Each year, the Thursday after Pentecostthe Church celebrates a singular liturgical feast: the fiesta de Jesucristo, Sumo y Eterno Sacerdote. It is not just another liturgical remembrance, but a profound invitation to contemplate the very heart of the Christian mystery: Christ who offers himself to the Father for the salvation of the worldand which associates the priests of the Church with this sacrifice.
This feast is centered on Christ in his priestly dimensioni.e., as mediator between God and mankind (cf. 1 Tim 2:5). He does not celebrate a particular moment of his life (such as Christmas or Easter), but rather his eternal priestly beingaccording to the order of Melchizedek (cf. Heb 5:6).
Jesus was not a priest like those of the Jewish temple. He is the perfect priest because it offered not animal sacrifices, but their own body and blood in obedience and love to the Father. As the Letter to the Hebrews says: "Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come... not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered once for all into the sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption" (Heb 9:11-12).
This feast was established in the liturgical calendar by some bishops -especially in Spain and Latin America- in the 20th century, and was approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1987. Since then, it has been adopted by many dioceses around the world.
The Church teaches that Christ is at the same time priest, victim and altar. He is not only the one who offers, but also the one who the one who deliversChrist, the eternal priest, by the oblation of his body, accomplished once for all, brought to completion the work of human redemption" (Preface proper to the Mass of this feast).
At the Last Supper, he sacramentally anticipated the sacrifice he would consummate on the cross. Since then, each Mass is a real and sacramental actualization of this unique sacrifice.. It is not repeated, but is made present, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when priests celebrate the Eucharist, act "in persona Christi Capitis". (in the person of Christ the Head), not as mere delegates or representatives. It is Christ himself who acts through them.
This festival is also a privileged occasion to praying for priests. They have been configured with Christ the Priest to continue his mission. In the words of St. John Paul II: "The ministerial priesthood shares in the unique priesthood of Christ and has the task of making present in every age the sacrifice of redemption" (Letter to Priests, Holy Thursday 1986).
Today more than ever, priests need our closeness, our affection and our prayers. Their mission is beautiful, but also demanding. They are instruments of Christ's love, but they are not exempt from difficulties, fatigue and temptations.
This festival, therefore, is also a call to renew our love and support for our pastors. It is also a day for calling for new priestly vocations. The Church needs men who, in love with Christ, are ready to spend their lives in the service of the Gospel.
To contemplate Christ as High and Eternal Priest is to contemplate his Heart, his surrender, his obedience to the Father and his compassion for mankind. He became a priest in order to intercede for us without ceasingAs Hebrews says: "He is able to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25).
In a world marked by self-sufficiency, haste, and superficiality, looking to Christ the Priest is a call to live a spirituality of dedication, intercession and silent service. Christ does not impose himself: he offers himself. He does not demand: he gives himself. He does not exhibit Himself: He gives Himself to the extreme.
For the lay faithful, this feast is also a reminder that all the baptized share in Christ's priesthood. St. Peter says it clearly: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession" (1 Pet 2:9).
This common priesthood of the faithful is lived in daily offering, in prayer, in charity, in the witness of life. Every Christian is called to offer his life as a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God (cf. Rom 12:1).
The Feast of Jesus Christ, High and Eternal Priest, invites us to look at the altar with renewed faithand to recognize that Christ himself is at work there. It reminds us that salvation does not come from our works, but from Christ's sacrifice.. And that this sacrifice is eternal, always living, always effective.
It is a profoundly Eucharistic, profoundly priestly and profoundly ecclesial feast. It is an opportunity to thank Christ for his self-giving, to pray for those who have been called to represent him sacramentally, and to offer ourselves with him to the Father for the good of the world.
1. ĀæCuĆ”l es la identidad del sacerdote? La de Cristo. Todos los cristianos podemos y debemos ser no ya alter Christus sino ipse Christus, otros Cristos, Ā”el mismo Cristo! Pero en el sacerdote esto se da inmediatamente, de forma sacramental (Amar a la Iglesia, 38).
2. A los sacerdotes se nos pide la humildad de aprender a no estar de moda, de ser realmente siervos de los siervos de Dios (...), para que los cristianos corrientes, los laicos, hagan presente, en todos los ambientes de la sociedad, a Cristo (Conversaciones, 59).
A priest who lives the Holy Mass in this way - adoring, atoning, impetrating, giving thanks, identifying himself with Christ - and who teaches others to make the Sacrifice of the Altar the center and root of the Christian's life, will truly demonstrate the incomparable greatness of his vocation, that character with which he is sealed, which he will not lose for all eternity (Loving the Church, 49). (Amar a la Iglesia, 49).
4. He concebido siempre mi labor de sacerdote y de pastor de almas como una tarea encaminada a situar a cada uno frente a las exigencias completas de su vida, ayudĆ”ndole a descubrir lo que Dios, en concreto, le pide, sin poner limitaciĆ³n alguna a esa independencia santa y a esa bendita responsabilidad individual, que son caracterĆsticas de una conciencia cristiana (Es Cristo que pasa, 99).
5. Ā”Valor de la piedad en la Santa Liturgia!
Nada me extraĆ±Ć³ lo que, hace unos dĆas, me comentaba una persona hablando de un sacerdote ejemplar, fallecido recientemente: Ā”quĆ© santo era!
