“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
Today’s Gospel is an example of one of many readings in which the New Testament, does not diminish the Old Testament, but rather fulfills and brings the Old to completion and perfection. Jesus is ushering in a new priesthood, which is far greater than the old. The priesthood Jesus is founding was hidden in the priesthood of Aaron. “God, the inspirer and author of both Testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New. For though Christ established the new covenant in His blood (see Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25), still the books of the Old Testament with all their parts, caught up into the proclamation of the Gospel, acquire and show forth their full meaning in the New Testament (see Matt. 5:17; Luke 24:27; Rom. 16:25-26; 2 Cor. 14:16) and, in turn, shed light on it and explain it.[i]
Why doesn’t Jesus heal the lepers right away? Why does he send them on their way and then have them healed while on the way to visit the priest? Jesus does not heal the lepers right away; instead, he shows respect to the Law and the Priesthood of Aaron and tells the lepers to “go show yourselves to the priests”. “The Law gave to the sons of Aaron the power, not of curing, but of discerning leprosy, and passing judgment on its being cured or not. (Matthew 8:3)”[ii] Jesus has come to institute a new priesthood, “a priesthood, whose judgments are not to concern the state of the body, but, by pronouncing the sentence of absolution, are to effectually remove the leprosy of souls.”[iii] Maybe it was the foreigner, the one not familiar with the Law, who realized the power of Jesus, the New and High Priest was greater than the priests of old. Maybe the nine Jews, that were healed, did not realize or understand a new, more powerful, priesthood was being initiated and this new priesthood fulfilled the old.
What is the connection between the purification rite in the Old Testament and life of Christ? We take a look at the Purification Rite of Leprosy in Leviticus 14:1-7. The content in the parentheses is the connection between Christ or other parts of the Bible and this scripture verse:
The leper should be brought to the priest (Jesus was brought before the high priest during His passion ), who is to “go outside the camp to examine him” (Jesus was taken outside the camp, outside the gates to be crucified (examined and judged)) If the priest finds that the sore of leprosy has healed in the leper, he shall order the man who is to be purified, to get two live, clean birds (In their poverty the holy couple, Mary and Joseph have only two turtledoves or pigeons (Luke 2:24), two offer when they present Jesus to the temple, it is at this presentation that Our Lady is told of the great sufferings that she and her son will endure.), as well as some cedar wood (The wood of the Holy Cross ), scarlet yarn, and hyssop. The priest shall then order him [the leper, the sinner who was healed] to slay one of the birds (Psalm 102:8; I lie awake and moan, like a lone sparrow on the roof ) over an earthen vessel (The humanity of Christ, the Word made flesh (2 Corinthians 4:7)) with spring water (John 4:14, the water had to be living water from a spring ) Taking the living bird [us] with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, the priest shall dip them all in the blood[iv] of the bird that was slain over the spring water, and then sprinkle seven times the man to be purified from his leprosy. When he has thus purified him, he shall let the living bird fly away over the countryside.
What are the connections between the Old Testament purification rite and the communion rite of Mass in which the Holy Sacrifice of Christ is re-presented? There are two ways to look at the Rite of Purification. We can see, Jesus as the leper, or see our self us as the leper in need of purification and Jesus as the lonely bird slain for our purification. Jesus is the leper, who “bore our sins in his body”[v]. He was brought before the high priest during His passion and forced to carry our sins, the cross, outside the city to be condemned. It has been a constant teaching of the Church that Christ’s presence resides in the poor. We have seen this in the work of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who saw Christ daily in the poorest of the poor whom she worked with. In the leper, she saw Christ. Saint Francis was afraid of lepers, and it was Jesus Himself, who appeared to Saint Francis as a leper to not only put Francis to the test but, also, to give him the grace necessary to conquer fear. “One day while riding through the countryside, Francis, the man who loved beauty, who was so picky about food, who hated deformity, came face to face with a leper. Repelled by the appearance and the smell of the leper, Francis nevertheless jumped down from his horse and kissed the hand of the leper. When his kiss of peace was returned, Francis was filled with joy. As he rode off, he turned around for a last wave, and saw that the leper had disappeared. He always looked upon it as a test from God...that he had passed.”[vi]
We can also read the purification rite and see that we are the leper who is healed, but still in need of purification. We are ordered to get two birds and cedar wood (pick up your cross). We are to slay one of the birds over an earthen vessel with spring water. The bird that is slayed is Jesus. The spring water is Jesus the “living water”, this “living water” is contained within humanity, which is the earthen vessel. The Word become Flesh, the divine living water is carried in the humanity of an earthen vessel. We are also the living bird that is dipped in the blood of Jesus, and, we are set free to fly away over the countryside.
Just as Jesus sent the ten lepers to the priest, “Jesus acts in the same way with us; it is always He who heals us, but He usually wills to do so through the mediation of the priest.”[vii]
Why does Jesus use the priesthood if He can do everything Himself? This is consistent with salvation history; God has always revealed Himself through man. Jesus allows us to work with Him, to be co-workers. He gives us a vocation, a call to work with Him for the salvation of souls; this special vocation of Holy Orders, the priesthood, continues His priestly sacramental ministry. Jesus knows that we are physical people and need tangible signs. A sacrament is an outward sign of an inner grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit.[viii] Jesus sends us to the priests for the Sacraments!
How many Sacraments do we need a priest or deacon for? How many Sacraments would we be able to receive without the priesthood? If there were no priesthood, we would not have Holy Orders; we would not have Reconciliation, the Eucharist or Anointing of the sick. We would not have Confirmation, which is performed by a Bishop. In an emergency, lay people may baptize. For a sacramental marriage, a priest or deacon must witness on behalf of the Church. Five of the seven Sacraments are gone without the priesthood, and the other two are diminished. The basic point is that any community that does not have the priesthood will soon not have the Sacraments.
[i] Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum; 16
[ii] Abbot Gueranger, OSB; The Liturgical Year; Book 11, page 319, 322
[iii] Abbot Gueranger, OSB; The Liturgical Year; Book 11, page 319, 322
[iv] 1 John 1:7
[v] 1 Peter 2:24
[vi] Catholic.org
[vii] Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D; Divine Intimacy, page 839
[viii] CCC Glossary; page 898