PRIEST
[Reflection
for the Trivandrum Malankara Archdiocesan Priests of Trivandrum 'vaidika' district at Manalayam on 10th
Sept ‘13]
Hindu …
Pujari Or pandit
- an archaka conducting ritual worship at a
Hindu temple
-
a Vedic purohita
Traditionally, priests have come from the Brahmin class, although in various parts of India, people
from other communities (such as Lingayats in parts of Karnataka)
have performed the function.
In modern times, archakas have been recruited from
various communities with lesser regard to caste.
Purohit in the Indian religious context means a family priest, from Puras meaning front, and hita, placed. The word is also used
synonymously with the word pandit that also means a priest.
Purohita (literally, "one who is placed in front"), a term originally
for a domestic chaplain, especially of a prince. It was not unusual for a purohita to be the hotṛ or brahman at a sacrifice for his master, besides
conducting other more domestic (gṛhya) rituals for him also. In latter
days, with the disappearance of vedic ritual practice, purohita has become a generic term for
"priest".
A Hindu priest is called a Pandit out of respect for their
learning. He is authorized to carry out the sacred rites of a religion,
especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities and also have the
authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of
sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities.
Bible:
"The
priest must be holy to his God. You must keep him holy, for he presents the
offering to your God... He must be holy, for I am God - I am holy and I am
making you holy" (Lev. 21).
[Gen 14:18/
Ex 18:1; 31:10/ Mt 8:4/ Mk 2:26/ Lk 1:5/ Heb 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:6; 7:1, 3;
7:20; 8:1; 9:7, 11 & 25.]
Priesthood of
the laity:
‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own
people…’ 1 Pet 2:9
The ordained priesthood and the
common priesthood (or priesthood of all the baptized faithful) are different in
function and essence
All who are baptized are given a share in the priesthood of Christ; that
is, they are conformed to Christ and made capable of offering true worship and
praise to God as Christians.
"The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly."
Hierarchical
Priesthood and ministerial priesthood…
This
ministerial priesthood is at the service of the priesthood of all believers and involves the direct consecration of a man to Christ through the sacrament of orders, so
that he can act in the person of Christ for the sake of the Christian faithful,
above all in dispensing the sacraments. It is understood to have begun at the Last Supper,
when Jesus Christ instituted the Eucharist in the presence of the Twelve Apostles, commanding them to
"do this in memory of me."
The
Catholic priesthood, therefore, is a share in the priesthood of Christ and
traces its historical origins to the Twelve Apostles appointed by Christ. Those
apostles in turn selected other men to succeed them as the bishops
("episkopoi", Greek for "overseers") of the Christian
communities, with whom were associated presbyters ("presbyteroi", Greek for
"elders") and deacons ("diakonoi", Greek for
"servants"). As communities multiplied and grew in size, the bishops
appointed more and more presbyters to preside at the Eucharistin place of the
bishop in the multiple communities in each region. The diaconate evolved as the liturgical assistants of the bishop
and his delegate for the administration of Church funds and programmes for the
poor. Today, the rank of "presbyter" is typically what one thinks of
as a "priest", although technically both a bishop and a presbyter are
"priests" in the sense that they share in Christ's ministerial
priesthood and offer sacrifice to God in the person of Christ. Catholicism does
not teach that Christ is sacrificed again and again, but that "The
sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single
sacrifice.". Instead,
the Catholic Church holds the Jewish concept of memorial in which "..the
memorial is not merely a recollection of past events....these events become in
a certain way present and real." and thus "...the sacrifice
Christ offered once and for all on the cross remains ever present." Properly speaking, in Catholic theology, expressed
by St. Thomas Aquinas,
"Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his
ministers." Thus,
Catholic clergy share in the one, unique, Priesthood of Christ.
-
[Hebrew refers to the Genesis text where
Melchizedek was presented as having no origin!
-
Jesus never claimed to be a priest…
-
Rather had them in contempt, if not in
confrontation…
-
Priests, part of the establishment which is most
often exploitative and thereby oppressive, in contrast to Prophets who can’t
fit in any system and rebels for justice…
-
Holiness be the garment of priest… ‘Sacerdos’ and
‘sacred’ seems to be from the same root…
-
Priest consecrates…
·
It presupposes sin and thereby atonement,
propitiation etc…
·
Sacrifice, sacraments etc…
·
Set apart, secluded, anointed etc
·
Keeping distance, secrecy and hence not
transparent, accountable and responsible…
·
Needs to be provided with all provisions, the
best, the first fruit etc…
·
It is
authorized (by someone/something!).
·
Not assumed
(self)!
·
Be perfect as my heavenly father is perfect… Mt
5:48
·
If you want to be perfect, go and sell all what
you have … and come and follow me… Mt 19:21
·
Think not that I have come to abolish the law or
prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them… Mt 5:17
·
You have heard that it was said to the men of
old,… But I say to you that… Mt 5:21
·
By works faith was made perfect Jas 2:22
·
Perfect love casts out fear 1 Jn 4:18]
- In the
OT, “elders” were senior tribal leaders, who ran local
government and administered justice.
- Their
roles and historical significance is seen in various texts: Ex 18:13-17;
24:1-11; Num 11:16-30; Judg 21:16-24; 1 Sam 8:1-9, etc.
- In the
NT, “elders” first can refer either to Jewish leaders or to early
Christian community leaders:
- In the
Gospels and the early parts of Acts, the Jewish "elders" are
mostly opposed to Jesus (Mk 8:31; Mt 21:23; Lk 7:3; 22:26; Acts 4:5).
