Discipleship or Priesthood!

 

Vocation to Discipleship or Priesthood!

‘Consecrated life is a call to discipleship... It is a vocation in which Jesus calls men and women to follow him through a life of self-gift. Led by the desire to follow him closely and to pursue the path of holiness...’ (Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, ‘The Challenge of Holy Orders and Religious Vocations – An Asian Perspective’ in SERRA Chiang Mai, June 24, 2023). And vocation in our times is obviously at a crossroads where credible and meaningful service to the Kingdom seemingly becomes far more challenging than ever. In order to be equipped to face the challenge, we need to get back to the calls Jesus extended. Its a wonder as to how this call to follow the person of Jesus evolved into a vocation seemingly to supply personnel to the church which is claimed to be the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27), though.

 

Biblical background:

The call to exist should naturally precede every other call. Man said to be created as male and female, in the image and after the likeness of God’ (Gen 1:26-27), is called to holiness: ‘be holy for I, the Lord your God am holy’ (Lev 11:44). This Jesus reiterates when he asked us to ‘be perfect, as his heavenly Father is perfect’ (Mt 5:48). It was to this perfection and holiness Jesus made explicit calls to follow him (Mt 4:19, Jn 1:43). This is besides the call of Abram, Moses and prophets. Those responded to his call were certainly his disciples.

Call in the NT:

Matthew reports that Jesus said to Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew, ‘Follow me…’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (4:18-20). Further he called James and his brother, John and they too left their boat and their father, and followed him’ (4:21-22; Jn 1:35-39). Having been invited to follow Jesus, Philip found him as the one of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote. In the same way being introduced and invited by Philip to go and see, Nathanael soon realized him to be the Son of God and King of Israel. (43-49). Jesus saw Levi (Matthew), the tax collector at his tax office and said to him, ‘Follow me’. And he left everything, and rose and followed him. (Lk 5: 27). ‘He appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach’ (Mk 3:14)

Women too were there:

Besides, ‘some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene… and Joanna… and Susanna, and many others… (Lk 8:2-3) were with him. ‘… the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come’ (10:1).

Faith and church:

Being rather satisfied with the exposure and experience of the disciples, Jesus wanted to know from them what people think of him. Obviously there were many answers. But when the question was directed to them, most of them were rather dumb other than Simon Peter who professed, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Happy over the answer, Jesus seemingly honoured him, ‘… you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…” (Mt 16:13-18).

After resurrection:

After his death and resurrection, the eleven ‘with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren’ (Acts 1:14). ‘Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty)’ and addressed them (1:15). Hearing Peter, they received his words and were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls (2:41). Such people were known as the church, especially in Jerusalem against which rose great persecution and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria… (8:1).

Disciples identified:

However, these disciples were said to have belonged to the Way (Acts 9:2), (may be after Jesus’ claim that he is ‘the way, and the truth and the life’ (Jn 14:6)) which, Saul breathing threats and murder wanted to bring bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2). And it is with them Jesus identified himself with (9:5). And ‘in Antioch they were for the first time called Christians’ (11:26).

Reaching the ends of the earth:

With the conversion of the persecutor Saul into Paul, the growth of the disciples reached far and wide, ‘all Judea and Galilee and Samaria’ (9:31). Being ‘brought up… at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the strict manner of the law... (22:3), Paul addressed the Jews in their local Synagogues as well as Greeks and Romans and won them over. Thus he could found Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe. Addressing them he wrote letters which comprise the bulk of the NT besides two of his disciples themselves were behind two of the four gospels. He came to be known as the apostle to the Gentiles. His influence was such that some even say that what we have today is not Christianity but ‘Paulianity’, that is, Christ interpreted and presented by Paul.

Priesthood, sacrifice etc.:

These Christian communities soon evolved into churches. Paul along with Barnabas appointed elders, (‘presbyteros’ in Greek), for them in every church… (Acts 14:23) The Jewish Christians being denied of the privilege of using the Synagogues for worship, finding its own place and creating its own liturgy was necessitated. In such context a genius like Paul might have directed them towards Jewish practices of sacrifice and priests, raising Jesus to high priesthood and his sacrifice the ultimate one… Thus Jesus was presented as ‘a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiszedek’ (Heb 7: 17). His celebration of the Passover at the behest of his disciples (Mt 26:17) became the last supper followed by his arrest, trial and execution on the Cross at Calvary which constituted the sacrifice making necessary ingredients for a Jewish like religion which Jesus was not seemingly comfortable with, to say the least.

