Holy Orders and the Sacrificial Priesthood

Tim Troutman has just published an article at Called To Communion. The article is titled "Holy Orders and the Sacrificial Priesthood." He writes:

At the heart of the separation of Catholics and Protestants lies a disagreement about the ecclesial hierarchy. Who are the rightful shepherds of Christ’s flock? This article will examine the Catholic Church’s doctrine of the sacrificial priesthood, and in doing so, will lay the foundation for our subsequent discussion on the critical issue of apostolic succession. We will argue for the following four claims. The hierarchical difference between the clergy and the laity was ordained by God and is supported by the Biblical data. The distinction between presbyters and bishops existed from apostolic times and was intended by Christ. Christian ministers are ordained into a visible priesthood that is distinct from the general priesthood of all believers. Finally, Holy Orders is a sacrament.

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The Early Church Fathers on the Eucharist and the Liturgy

The Last Supper (c. 1470)

Jaume Huguet

Last night, Professor Feingold (Ave Maria University) continued his lecture series on the early Church Fathers for the Association of Hebrew Catholics. Last night's lecture was titled "The early Church Fathers on the Eucharist and the Liturgy." He first presented what we know about the early liturgy of the Church, and its continuity with the liturgy of the synagogue. Then, starting in the first century, and ending with St. John Chrysostum in the late fourth century, he showed that the Fathers believed and taught the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the ecclesial dimension of the Eucharist, the sanctifying power of the Eucharist, and the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist. He showed that the idea of transubstantiation was present in the Fathers, and was not a medieval novelty. The Q&A following the lecture included a number of very good questions from a Protestant point of view. During the Q&A he explained exactly why Protestant communities do not have the Eucharist, and why having Holy Orders is essential for a valid Eucharist. The lecture and Q&A are both freely available for download as mp3 files here. Or listen to them by pressing 'play' below:



Lecture


Q&A

Ecclesial Deism or Catholicism?

David Cloud provides an example of ecclesial deism when in "The Church Fathers, A Door To Rome," he writes:

"The fact is that the "early Fathers" were mostly heretics!"

At what point does one's own disagreement with the early Church Fathers become evidence against one's own position, rather than an indication that the early Church Fathers were "mostly heretics"? St. Justin Martyr, born around the time that the Apostle John died, describes a Catholic mass in the video below, explaining in his Apology that they had received their belief and practice from the Apostles. St. Justin's testimony counts far more than does the testimony of a contemporary twenty-first century figure, precisely because of St. Justin's closer proximity to the Apostles. So claiming that the early Fathers were "mostly heretics" is in that respect self-refuting. But it is forthright and correct in its recognition of the distinctively Catholic nature of the early Church Fathers.

Eucharist: We are one Body, because we partake of one Bread

ὅτι εἷς ἄρτος, ἓν σῶμα οἱ πολλοί ἐσμεν, οἱ γὰρ πάντες ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἄρτου μετέχομεν. (1 Cor 10:17)

"Since there is one Bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one Bread." (1 Cor 10:17)

In my recent article "The Sacrilege of Schism" I discussed the three bonds of unity. One of those bonds is "common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments" (CCC 815). In order to achieve the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers, we must share the same sacraments. This is not only because we need to "agree" and "be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment". (1 Cor 1:10) Sacramental unity is not reducible to formal or doctrinal unity. Agreement in doctrine is one way we are made one, but merely agreeing on doctrine is not sufficient to make us one. The sacraments themselves actually operate to make us one Body. That is why I discussed here the way in which the sacrament of baptism makes us one, and then more recently I discussed here the way the sacrament of confirmation makes us one. The third sacrament among the sacraments of initiation is the sacrament of the Eucharist. How does the Eucharist make us one?

As St. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 10:17, it is because we all partake of the one Bread that we are all one Body. This is the Bread that came down from heaven, of which the manna that the Hebrews ate was but a type. This Bread is greater than the manna. Those who ate the manna died. But those who eat this Bread live forever. (John 6)

This is what we need to understand about the Eucharist and unity. When we eat regular bread, we digest it and it ceases to exist as bread, and becomes incorporated into our body. But when we eat the Body of Christ and drink His Blood, it works the other way around; we actually become a part of Him. That is because when two things become one, the entity with the greater unity incorporates the entity with the lesser unity into itself. This is why when the Logos became man, human nature was elevated to divinity. If you were to touch the skin of baby Jesus in the lap of Mary, you were literally touching God. That is why the Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus 431) used the term "Theotokos" as a test of orthodoxy against the Nestorians. The term "Theotokos" wasn't so much about Mary, per se, as about the deity of the baby that came from her womb. The baby that came from her womb was God. Since she was the mother of the baby that came from her womb, she was the mother of God, or the God-bearer (Theotokos). The point here is that in the hypostatic union, the human nature of Christ, without ceasing to be human, became divine, was taken up into and became one with the Logos. That is why when we eat the Body and Blood of Christ, who is perfect unity, we are taken up into and become one with Him. If we understand that a greater unity incorporates a lesser unity into itself, and that Christ has greater unity than do we, then we can better understand how partaking of His Body makes us all one. We are one Body, because we all partake of one Bread. Those who do not partake of the one Bread, [ordinarily] cannot be fully united with the one Body.

What do the fathers think about the Eucharist? I collected some quotations from the fathers regarding the Eucharist here.

Neil Babcox was a Presbyterian pastor for many years, and recently became a Catholic. One of the main reasons he became a Catholic had to do with the Eucharist. He describes in this video the role the Eucharist played in bringing him into the Catholic Church. A further description of Neil's reception into full communion with the Catholic Church is described here.