November 5, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/30/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
HOLY ORDERS
“Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the Church to be, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then mighty deeds, then gifts of healing, assistance, and administration, and varieties of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:27-28).
Continuing our journey through the canonical basics of the sacraments, we come to the sacrament of Holy Orders. This is one of the sacraments, like Baptism and Confirmation, that imparts a new, permanent spiritual character on the person receiving it, conforming that person to Christ in a unique way that enables him to act in the person of Christ, shepherding, sanctifying, and sacrificing for the People of God, which is its effect.
First, it must be noted that there are three Holy Orders, each with its own celebration: diaconate (deacons), presbyterate (priests), and episcopate (bishops). Other titles, like monsignor, are simply honorific, or cardinal and pope, are job titles but not additional or separate orders. Regardless of the order, the matter of the sacrament is the prayer of ordination prayed aloud by the minister. The form of the sacrament, called ordination, is the laying on of hands and prayer of ordination, which is different for each order.
The minister of the sacrament is a bishop. For the ordination of a bishop, three bishops are required, though one of them, who prays the prayer of ordination, is designated the principal ordaining bishop. The recipient of the sacrament is a baptized, confirmed Catholic man. Those ordained to the diaconate can be married, though they make a promise to observe celibacy in the event their spouse dies. Those ordained to the presbyterate or episcopate must be single and promise celibacy. These requirements - that only men can be ordained, and priests and bishops must be celibate - are considered controversial by some people, who view them as obstacles that have contributed to the clergy shortage. While it is beyond the scope of this simple column to cover all the reasons for these requirements, I would point out that other religious traditions that allow married clergy and Protestant traditions that have women clergy are also facing clergy shortages, in many cases more dire than our own. Furthermore, the number of people entering the vocation of marriage are also declining dramatically. Changing these norms, even if it were possible theologically, would not solve our problem. The clergy shortage is not a crisis of celibacy or gender; it is a crisis of commitment. Let us ask the master of the harvest to send more laborers for his harvest, and let us pray that more men be given the grace to make the commitment needed to serve God’s People faithfully and lovingly in the sacrament of Holy Orders.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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