The institutional church:

The direction Paul seemingly gave became convenient for the early church, especially after the ‘conversion’ of Constantine, tempting it to embrace feudalism with all its pomp and glory and other ingredients. Soon there grew a system and institution to knit together the churches into a Church again to Jesus’ categorical and explicit message (against possible gentile practice of ‘lording it over and exercising authority over’ and hierarchy (Mk 10:42-45).

By the time much of Jesus’ values of the Kingdom were compromised conveniently and everything was formalized into a monolithic system, may be on the strength of Mt 16:13-19. And now, the call and response has become ‘vocation’ and the ‘come and see’ in order to find the Messiah (Jn 1:39, 41) a mere ‘formation’ in seminaries, monasteries and convents. This formality has taken away the spirit of Jesus…

The question of call:

Now, call to discipleship has evolved into a call to priesthood on which the church is rooted. While the church asserts that the call to religious and priestly life is primarily from God, is it really so, is a pertinent question we need to think in the context of the decreasing vocations, desertion, defrocking etc.

Though the call is said to be from God, there has always been the complexity of human motivations. As such there should be serious efforts to provided space, time and accompaniment to discern and refine the decision and make it as humanly as possible for the service of the Kingdom (M K George SJ’s ‘Promoting Religious, Priestly Vocations: Crafty or Genuine?’, Matters India – India’s Complete Socioeconomic & Religious News, July 22, 2022) through the poor and the persecuted with whom the Son of man identifies himself with (Mt 25:31-46 and Acts 9:5).

Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Society of Jesus, said insightfully: ‘vocational promotion’ is fundamentally a vocational discernment” and insisted that one’s vocation must be tested at length. He also reminded that we should pray for good vocations, because ultimately it is the Lord who calls. Dorothy Day had this to say, “You will know your vocation by the joy it brings you.”

Pope Francis said, “God calls you to make definitive choices, and He has a plan for each of you: to discover that plan and respond to your vocation is to move toward personal fulfilment.” (MK George)

Though decline and revival of vocations are there throughout the history of the church, we are now at a crossroads which seemingly is more challenging than ever. And there is not a single solution that can solve it because the challenges are diverse and varied compared to former times. Some of the significant challenges faced are:

1.     Economic Development: IMF reports that Asia is projected to see further dynamic economic growth… However, according to the National Bureau of Economic Growth, religiosity tends to decline with economic development. World’s poorest countries are also the most religious. If this is true, then we see a correlation between declining vocations and rapidly developing economies in countries that would have been considered poor in the past.

Individuals now become “obsessed” with the power of wealth and greed which generates a more selfish society driven by itself and for itself as against generosity and self-giving. Pope Francis points out that modern culture is very seductive, tempting people away from religious life with promises of easy sex, material gain, and instant gratification.

2.     Family: The unheard of Family changes like low birth rates, increasing divorce rates, and the rising average age of marriage, single-parent families, and absent-parent syndrome (where parents are away for work and children are brought up by grandparents or relatives) directly impact the challenge to vocations.

Newer forms of the family like single mothers, unmarried couples, working parent families, childless couples, interfaith- intercultural families, and many more, whether by choice or out of necessity lead to a lack of communication in the family, a lack of time for prayer, and perhaps even a lack of presence to one another because financial responsibilities take parents away from each other. From experience, we see that the Christian family which strives to live the faith fervently is open to a life of service and fulfils its duties to God and neighbour, becoming the rich soil that gives rise to children open to the priesthood and religious life.

If the gospel is not taught and lived in the home, if the members of the family do not embrace the truth that freedom is for a life of virtue, it will be difficult for our children to grow up with a sense of mission, of being called to a vocation.” The age-old tried and tested methods need to be revisited for newer pathways.

