The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 217: The Effects of Holy Orders (2024)

Episode Date: August 4, 2024

Together, with Fr. Mike, we examine the effects of the sacrament of Holy Orders. Fr. Mike emphasizes that once a man is ordained a priest, he is always a priest because he receives an indelible spiritual mark. He also emphasizes that Holy Orders is a sacrament of service. The effects of the sacrament configure him in such a way that he is best able to serve the Church. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1581-1589. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

I'm a name's father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down to the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we Journey Together Toward Our Heavenly Home. This is Day 217, we are reading paragraphs 1581-1589. As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes a Foundations

of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And you could, if you wanted, click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications, because we made it all the way to today, day two, 17, 15, 81 to 15 89. Uh, this is the last little section before we talk about holy matrimony.

Well, we have nuggets coming up, you know, but from 15, 91 to 15 89, we're talking about the effects of the sacrament of holy orders that there is an indelible character That is is imprinted essentially kind of like baptism kind of like confirmation That is once a priest always a priest. In fact scripture says you are a priest forever And so we have that secondly we talk about the grace of the Holy Spirit. What is that? Is that a grace of strength? Yes, it is. Is it the grace of wisdom and all those gifts of the Holy Spirit? Yes, there's a special strength that God has given to those ordained deacons a strength to serve which is remarkable And there's something really powerful. There is a quote at the very end of

Actually two quotes at the very end of our section today one by st. Gregory of Nazianzus and the other by st. John Marie St. John Marie Vienny and both of them remarkable. One is a quote that St. Gregory of Nazianzus, it was a very young priest exclaimed and then St. Jean Vienny, St. Jean Vienny is the patron saint of parish priests and so he has a quote at the very end of this where he says, the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. So as we enter into this last little section before our nuggets tomorrow,

let's just call upon our Father in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit and pray. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much for giving us, for giving us yourself, for giving us your Son, for giving us your, and giving us access to your heart, Father in heaven.

Help us to love you with hearts that are undivided. Help us to follow you with wills that are undivided. Help us to be able to focus on you with a mind that's undivided, and help us belong to you, united in love for you this day and every day. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit, amen. It is day 217, we are reading paragraphs 1581 to 1589. The Effects of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The Indelible Character. This sacrament configures the recipient to Christ by a special grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The Indelible Character. This sacrament configures the recipient to Christ by a special grace of the Holy Spirit, so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for his church. By ordination, one is enabled to act

as a representative of Christ, head of the church, in his triple office of priest, prophet, and king. As in the case of baptism and confirmation, this share in Christ's office is granted once for all. The sacrament of Holy Orders, like the other two, confers an indelible spiritual character and cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily. It is true that someone validly ordained can, for grave reasons, be discharged from the

obligations and functions linked to ordination, or can be forbidden to exercise them, but he cannot become a layman again in the strict sense, because the character imprinted by ordination is forever. The vocation and mission received on the day of his ordination mark him permanently. Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and affects salvation through the ordained minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ from acting. Saint Augustine states this forcefully, saying, "'As for the proud minister, he is to be ranked with the devil.

Christ's gift is not thereby profaned. What flows through him keeps its purity, and what passes through him remains clear and reaches the fertile earth. The spiritual power of the sacrament is indeed comparable to light. Those to be enlightened receive it in its purity, and if it should pass through defiled beings, it is not itself defiled.

The Grace of the Holy Spirit The grace of the Holy Spirit proper to this sacrament is configuration to Christ as priest, teacher, and pastor, of whom the ordained is made a minister. For the bishop, this is first of all a grace of strength, the governing spirit, prayer of Episcopal consecration in the Latin rite, the grace to guide and defend his church with strength and prudence as a father and pastor, with gratuitous love for all and a preferential love for the poor, the sick, and the needy. for all, and a preferential love for the poor, the sick, and the needy. This grace impels him to proclaim the gospel to all, to be the model for his flock, to

go before it on the way of sanctification by identifying himself in the Eucharist with Christ the priest and victim, not fearing to give his life for his sheep. In the prayer for the ordination of bishops, we pray, Father, you know all hearts. You have chosen your servant for the ordination of bishops, we pray, Father, you know all hearts. You have chosen your servant for the office of bishop. May he be a shepherd to your holy flock, and a high priest blameless in your sight, ministering to you night and day. May he always gain the blessing of your favor and offer the gifts of your holy church.

