and Father” (Rev. 1:5-6). We call this the “common priesthood” or “baptismal priesthood.” By virtue of this “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9), all of the baptized are called to bring God’s holiness into the world. When we offer to pray for someone, when we offer a prayer of blessing, whenever we show forth God’s holiness, we exercise our common priesthood. But even more by how we live and serve others, we carry out our priesthood.

The ordained, or ministerial, priesthood, likewise shares in the one priesthood of Christ. But the ordained priesthood exists to serve the common priesthood. It is through the ordained priests that Christ himself builds up the Church and the baptized. The Lord gave us his example at the Last Supper of washing the disciples’ feet and his instruction to do likewise to make clear for us that the ordained priest is called to serve.

Whenever we do anything to build up the faithful in fulfilling their common priesthood, it is Christ acting in us as the High Priest. Pope Francis captured this idea beautifully in his final Chrism Mass homily, reminding priests that “we have received ... the Spirit of Jesus, and he continues to be the silent protagonist of our service.”

Serving our high priest

Easter Monday brought the passing of Pope Francis, but his final message to priests at the Chrism Mass included a call that we can all take with us as we continue our journey through the Jubilee Year of Hope that he proclaimed: “If only we let (Christ) teach us, our ministry becomes one of hope, because in each of our stories God opens a jubilee: a time and an oasis of grace.” We are to become “heralds of hope.”

For me, the renewal made me even more aware of the great gift of priesthood that has been conferred on me. I am renewed in my gratitude to the “silent protagonist” of whatever good I am able to do in my priesthood.

Father Tom Fallati is parochial vicar at St. Kateri Tekakwitha parish in Schenectady.