3.     Technological and Ideological Impact: Digital technology has imprinted us right from how we communicate to how we think and engage with life. We have an overload of information, and in the midst of this, to discern what is true from what is fake is rather impossible. Besides, it confronts us with materialism, secularism, and even idealism. Priorities, value systems, and even modes of existence and communication are complex. It is said that every generation operates differently and is confronted and impacted with newer ideological goals regarding life, priorities, and values.

In this postmodern culture, speaking of the ‘sincere gift of self’ in promoting vocations makes no sense to many, if not most. Often the focus is on the ‘self’, and the self is the measure of everything.

Young people today want lots of money and nice things but are less likely to work hard to earn them. In light of this trend, it is more unlikely for young people to consider a life of self-sacrifice and even renounce the world’s ways. There is peer pressure to conform to the world’s practices rather than the gospel – a life where the return on investment (ROI) may not be tangible and self-satisfying.

4.     Poverty and Migration: According to the World Bank, more than 320 million people in Asia live in extreme poverty in which the primary motivation for choosing one’s vocation is getting out of the vicious cycle of poverty. Young people are forced to leave their homes very early in search of employment to sustain their families. The shifting economic and social changes cause labour migration, both Internal and transnational.

Apart from economic reasons, political unrest like war, civil war or discriminating state policies and having no power to fight back young people and families flee their countries. In such painful circumstances, it is not easy to speak of vocations as a true calling from God when lives are traumatised. Though we hear about vocations among the migrant communities, they are still few and far apart.

5.     Role Models: Role models play an integral role in shaping society. Young people look for authentic and credible witnesses and role models. A role model must demonstrate passion and inspire others.

Today, more than ever, we priests and consecrated men/women must look at ourselves in the mirror and ask if we are inspiring others through our life and mission.  Secularisation and materialism have also clawed their way into their lives. The threat it poses is very real. It is so easy because of the power of authority which may detract us from our true calling to an ardent love that makes us an oblation to God and our neighbour.

In one of his homilies, Pope Francis said that when materialism takes over, we “become self-absorbed and find security in material things which ultimately rob us of our face, our human face.”

The priest and consecrated men/women exist within the context of the church and the larger society. We cannot remove ourselves from the world, the socio-cultural context and the place and time we exist. Therefore, while we are expected to be a leaven in the world, we can also be influenced by the world and its values. They have been poorly portrayed with loss of trust and credibility, besides the many scandals directly affecting the decline in some places.

6.     Clericalism: ‘Pope Francis keeps insisting that clericalism can be a sin for both clergy and laity: for clergy, when they demand to be treated as superior to the laity; and for the laity , if they resign themselves to the status quo -‘Let Father do everything’- and shirk the responsibilities proper to their own vocation as baptized Christians.’ (Kathleen Hattrup)

In countering clericalism, we need to develop a keen awareness of what it is and what it is not.

In an interesting article, Father Peter Daly described some elements of a culture of clericalism.

-         Arrogance in the priest.

-         Claim of entitlement, meaning, ‘one is deserving or entitled to certain privileges’.

-         Lavish and posh life styles contrary to the life, the incarnated Word lived among us.

-         The attitude, “This is my parish, implying ‘my way or the highway’.”

-         The tone of arrogance in the priest.

-         Lack of willingness, to listen to the people of God

-         Clerical garb to set them apart.

-         People thinking, “Never question a priest” and

-         “Priests are ‘next to God.’

-         The way women and specially women religious are treated.

The Australian Royal Commission on abuse in the church had reported years ago, ‘Clericalism is linked to a sense of entitlement, superiority and exclusion, and abuse of power.”

As Pope Francis says, “Clericalism… gradually extinguishes the prophetic flame of which the entire Church is called to bear witness...” (Address to participants in the Pontifical Commission for Latin America plenary assembly, April 26, 2016) He insists, ‘Church needs to walk with others and listen to them like Jesus did.’

These points can help priests and laity to become aware of and be alert to gently question when a ‘culture of clericalism’ is being lived out around you.

Common Priesthood:

A reminder from Jerome Buhman looks very much a relevant theological advice: “In order to overcome clericalism, we need to reclaim the common priesthood of the faithful which seems to be the mind of Jesus.