- The
later parts of Acts and the NT letters show various roles of the early
Christian community elders (Acts 11:30; 15:2; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1
Pet 5:1).
- In the
OT, the roles and functions of “priests” change and develop over
the centuries:
- In the
patriarchal era, the heads of Israelite families offered sacrifices in
many places (Gen 31:54),
- while
non-Israelite “priests” served in the established temples of other nations
(Gen 41:45; 47:22; Ex 2:16; 18:1).
- During
the Exodus, a special priestly class developed from the
sons of Aaron, in the tribe of Levi (see Exod 28ff; also Lev and Num);
- they
built and served in various shrines, esp. at Shiloh and Bethel.
- All men
of the tribe of Levi were priests, while no Israelite from the
other eleven tribes could be;
- over
time, distinctions arise between the “priests” (sons of Aaron) and other
“Levites” (assistants).
- The
Temple of Jerusalem is built under King Solomon in the 10th cent. BC (1
Kings 6),
- but not
until the 7th cent. is all worship is centralized there and other cultic
sites destroyed (2 Kings 23).
- After
the first temple is destroyed in 587 BC (2 Kings 25), priests can no
longer offer any sacrifices;
but during the Babylonian Exile, priestly writers are
influential in compiling the Hebrew Bible.
- After
the exile, the temple is rebuilt, sacrifices resume, and priests become
more numerous and powerful;
- in much
of the Hellenistic period, the Jerusalem “high priest” was the de facto head of government.
- Throughout
history, Israelite/Jewish priests were married and had families;
- most
also had other occupations, serving in the temple for only short periods
each year; only the “chief priests” served full-time.
- In the
NT, the word “priests” refers mostly to Jewish priests (in the
Jerusalem Temple)
No Christians are ever called
“priests” in the entire NT; but many other titles are used for church leaders:
- initially
apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, etc. (1 Cor 12:28-30;
Rom 12:6-8; Eph 2:20; 4:11-13);
- later
also bishops, deacons, presbyters, widows, etc. (Phil 1:1; 1Tim 3
& 5; Titus 1; 1 Pet 5).
- Only in
the Epistle
to the Hebrews is Jesus himself called the
“great high priest,”
- even
though he is from the tribe of Judah, not the priestly tribe of Levi (see
the Twelve
Tribes).
- In the First
Epistle of Peter, priestly
language is applied to the Christian community:
- “like
living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ... you
are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Pet 2:5, 9;
cf. Ex 19:6).
- Only
later (2nd cent.) is the term “priest” applied to individual Christian leaders,
- esp. as
the Eucharist is not just a community meal (Acts 2:42-47), but
considered more and more as a sacrifice (1 Cor 11:17-34).
- For many
centuries, most Christian leaders were married and worked in other
occupations;
- celibacy
was encouraged (see 1 Cor 7) but optional (see 1 Tim 3; Titus 1), and
was not required until the Second Lateran Council (1139);
- only
after the Council of Trent (1545-63) did a full-time priesthood become
the norm
To properly understand priesthood today, one must apply the both/and approach of theology:
- The
Church values both the “priesthood of all people” and the “ministerial priesthood.”
- The call
to “be holy” applies both to ordained clergy and to all Catholic/Christian laity.
- Ordained
priests function both as “community elders” and as “sacrificial ministers.”
- The Mass
is both a “communal meal” (table, bread,
wine, sharing) and a “ritual sacrifice” (altar,
host, blood, offering).
Holiness:
The priest is called upon to be holy in the
same sense that God Himself is holy.
·
Many people seem to equate the concept of
holiness with spirituality in general; anything ethereal or mystical is
presumed to be holy. According to this mentality, one supposes that holiness is
a matter of secret knowledge, or simply a question of allegiance to any
proscribed ritual claimed by its adherents to bring the devotee closer to
fulfillment.
·
To Be Spiritual
Does Not Automatically Imply Holiness
·
This is a serious misconception, one which
is completely out of tune with the Biblical idea of holiness as exemplified by
the “holiness" which is expected and required of Aaron's
descendants. For holy and spiritual are not the same things and they are
certainly not equal.
·
the primary definition of "holy" is "set
apart to the service of God."
·
God Himself is called holy because He is
completely separate; unique and unequaled in all of His creation. Nothing can
be compared to Him because He is peerless; He is the Creator of the universe
and all existence, and absolutely different from anything else that exists. It
is in this light that Israel is collectively called upon to be a "holy
nation" - that is, a nation set apart from all others, completely
different from any other, whose Divinely-mandated lifestyle serves as living
proof that an entire nation can walk with God in its midst... "it
is a nation dwelling alone in peace; not counting itself among other
nations"(Numbers 23:9).
·
This separation is the true Biblical view
of holiness. This is why the opposite of something holy is said to be mundane
or profane; ordinary. To be holy is to be removed from the realm of the
ordinary.
·
So too, the priests in the Holy
Temple "must be holy for I, God, am holy." If Jewish
life is to be holy, then the priests must take care to be especially holy. They
have been distinctively sanctified by the Creator Himself for all time and
singled out for a life dedicated to Him. The vehicle that accomplishes this
sanctification is the commandments, which obligate them to their Creator. These
commandments reflect their unique status.
- - Pancretius
(Malamukal,
10th September, 2013)
