At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’( John 14:6). This small statement holds for us the message of salvation: truth, life and union with God.
This message is, in fact, the mission that Jesus entrusted to his apostles and indeed, to the whole Church. Truth: the apostles were called to teach the Good News of salvation. Life: the apostles were sent to baptize and to forgive sins, thus giving back the life of grace to those who had lost it by sin and finally, Jesus called them to change bread and wine into his body and blood so that believers might receive the bread of life. Union: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
The Last Supper was a momentous event in the history of the Catholic Church in many ways. It was at this very meal that Jesus ordained the first priests and bishops of the Church. It was here that Our Lord gave to the apostles the Sacrament of Holy Orders, sending them on their mission to go and preach the Gospel, administer the Sacraments and lead all to union with Christ, and consequently, with God the Father. Of course, we know that when Jesus was arrested and crucified, the apostles scattered; St Peter denied him. Despite their ordination and authority given to them by God, they were not yet ready to lead the Church.
Following his resurrection from the dead, Jesus spoke again with his apostles, sending them on the mission he had ordained them for at the Last Supper and promising to send to them the Holy Spirit to help and guide them on their way. ‘And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”’ (Matthew 28:19-20)
All authority in heaven and on earth – these men, these ordinary men who were chosen out of obscurity to become followers of Christ, were given authority to lead the Church on earth. ‘Christ himself chose the apostles and gave them a share in his mission and authority. Raised to the Father’s right hand, he has not forsaken his flock but he keeps it under his constant protection through the apostles, and guides it still through these same pastors who continue his work today. Thus, it is Christ whose gift it is that some be apostles, others pastors. He continues to act through the bishops.’ (CCC 1575)
Indeed, St Peter himself as the very first pope, was given the authority to lead this Church, his fellow apostles and to be the very foundation, the rock on which Christ built his Church. St Peter became the visible representation of Christ as Shepherd of the Flock.
To this day, to our Holy Father Francis, there has been an unbroken line of pontiffs going all the way back to St Peter. Indeed, further to this, when we consider the Sacrament of Holy Orders as being conferred by a validly ordained bishop, we know that were we to trace back from our own diocesan bishop – for instance, our bishop then the bishop who ordained him and so on – we would end up back at the very start of the Church, with a bishop – an apostle – ordained by Christ.
So it is, that when a man is ordained to the priesthood in the Catholic Church, he carries on the very same mission entrusted to the apostles. He is filled with the supernatural graces necessary to help shepherd the flock of Christ. ‘Through the sacrament of Holy Orders priests share in the universal dimensions of the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles. The spiritual gift they have received in ordination prepares them, not for a limited and restricted mission, “but for the fullest, in fact the universal mission of salvation ‘to the end of the earth,’” “prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel everywhere.”’ (CCC 1565)
When we recite the Nicene Creed at Mass and say the words ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic church’ we recognize that this Church was entrusted to the apostles by Christ and through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, this mission is passed on throughout the ages through the priesthood, until the end of time.
Originally posted 2014-12-17 22:26:48.