Through the Spirit who gives the grace of high priesthood, grant him the power to forgive sins as you have commanded, to assign ministries as you have decreed, and to loose from every bond the authority which you gave to your apostles. May he be pleasing to you by his gentleness and purity of heart. Present a fragrant offering to you through Jesus Christ your Son. The spiritual gift conferred by presbyteral ordination is expressed by this prayer of the Byzantine rite. The bishop, while laying on his hand, says among other things,

Lord, fill with the gift of the Holy Spirit him whom you have deigned to raise to the rank of the priesthood, that he may be worthy to stand without reproach before your altar, to proclaim the gospel of your kingdom, to fulfill the ministry of your word of truth, to offer you spiritual gifts and sacrifices, to renew your people by the bath of rebirth, so that he may go out to meet our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, your only Son, on the day of his second coming, and may receive from your vast goodness the recompense for a faithful administration of His order. With regard to deacons, strengthened by sacramental grace, they are dedicated to the people of

God in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the service, decanea, of the liturgy, of the gospel, and of works of charity. Before the grandeur of the priestly grace and office, the holy doctors felt an urgent call to conversion in order to conform their whole lives to Him whose sacrament had made them ministers. Thus, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, as a very young priest, exclaimed, We must begin by purifying ourselves before purifying others. We must be instructed to be able to instruct, become light to illuminate, draw

close to God to bring him close to others, be sanctified to sanctify, lead by the hand, and counsel prudently. I know whose ministers we are, where we find ourselves and to where we strive. I know God's greatness and man's weakness, but also his potential. Who then is the priest? He is the defender of truth, who stands with angels, gives glory with archangels, causes sacrifices to rise to the altar on high, shares Christ's priesthood, refashions creation, restores it in God's image, recreates it for the world on high, and, even greater, is divinized and divinizes.

And the Holy Curie of ours, St. Javierne, said, The priest continues the work of redemption on earth. If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die, not of fright, but of love. The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. Alright, so there we are. Paragraphs 1581 to 1589. Man, okay, so let's go back. Let's go back to the very beginning. We have this recognition. Remember, when we're walking through the sacraments, we keep having the reminder or the instruction of what are the effects of the sacraments. And so, what's the effect?

What does baptism do? What does reconciliation or sacrament of reconciliation do? What does confirmation do? What are the effects of the sacrament of holy orders? So the first is that it configures the recipient, that person who was ordained, to Christ by a special grace of the Holy Spirit, so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for his church.

And this is the first thing, right? It configures the recipient to Christ by special grace of the Holy Spirit, so he may serve as Christ's instrument for his church and this is this is the first thing right it configures the recipient to Christ As special grace of the Holy Spirit so they may serve as Christ instrument for the church member These sacraments sacrament of matrimony and sacrament of holy orders. These are all sacraments of service They're oriented towards building up the body of Christ on earth. And so here is the priest. Here's the bishop here's the deacon who received these sacraments and They configure him so that he may serve as Christ's instrument for the church. And so, enabled even more deeply to represent Jesus

as the triple office, right? The primary office, priest, prophet, and king. There's a note here I mentioned at the very beginning that Holy Orders has an indelible spiritual mark, right? Indelible is just like baptism and confirmation and cannot be repeated or it cannot be conferred temporarily, can't be removed. You're a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, right? Priest forever according to the order of Jesus in this sense. Now 1583 highlights this because one of

the questions that comes up a lot of times is someone will say, well okay so I know of a priest who no longer serves as a priest like I know a priest who they he was like laicized or something like this and like yes there is there is the the reality that in cases of grave reasons that a priest can be someone validly ordained a priest bishop or deacon can for grave reasons be discharged from the obligations and functions linked to the ordination or for grave reasons can be forbidden to exercise them. So that happens, but that person doesn't go back to being a lay person.

That person doesn't go back. They continue to be forever a priest because the character imprinted by ordination is forever. So that they're marked permanently. And this is something for all the bishops, priests and deacons and myself to hear. Vocation and mission received on the day of his ordination, mark him permanently.

The vocation and mission received on the day of his ordination, mark him permanently, which is really, I think is really amazing. Now, at the same time, we've talked about this so many times, how here, any of us who've received the sacraments, that we're never worthy of them, we never deserve them, and we also oftentimes fail to live up to these sacraments.

So we have this unworthiness, and that's just absolutely, that's just true, that I'm unworthy to be an adopted son of God, and you are unworthy to be an adopted child of God, and you are unworthy to be an adopted child of God, I'm also unworthy to be a priest. In paragraph 1584, it highlights this, that it's Jesus who acts, right? Jesus is the one who affects salvation

through the ordained minister. Jesus is the one who, so when the priest baptizes, it's Jesus who baptizes. When the priest confirms or bishop confirms, it's Jesus who confirms. When the priest forgives, it's Jesus who forgives. So since it's ultimately Jesus, the unworthiness of the priest or deacon or bishop does not prevent Christ from acting. And that's so important, you know, that's why we had that long quote from

