Brothers and sisters:
It was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
(Heb 5:1-10)
When we reflect on the church in the past 20 years, the problem of clericalism has come to the fore. Among seminarians you can tell which ones are going to become a problem. Just check out the size of their Roman collars, the size “pontiff #3” (1.5 inch high collar) is a dead giveaway as well as ordination holy cards with “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” imprinted on them. It’s always good to remember that those words are addressed only to Jesus in the New Testament, our great high priest. By baptism we have ALL become the priestly people of God. Those in the church that we call “priests” today . . . are not priests, they are actually presbyters (elders). In English, when we use the term “priest” for them, it’s only in a secondary sense. The early Christian communities knew the word “priest” but they never used it for their ministers. The words bishop, presbyter, deacon are not from the religious sphere, rather from everyday life. Bishop means overseer (manager), as on a farm or a business. Presbyter means elder. Deacon means table waiter (or server). The words describe functions—not some ontological difference. Ministry for Jesus is not about being “set apart,” but rather of solidarity, becoming one with us, which is why “he is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring.”