Going back to the life and teaching of Jesus, if at all anything of him in the gospels is authentic, it would be none other than ‘the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk.10:42). This was his concluding statement of the teaching necessitated by James and John, sons of Zebedee asking for the right ‘to sit, one at his right hand and one at his left, in his glory’ (10:37), ‘You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all’ (10:42-43). This he taught by example. ‘If then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet’ (Jn 13:14). 

His relation with God was unheard of to his days to the extent of calling Him Father and asked us to call him in the same way when he taught us, on request, to pray, ‘Father, hallowed be thy name…’ (Lk 11:2). We are his children. Moreover, he who claimed to be the ‘light of the world’ (Jn 8:12) reminded us that we ‘are the light of the world’ (Mt 5:14) too. That is why he said, ‘No longer do I call you servants… but I have called you friends…’ (15:15).

As Paul tells us (1 Cor 12:12–31), together we make up the body of Christ — each with our particular vocation, each necessary for the healthy working of the body. We should not equate distinct roles with differences in worth, dignity or holiness. Pope Francis advocates, let’s work together to create a new culture and renew the Church.” It is worthwhile to remember what Peter had to say, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people…” (1Pet 2:9) and “I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder… Tend the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock’ (5:1-3).

Priests and religious need to take into heart what the author of Philipians summarising the mystery of Incarnation says so beautifully: ‘…though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross’ (2:5-80).

 

The Possibility of a Paradigm change:

It must be in this context, the much challenged priesthood starting with its formation needs to be relooked into. It could not be a call in its strict sense and there is no real ‘come and see’ to experience the one who called! It is like recruitment to any other profession with its canvasing and so on. And it is rather easy and non-competitive but for the unparalleled long years of formation. It’s mostly stuffing with information on various topics rather than forming the candidates into Jesus like personalities. It’s rather an easy training with good food, enough recreation, relaxation and so on. Spirituality is religiosity full of ritualism and repetitions.

Hierarchy and ritualism is so evidently enveloped in anything and everything. Of late there is clear message of competition for the higher echelons of priesthood, especially the episcopacy, especially in the seminaries.

The evangelical virtues are more of a mere claim without any sincere effort to live it! Poverty is for people to struggle with and not really known to the clergy. Church and its institutions are known to be rich. Obedience is blind and to the ones overnight becoming authorities rather than to Jesus and his Kingdom. The insistence on celibacy has no corresponding and supportive life style and atmosphere. 

Priests, religious and laity alike need to be on guard against this scourge that is cancerous to the church and alienating her from the gospel of the Lord. Can priests and laity together do a collective self-examination and speak up when they experience clericalism, eventually to lead to a conversion of heart and change of culture in our Church here and now?

 

Despite the varied challenges, there are enough vocations to ordained ministries and consecrated life. To send out “missionaries” to other parts of the world is both a joy and a blessing. Many of these vocations come from the young churches. However, we can never remain complacent. The writing on the wall is apparent that we might see a further decline in vocations towards holy orders and religious life as time passes. We cannot sit back and wait for it to happen and only then move towards action.

Promoting vocations calls us towards creating spaces for young men and women to imagine and experience this way of life. Part of this includes those of us who are already in this way of life, setting an example with a spirit of humility and witnessing what it is to follow Christ daily and faithfully witness to the faith in these changing times. In the words of St. Pope Paul VI, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” Promoting vocations is not just about setting up new programmes and seminars. It happens when young men and women have an uplifting and transformative Christian experience within a community united in prayer and with Christ.

[In grateful acknowledgement to M K George SJ for his articles ‘Promoting Religious, Priestly Vocations: Crafty or Genuine?’ in https://mattersindia.com/2022/07/promoting-religious-priestly-vocations-crafty-or-genuine/ 

and ‘Clericalism in Indian Catholic Church: A Layperson’s Guide’ in

https://mattersindia.com/2023/04/clericalism-in-indian-catholic-church-a-laypersons-guide/

and Cardinal Charles Maung Bo’s ‘The Challenge of Holy Orders and Religious Vocations – An Asian Perspective’ in

https://serra-chiangmai2023.licas.news/chiang-mai-2023/full-text-the-challenge-of-holy-orders-and-religious-vocations-an-asian-perspective/

-Fr. Pancretius

Archdiocese of Trivandrum (Latin)

Priesthood vs. Discipleship…

My story…

I am struggling with, rather wrestling with ‘priesthood’ of the Catholic Church which I am part of since 22^nd December 1980.

