“the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light”
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” [1] Through Baptism, we are called to be priests, in that we are called to offer our self as Christ offered himself. We are the offering, and we are the one offering our self (Priest and Victim).
In offering our self with Christ, we bring light into the darkness. This is captured in the Christmas Carol, O Holy Night. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.” Darkness is the absence of light. Before Jesus offered himself on the Cross for man, the world lay in sin and error. Through Baptism we die to sin, we die with Christ in order to rise with Christ. It is this unity with Christ that continues the saving mission of Christ, which is to disperse light into the darkness of the world.
How do we give the gift of self to God and to others? We must give the best we can; we offer our body and soul as a living sacrifice. “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” [2]
How is offering our self as a living sacrifice like the sacrifice of an athlete? Faith is keeping fit (muscle and agility). Truth is practicing the correct skills, having knowledge of the games, plays, etc. Holiness is staying injury free, preventative (watching out for sin) and re-habilitation (reconciliation). Chastity means not cheating, being pure, and being clean. The words living and sacrifice are opposites. A sacrifice, especially in the Old Testament, is to kill something. To be a living sacrifice, we must die to our self. We die to our wants and desires and live in the wants and desires of Jesus.
In what ways do we die to self as an athlete dies to self?
Faith (keeping fit) takes discipline; we must think clearly and let these thoughts inform our actions. Our interior life must be in shape. Just as our body can quickly get “out of shape,” so to our interior life, our souls can also “get out of shape.” Pope Francis reminds us, “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.” [3]
Truth (practicing correct skills) means that in every area of life we seek out truth. It can be difficult to know the truth, so we must be “sober and alert” [4] for Satan who is the “father of lies” [5] is seeking to trap us in falsehood. We have to die to the falsehoods that we have been told. For example, if we have been told that we are fat and ugly and begin to believe that, we must die to that falsehood and embrace the truth. We must tell Satan to go away!
When an athlete or musician practices something incorrectly, they not only perform incorrectly but also have to put in a lot of work to re-teach themselves. To be holy is to die to self, because it means getting rid of any imperfections so that we can follow the words of Christ and “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.” [6] We die to self when we say no to the sin that everyone else is embracing and temporarily enjoying. We die to self when we confess our past sins and make a firm resolve “with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” [7] We die to our self when, as we leave the confessional we avoid occasions of sin, which our world and possibly our friends, call us back to. Chastity is to die to self. We are called to be pure and clean, in our thoughts, words and deeds. It is difficult to live out the beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [8] Many do not see God, because many do not live out the virtue of chastity. Those who are chaste and do see God, may even be mocked for seeing God and striving to remain pure.
Can we just give part of our self? No! An athlete cannot give just his arm or his leg to his team. He must give his full body. A spouse does not just give part of their body to their spouse but their whole self. To sacrifice means to give all and hold nothing back. It means that we could lose all. We have to be willing to lose something, for that is what sacrifice means.
Sacrifice, even in children’s movies, is attractive and gives us hope and zeal in doing good. In the Disney Movie Cars, Lighten McQueen has to make a choice on whether or not he is going to sacrifice his victory and possibly his career for the sake of a friend. There are many things to consider: He has worked hard to get to where he is at, the final race. He could lose the Piston Cup and the fame and money that would come with it. He could lose his career; maybe others won’t respect a car that purposely loses. He considers how a crash affected his friend Doc Hudson and wonders if it will affect The King in the same way. He considers the friendship and wisdom that Doc Hudson said, “It is just an empty cup”. An empty cup is not worth sacrificing for. The chalice at Mass is not empty. It is full, full of the Blood of Christ. We too must give our self to the fullest.
Saint Paul says, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” [9] God would never ask us to do something that He does not give us the ability to do. It is the priest that presents to God the sacrifices and gifts of the people to God. Christ is the High Priest. Through Baptism, we die with Christ and rise with Christ and we begin to share in life of Christ. Part of Christ’s life was the priesthood. Through Baptism, all Christians are raised to priestly status. All Christians share in the common priesthood of Christ, and some men will be called to the ordained priesthood of Christ.
Christ teaches us not only what to give, but how to give. What we give is what He gave, the gift of self. How to give is in Him, with Him, through Him - uniting every offering of our self to His perpetual offering of His Passion, Death and Resurrection. How we offer our self is in perfect imitation of how Christ offered Himself.