St. Augustine who said, as for the proud minister, he's to be ranked with the devil, but Christ's gift is not thereby profaned. What flows through him keeps its purity even if he's not pure, essentially is what he's saying. And so we recognize that God's grace is so thorough, God's grace is so full, that what comes to us even through an unworthy priest, an unworthy minister of the Lord, how it comes through is Jesus, what comes through is the Lord. We had these three graces that were given, one in the sacrament of holy orders when it comes to the episcopacy,

right? The bishop, the next in the priest, and the third in the deacon. There was those two prayers. And for the bishop, it's just so powerful. And I think it's probably worth it. I'm sure every bishop who's been ordained has prayed with paragraph 1586. It's what are the graces? The graces of strength, what to do what? To guide and defend his church with strength and prudence as a father and pastor. To have gratuitous love for all

and preferential love for the poor, the sick, and the needy. This grace that the bishop receives impels him to proclaim the gospel to all, to be the model for his flock, to go before it in the way of sanctification by identifying himself in the Eucharist with Christ, the priest and victim, not fearing to give his life for his sheep.

Just so, that's just, yeah, that's the heart of what it is to be a bishop, so good. And I love this when it comes to the ordination rite and the Byzantine rite, when it comes to 1587 with regard to priests, there is this prayer that the Lord will fill that priest with the gift of the Holy Spirit and that they would be worthy to stand without reproach at the altar of the Lord,

that to be able to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of the Lord, to fulfill the ministry of God's word of truth, to offer spiritual gifts and sacrifices, and so that the people will be renewed by the bath of rebirth, right? So through baptism, so that one day, that priest can go out and meet the Lord,

not as someone who's done more than his duty, but as one who has merely done his duty. You know, the prayer that I think every one of us longs to hear at the hour of our death is the prayer, or the words that we long to hear at the hour of our death is the words are the words from God himself saying, well done my good and faithful servant. Now, whether that's, here's the single person who just continued to give, continued to love, continued to show up and to pray, or the mom or the dad or the husband or wife, the religious sister, or the priest. We just all, I think we all, whatever state in life we're in, whatever state in life we live out in our, whatever vocation we live out in the course of our life, We long to hear those words at the hour of our death,

well done, good and faithful servant. So, so powerful. The last thing here is these quotes by, you know yesterday was such a, like almost an apologetic day. Not only did I apologize, but you know, apologetics are explanation or defense of the faith, trying to understand and explain like,

why do we believe what we've been believing? And it was that piece about, okay, so only men can be priests. And there was, I shared yesterday how I sometimes struggle with being like, yeah, priesthood is amazing because I know that there are some people who are like, yeah, but not for me, I get it. And yet, there are incredible saints

like Saint Th Tres of the assume since rather Tres of the Sioux who had said that at one point she was like I want to be a priest I want to be able to offer the sacrifice that the altar I want to be able to reconcile sinners to the Lord she wanted to be able to do those things and she realized that the great vocation the greatest vocation that she could have recalled to is the greatest of these, right? Saint Paul writing in 1 Corinthians, he writes and he says, these three,

after all the gifts, all the services per someone could do in the church, the greatest gifts are faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. And so here's Saint Therese who says, well, that's what I'll be then, then I'm gonna be love. She's like, okay, I'm not called. You know, amazing to be called the alt, to be a missionary.

She wanted to be a missionary. It'd be amazing to be a priest. She wanted to be a priest, but she realized, but that's not my call. My call is to be love. And that's the highest thing, the highest call. There are some people though, as the priest continues the work of redemption on earth,

these some people, these priests, their call is to continue to the work of redemption on earth. And the gift of the priesthood is not an indictment on anyone who's not called to be a priest. This doesn't mean that they're not called to be holy. And we know that holiness is not dependent on the particular vocation a person is called to. Hol holiness is dependent on our response to God's call with love. And that's why I think St. Javiani says this. He says the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.

And so every priest, deacon, bishop, who's called to this, the way in which we will become, my brothers, the way in which we will become holy is the degree to which we respond to that call with love because the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus despite our unworthiness. So today I'm going to ask as we conclude, you know tomorrow we have nuggets, but today I'm going to ask that as we conclude this section on the sacrament of holy orders and the day after tomorrow, launch into the beautiful, incredible sacrament

of holy matrimony, I'm gonna ask that you please pray for me, pray for my priesthood. I want it to glorify God. I don't want it to, to knock over my God. I don't want it to scandalize anybody in my own weakness or in my own unworthiness, as it says here in the Catechism. And also pray, like I've asked before, please pray for your bishop,

pray for your priests in your life, whether from your childhood, now. Pray for those young men who are in seminary in discerning the priesthood. Pray for your deacons. This is just, again, it's one function. It's one part of the body of Christ. And it's a part of the body that we need. And we need strengthening and we need purifying

and we need holiness. So pray for them, pray for me. I'm praying for you. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.