My journey to this state started from my beautiful village Erayumanthurai where I was born, as the second child/son of my parents. My mother, an embodiment of goodness and simplicity, was illiterate while my father was literate, musically trained and on that ground a professional actor, ex-serviceman, a member of the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam) and businessman. They had no issues for some six years after an infant death of their first born. In the meantime they adopted one of the daughters of my mother’s eldest sister. Besides her, I have a younger brother and sister.

From this humble background went to the Government Upper Primary School in the neighbouring village, Poothurai. I was one of the first students to join the newly started Tamil Medium School after the reorganisation of states, merging the four taluks of the erstwhile Travancore with Madras State (Tamil Nad), on linguistic grounds. I grew up as a self-respecting boy who was disturbed by questions and statements posed to me directly and indirectly on exploitative faith, piety and ritualism. For High School went to Pius XI High School, an aided private school, some three kilometres away at Thoothoor.

After my SSLC (XI standard), at the age of sixteen, joined St. Vincent’s Minor Seminary of the diocese of Trivandrum. As a seminarian, I joined the Pre Degree Course at St. Xavier’s College, Thumba. Thereafter went to St. Joseph’s Pontifical College at Carmelgiri, Alwaye for Philosophy (B. Ph) and St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Mangalapuzha, Alwaye for Theology (B. Th).

I did my degree in Philosophy (University of Kerala) as a private student. In 1988 joined the University College at Thiruvananthapuram as regular student for M.A in Philosophy. In 1994 joined Dharmaram Vidya Kshethra (DVK), Bangalore for M. Th in Biblical Theology. In 2009 joined Law Academy Law College, Peroorkada, Thiruvananthapuram for LL. B and enrolled as an advocate at the Bar Council of Kerala.

I started practicing at the Trivandrum District Courts with membership in Trivandrum Bar Association. In the meantime was made a member of the Institutional Ethics Committee at the Trivandrum Ayurveda College. 

 

 

Ever since tried to understand priesthood as far as I could with my readings, reflections, observation, and deliberation besides my classes in order to enlighten and enable people to find and experience comfort and consolation in their struggles for life and livelihood and thereby to find meaning and fulfilment for me as a ‘priest’. This made me not to swallow anything without critically analysing them from the perspective of the poor.

 

One of the things I was not comfortable with was that we are repeatedly told by the church that we are not worthy for this great call of ‘priesthood’ conveniently ignoring what is stated in the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, “God created man in his own image” after brooding to himself, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (27, 26). The book of Leviticus in 11:44 says, “…be holy, for I (the Lord your God) am holy” and Jesus repeats this in Mathew 5:48, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus who claimed to be “the light of the world” (Jn 8:12) reminded us that we are “the light of the world” (Mt 5:14) and he didn’t hesitate to call us “friends” (Jn 15:15) and address his father as “Our Father” (Mt 6:9) along with all of us… Peter in his first letter says, “… you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people…” (2:9). How come, we then become unworthy! This is besides the dishonesty in the matter of sex and celibacy! On such weak grounds are the ‘priesthood’ built up again conveniently ignoring that Jesus not only had anything to do with the priesthood of his days, but was executed by the priesthood of his days in conspiracy with the powers of the day. There is an attempt by the author of the letter to the Hebrews at making Jesus a priest in the likeness of Melchizedek who was “without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life” (7:3)!  

