Pope Benedict XVI on the Priesthood

Pope Benedict XVI on the Priesthood
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Thursday, June 10, 2010

“What exactly is ordination? …“Are you prepared to unite yourself daily more closely with Christ, our High Priest, and to become with him a sacrificial offering for the glory of God and the salvation of mankind?” Although it is not expressly stated, the concept of the Eucharistic ministry as the center of the priest’s existence is at the root of this question…

“The first and main requirement is that the priest makes himself the servant of the God who is greater than he is, that he learns to transcend himself and to offer the gift that no one can invent for himself and for which we are all waiting; for whether we know it not, we all long to transcend the works of our own spirit, our own hands, and to receive the festive gift. This last question: “Are you prepared … to become a sacrificial offering …? Means “Are you prepared to let yourself be drawn into this mystery and so to drink the festive wine of Jesus Christ, the wine of the Godhead…?” June 8th

“To make present Christ’s Resurrection and our own – can be accomplished only through the power of the priestly ministry …For that reason the innermost center of the priestly ministry is and will always be to celebrate the Eucharist of the Lord, to ratify among us , in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, his death and the victory of love. Life must henceforth be measured from and to this standard, must find its way from this center. June 9th

“The great and always necessary role of the priest consists in this: that, in a world fragmented by specialization and therefore sick and suffering and disintegrated, the priest continues to be someone who is there for everyone, who holds humanity together from within…

“There is the real beauty, the profoundly human and, at the same time, holy and sacramental aspect of the priesthood, he is, in the last analysis, not just one specialist among many, but a servant of all creatures, of all humans, who guide us over the rough places of life in to God’s merciful love, into unity of the body of Christ… “June 10th

The above is from a classic book by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “Co-Workers of the Truth” – Meditations for Every Day of the Year – 1992 Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
George H. Kubeck