Living Our Royal Priesthood through Spiritual Sacrifices

PHONG TRÀO THIẾU NHI THÁNH THỂ VIỆT NAM MIỀN ĐÔNG BẮC HOA KỲ
TNTT MDB
MANA
ISSUE 64
JULY 2015
CHIA SẼ TRỢ ÚY – WORDS FROM A CHAPLAIN
Living Our Royal Priesthood
through Spiritual Sacrifices
by Br. Phaolô Chu Trọng Phước, SDB
At an interfaith conference on ecology last
year in Jerusalem, a woman rabbi asked me:
why can’t women become priests in the
Catholic Church? I reflected on this question
and I came to the conclusion that though
women may not become ordained priests in the
Catholic Church, they share in the royal
priesthood of Jesus Christ through their
Baptism and Confirmation.
Let us understand the meaning of this royal
priesthood by looking at Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church.
Speaking of the baptized, Sacred Scripture declares: “You are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy people” (1 Peter 2:9). The Catechism
of the Catholic Church teaches that “Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father
anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet and king.
The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and
bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them” (CCC
783). This means that any baptized person is a priest, a prophet and a king
in Christ. Furthermore, “the baptized, by regeneration and the
anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual
Ý LỰC CỦA THÁNG / THEME OF THE MONTH
- Cầu cho các nhà lãnh đạo trong lãnh vực
chính trị biết dùng quyền bính của mình
để phục vụ hòa bình cho các dân tộc và
làm phát triển các quốc gia yếu kém chậm
tiến.
- Pray that political leaders use their
authority to promote peace for all people
and help advance countries currently
underdeveloped.
L.M. Giuse Nguyễn Tuấn Linh
Tuyên Úy TNTT Miền Đồng Bắc
- Cầu xin cho sự trách nhiệm trong chính trị
được thể hiện tại các cấp độ trong hình
thức bác ái.
- Pray that political responsibility may be
lived at all levels as a high form of charity.
- Trong bối cảnh bất bình đẳng xã hội, xin
cho các Kitô Hữ tại Nam Mỹ luôn làm
chứng cho tình yêu dành cho người nghèo
khổ và luôn đóng góp cho một xã hội
huynh đệ hơn.
- Pray that, amid social inequalities, Latin
American Christians may bear witness to
love for the poor and contribute to a more
fraternal society.
Đức Thánh Cha Phanxicô
Đức Giáo Hoàng Giáo Hội Công Giáo
TNTT MDB MANA | Issue 64
2
house and a holy priesthood” (CCC 784). In the Rite of Baptism of a
child, just before the anointing with chrism oil, the priest says: “As Christ was
anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as members of
his body, sharing everlasting life.” In the Baptism of an adult, the
Explanatory Rite states that “the anointing with chrism is a sign of the royal
priesthood of the baptized and that they are now numbered in the company
of the people of God” (RCIA 214). Thus, we can see that each baptized
Christian is identified as a priest in Christ.
Now, let us look at the mission of the royal priesthood. When a baptized
Christian, whether a man or a woman, offers as spiritual sacrifices his/her
daily life and work in the world for the salvation of souls, he/she acts as a
priest. In the TNTT tradition, the four pillars of our Eucharistic
spiritual life are: prayer, communion, sacrifice, and apostolic
work. As I reflect on these pillars more and more, I realize they
are very much the works and sacrifices of a priest:
• PRAYER: As Christians, each of us is called to pray always and
everywhere. From the “rising of the sun to its setting” we are called to offer
to God prayers and sacrifices of praise, adoration, and thanksgiving for all
the blessings he has given us; even in our dreams, we can pray to God! Not
only do we pray with our mouth, but with our hearts and our whole body as
well. Let all our thoughts, words, actions, and renunciations be prayers
offered up to a loving God. A priest is primarily a person of prayer. So any
Christian man or woman is a person of prayer.