 

my rather natural tendency towards the other sex, tried to live with it. In the late nineties tried counselling, monastic life etc. for some time.  In 2014 rather kept away from it for two years. Now, since 31^st December 2020, I have almost left ritualistic, liturgical ministry of the church with the realization that priesthood is not of Jesus’ tradition as evident from the gospels in particular and the NT in general. The celebration of the Eucharist and the recent pieties connected with it are not the ones Jesus wanted besides other counter-witnessing to Jesus’ gospel/kingdom imperatives…

 

As one who served people in various capacities in different parishes and offices for more than forty years, I feel that you all deserve an explanation to my stand at this stage…  

 

Priesthood is a product of religion which is ‘the human response to the apprehension of something, or power, which is supernatural and supra-sensory… Taylor gave convincing proof that primitive societies have their own versions of religious activity…’ (p.151, D. N. Majumdar and T. N. Madan, ‘Social Anthropology’, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1957)

 

When Christianity became the legal religion of the Roman Empire after AD 313, it had already inherited from its Jewish background a concept of an organized priesthood… Kohen is the equivalent of the Arabic word kāhin (“diviner”), and in Hebrew it has the meaning of “priest,” denoting the occupant of the office concerned with obtaining oracles by the aid of the ephod (an apron like garment) containing the Urim and Thummim (sacred lots) and by inspiration, as well as with officiating at a sanctuary. After the 7th century BCE, when worship was concentrated in Jerusalem, the capital, the priesthood was restricted to the Levitical house of Aaron… (https://www.britannica.com/topic/priesthood/Christianity)

 

Neither the gospels nor the Acts of the Apostles have any hint as to the priesthood of Jesus at all. Jesus’ call was only to discipleship alone. Moreover, he was convicted by the priestly Sanhedrin in conspiracy with the political establishment of his time.

 

Priesthood in itself being hierarchical goes against Jesus’ teaching, ‘… those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be among you; but whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Mk 10:42-44). He ‘said to the crowds and to his disciples, “… But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.” (Mt 23:8-10)

 

Again, he says, ‘No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that have heard from my Father I have made known to you.’ (Jn 15:15). Now, let’s take note of what he does. ‘When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.’ (Jn 13: 12-14).   

 

However, the letter to the Hebrews says, ‘Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God…’ (Heb 4:14). But Jesus ‘was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests’ (7:14) Jesus was ‘a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek’ (7:17) who ‘is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever’ (7:3) and has become ‘a priest, not according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life.’ (7:16)

 

05.02.’22:

 

‘The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.’ (Heb 7:23-24) ‘He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of his people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself.’ (7:27).

 

 

 

The Sacrament of Holy Orders is for the celebration of the Eucharist and the administration of Sacraments. Let’s have a look on the so-called institution the Eucharist. It is said to be a memorial of what Jesus did on the Passover. Mark narrates this in the following manner: ‘…his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? …and they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening he came with the twelve. And as they were at table eating,...he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take, this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many…” (Mk 14:12, 17, 22-25). The account is almost the same in Matthew, but with an addition of ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ in Luke (22:19), whereas Paul would write to the Corinthians, ‘For I received from the Lord (!) what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you, Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’. (1 Cor 11:22-25)

 

Jesus did this in response to the disciple’s reminder of the Passover celebration which was a mandate for the people of God from Moses, ‘This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance… You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you and for your sons forever’. (Ex 12:14, 24).

 

In the same way, Jesus might have said something like: ‘Do this, as often as you do it, in remembrance of me.’ It was not an ordinance like that of the Passover, but with freedom to celebrate or not to even! However, the disciples seemingly have celebrated it whenever they came together and the elder seemingly presided over the memorial. But when Christianity became the state religion in 313, it was given all the benefits of feudalism including all conveniences and comforts besides power and possessions. This resulted in the formation of the church upholding all the institutional requirements contrary to the categorical teachings of Jesus. Thus came in the necessity of rituals, rules and regulations with hierarchical overtones. And priesthood, especially the episcopacy hijacked everything.

 

11.02.’22:

Coming to the rather sensitive issue of celibacy tied up with priesthood and even religious life, it needs serious discussion as it goes against the basic instinct of man/woman.

 

 

In his evolution into manhood, he was confronted by the outside world, from animate and inanimate beings to the elements… Somehow he managed to control some of them, with others he adjusted himself to go ahead… However he was overwhelmed by something from within which earns for something beyond which enchanted him…