Through Baptism we have the right to offer our self to God, the Father, through the Son. We are connected to the priesthood of Christ, so we now, with the help of the ministerial or ordained priesthood, offer our self to God. The baptized have become “living stones” to be “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.” [10] By Baptism, we share in the priesthood of Christ, in His prophetic and royal mission. We are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that they may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light.” [11] Baptism gives us a share in the common priesthood of all Believers.
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” [12] God became man and like us in all things except sin so that, He could be our high priest. Jesus is the only one qualified to be the high priest because he is faithful and merciful. His mercy is so abundant that he allows His people to share in His one priesthood – a priesthood that expiates sin and is at the service of God. “Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.” [13] There are two ways to participate in the one priesthood of Christ. The first is in the ordained or ministerial priesthood, which participates in the priesthood of Christ differently than the common priesthood.
The Ministerial Priesthood (Bishops and Priests) is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads His Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament - the sacrament of Holy Orders. In our Bishops and Priests, Christ’s priesthood is made visible (in persona Christi).
The common priesthood (all the Faithful) is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace - a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit.
How God desires us to worship, we learn from the Gospel. “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” [14] God is Spirit, and so He looks for worshipers who are like Himself. We are true worshipers and true priests. We pray in spirit, and so offer in spirit the sacrifice of prayer. Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to Him: it is the offering He has asked for, the offering He planned as His own.
Ordained (Ministerial Priesthood) priests speak and act not on their own authority, but rather in the Person of Christ the Head and in the name of the Church. Think of the Ministerial Priesthood as manifesting the head of Christ and the common priesthood as manifesting the body of Christ. The Body follows the Head. Also think of the ministerial priesthood as the physical manifestation (in the person of Christ) and the common priesthood as the spiritual manifestation (in the spirit of Christ).
How does the common priesthood, the lay person share in the priesthood of Christ? We Pray, we Offer!
We Pray! – Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God (an offering). We take our prayer and dedicate it with our whole heart. Fatten it on faith. Tend it by truth. Keep it unblemished through innocence. Keep it clean through chastity. Crown it with love. We must escort it [prayer] to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns.
We offer! – We are the offering. Abraham was asked by God to offer his son Isaac as an offering. Isaac went with his dad and helped carry the wood for the offering. He finally told his dad that they had everything except the offering itself. Isaac did not know that he would be the offering! [15] We also are the offering! We are also the one doing the offering! We must therefore offer the best.
How do we offer our self? As it says above, we must view ourselves the way a rancher would view his cattle, the way a rancher would present (offer) his cattle. He would fatten them (Faith), He would tend them and keep them safe (Truth), He would want cattle that are unblemished (Holiness), He would want them clean (Chastity), and He would crown and adorn them (Love).
What would make someone not want to give himself or herself to God?
How do we offer our self to God? First we must know that God wants and loves us and expects us to give ourselves to Him. Second we want to give God the best self that we can. We make ourselves the best offering through Faith, Truth, Holiness, and Chastity.
How marvelous is the priesthood of the Christian, for he is both the victim that is offered on his own behalf, and the priest who makes the offering. He does not need to go beyond himself to seek what he is to sacrifice to God. With himself and in himself, he brings the sacrifice he is to offer God for himself. The victim remains, and the priest remains, always one and the same. Sacrificed, the victim still lives: the priest who sacrifices cannot kill. Truly it is an amazing sacrifice in which a body is offered without being slain and blood is offered without being shed.
What is your passion? What or who do you give yourself to? Doubt or Faith? Falsehoods or Truth? Sinfulness or Holiness? Impurity or Chastity? Do you pray daily? If not, why? If so, what?
[1] 1 Peter 2:9
[2] Romans 12:1
[3] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gardium, Section 2
[4] 1 Peter 5:8-9 (Sunday Compline; Divine Office)
[5] John 8:44
[6] Matthew 5:48
[7] Act of Contrition
[8] Matthew 5:8
[9] Romans 12:1
[10] 1 Peter 2:5
[11] 1 Peter 2:9
[12] Hebrews 2:14-18
[13] CCC quoting St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III,22,4c
[14] John 4:23-24
[15] Genesis 22:1-12