āĀæLe tratĆ³ Vd. mucho?, le preguntĆ©.
āNo āme contestĆ³ā, pero le vi una vez celebrar la Santa Misa (Forja, 645).
6. No quiero āpor sabidoā dejar de recordarte otra vez que el Sacerdote es "otro Cristo". āY que el EspĆritu Santo ha dicho: "nolite tangere Christos meos" āno querĆ”is tocar a "mis Cristos" (Camino, 67).
7. El trabajo āpor decirlo asĆā profesional de los sacerdotes es un ministerio divino y pĆŗblico, que abraza exigentemente toda la actividad hasta tal punto que, en general, si a un sacerdote le sobra tiempo para otra labor que no sea propiamente sacerdotal, puede estar seguro de que no cumple el deber de su ministerio (Amigos de Dios, 265).
8. Cristo, que subiĆ³ a la Cruz con los brazos abiertos de par en par, con gesto de Sacerdote Eterno, quiere contar con nosotros āĀ”que no somos nada!ā, para llevar a "todos" los hombres los frutos de su RedenciĆ³n (Forja, 4).
9. Ni a la derecha ni a la izquierda, ni al centro. Yo, como sacerdote, procuro estar con Cristo, que sobre la Cruz abriĆ³ los dos brazos y no sĆ³lo uno de ellos: tomo con libertad, de cada grupo, aquello que me convence, y que me hace tener el corazĆ³n y los brazos acogedores, para toda la humanidad (Conversaciones, 44).
10. Aquel sacerdote amigo trabajaba pensando en Dios, asido a su mano paterna, y ayudando a que los demĆ”s asimilaran estas ideas madres. Por eso, se decĆa: cuando tĆŗ mueras, todo seguirĆ” bien, porque continuarĆ” ocupĆ”ndose Ćl(Surco, 884).
11. Me convenciĆ³ aquel sacerdote amigo nuestro. Me hablaba de su labor apostĆ³lica, y me aseguraba que no hay ocupaciones poco importantes. Debajo de este campo cuajado de rosas ādecĆaā, se esconde el esfuerzo silencioso de tantas almas que, con su trabajo y oraciĆ³n, con su oraciĆ³n y trabajo, han conseguido del Cielo un raudal de lluvias de la gracia, que todo lo fecunda (Surco, 530).
12. Ā”Vive la Santa Misa!
āTe ayudarĆ” aquella consideraciĆ³n que se hacĆa un sacerdote enamorado: Āæes posible, Dios mĆo, participar en la Santa Misa y no ser santo?
āY continuaba: Ā”me quedarĆ© metido cada dĆa, cumpliendo un propĆ³sito antiguo, en la Llaga del Costado de mi SeƱor!
āĀ”AnĆmate! (Forja, 934).
To be a Christian - and in a particular way to be a priest, remembering also that all the baptized participate in the royal priesthood - is to be continually at the Cross (Forge, 882). (Forja, 882).
14. No nos acostumbremos a los milagros que se operan ante nosotros: a este admirable portento de que el SeƱor baje cada dĆa a las manos del sacerdote. JesĆŗs nos quiere despiertos, para que nos convenzamos de la grandeza de su poder, y para que oigamos nuevamente su promesa: venite post me, et faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum, si me seguĆs, os harĆ© pescadores de hombres; serĆ©is eficaces, y atraerĆ©is las almas hacia Dios. Debemos confiar, por tanto, en esas palabras del SeƱor: meterse en la barca, empuƱar los remos, izar las velas, y lanzarse a ese mar del mundo que Cristo nos entrega como heredad (Es Cristo que pasa, 159).
Si es verdad que arrastramos miserias personales, tambiƩn lo es que el SeƱor cuenta con nuestros errores. No escapa a su mirada misericordiosa que los hombres somos criaturas con limitaciones, con flaquezas, con imperfecciones, inclinadas al pecado. Pero nos manda que luchemos, que reconozcamos nuestros defectos; no para acobardarnos, sino para arrepentirnos y fomentar el deseo de ser mejores (Es Cristo que pasa, 159).
15. Sacerdote, hermano mĆo, habla siempre de Dios, que, si eres suyo, no habrĆ” monotonĆa en tus coloquios (Forja, 965).
16. La guarda del corazĆ³n. āAsĆ rezaba aquel sacerdote: "JesĆŗs, que mi pobre corazĆ³n sea huerto sellado; que mi pobre corazĆ³n sea un paraĆso, donde vivas TĆŗ; que el Ćngel de mi Guarda lo custodie, con espada de fuego, con la que purifique todos los afectos antes de que entren en mĆ; JesĆŗs, con el divino sello de tu Cruz, sella mi pobre corazĆ³n" (Forja, 412).
17. Cuando daba la Sagrada ComuniĆ³n, aquel sacerdote sentĆa ganas de gritar: Ā”ahĆ te entrego la Felicidad! (Forja, 267)
18. Para no escandalizar, para no producir ni la sombra de la sospecha de que los hijos de Dios son flojos o no sirven, para no ser causa de desedificaciĆ³n..., vosotros habĆ©is de esforzaros en ofrecer con vuestra conducta la medida justa, el buen talante de un hombre responsable (Amigos de Dios, 70).