• COMMUNION: By participating in Mass, we participate in the
one sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Why was it necessary that Jesus
sacrificed Himself for us? It is because our sins separate us from God, and
so by Jesus’s sacrificial death, we are redeemed and given new life in His
Resurrection. This communion with the Body and Blood of Christ is a very
intimate way of uniting ourselves with God. A priest is one who is united
with God by living “with Him, in Him, and through Him.” A priest is called
to celebrate this Eucharist every day. Any Catholic man or woman can
celebrate the Eucharist every day by participating in daily Mass.
• SACRIFICE: By our spiritual sacrifices, we imitate Jesus in atoning
for our sins and the sins of others; though Jesus was sinless, he humbled
himself and was made sin for our sake. So, what are spiritual sacrifices? In
the Old Testament, sacrifices involved the slaughtering of animals. As
followers of Christ, we no longer need to do this because Christ himself was
slaughtered as a sacrifice for all of us. In imitating Christ, we make spiritual
sacrifices by avoiding sins, daily renouncing our bad habits, and accepting of
the daily hardship and inconveniences of life. A priest is called to make
sacrifices in his own life for the sake of the people. So any Christian man or
woman can make spiritual sacrifices on behalf of others by praying for others
and offering up one’s suffering for good of souls. In the Mass, we hear the
words of the celebrant: “Pray, brethren (brothers and sisters), that my
sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father”.
Immediately, we respond: “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands
for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy
“When a baptized Christian, whether a
man or a woman, offers as spiritual
sacrifices his/her daily life and work
in the world for the salvation of souls,
he/she acts as a priest.”
TNTT MDB MANA | Issue 64
Church.” These words tell us that the true sacrifice on the altar is the Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ that is being offered up for our salvation. Thus, all
of our spiritual sacrifices must imitate this self-giving sacrifice of Christ.
• APOSTOLIC WORK: The mission of the priest is to preach the
Good News. One preaches by good words, good deeds, and living a good
life. In the rite of ordination of a priest, the ordaining bishop exhorts the
candidate “…by your preaching and example you help build up the edifice
which is the family of God.” This task of preaching, Jesus entrusted to the
Twelve Apostles and all whom they ordained to do so. Though the formal
preaching of the Word of God is usually done by those who are ordained,
however, the living of the Word of God is to be done by everyone! To put it
in another way, every baptized person is called to live the Word of God in
one’s person, that is, to allow the Word to “become flesh” in each of us.
Often non-Christians are converted to God by the witnesses of those
Christians who live their faith boldly and fearlessly whether in life or in death.
The real apostolic work now in this day and age is to live our faith zealously.
We do so by striving to unite ourselves with Christ through constant prayers,
frequenting the sacraments of Confession and Communion, and doing works
of charity. St. Francis of Assisi sums it up nicely by saying “preach always,
when necessary, use words.”
As we can see, God the Father calls each of us to live the royal priesthood
of Jesus Christ by means of these spiritual works and sacrifices. So to answer
the question posed by the woman rabbi: a baptized woman can live a priestly
life by zealously living her faith. By living the four TNTT pillars above,
she can participate in the royal priesthood that Christ gave to all
Christians.
The usual excuse that one gives for not living the faith zealously is: “Well,
I’m not a priest or a nun, so I don’t have to be so religious.” This is a wrong
understanding of our Christian faith! By our Baptism, God the Father
calls us to become one with Him in Christ and Christ calls us to
“be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). Of
course, we can fail at times, but the Holy Spirit helps us to realize that our
weaknesses teach us to depend and trust wholeheartedly on God who is our
strength and our salvation.
3
Ý CẦU NGUYỆN - PRAYER INTENTIONS
Xin cho các vị lãnh đạo các quốc gia biết
đặt quyền lợi của người dân lên trên, để
giúp tái lập hòa bình trật tự và nhân phẩm
con người.
Please send prayers to
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TIN TRONG MIỀN - REGIONAL NEWS
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- Hành Hương La Salette
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Sa Mạc Huấn Luyện Huynh Trưởng cấp 1, DAMAS 16,
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