Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Come and rest awhile

The main point of what has been said is this: 

we have such a high priest….

If the primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is exhortation, encouraging the Christians to continue making the sacrifices and keeping the faith in the face of ostracism, betrayal and discouragement, its secondary purpose is reassurance.

I find that especially in the words, “We have such a high priest.”

In our Catholic tradition the presence of a priest is wonderful reassurance. I see that as I enter patients’ rooms and family rooms in the hospital. Not everyone is delighted to see me, of course, but many are. And I know they are people of faith.

These regular church goers can name their pastors, both current and former. They want to know if I am acquainted with this or that priest. Hearing I am a Conventual Franciscan, some will ask about this or that friar priest. (My predecessor was Father Simon, a Louisville native and fellow Franciscan.)

Some have known a priest only by his role at the altar, but they are all the more pleased by my presence in the hospital. I anointed a fellow last week -- I do it very often -- and his sister said, “I have never seen that like this!” She had attended the Healing Service in the church, but didn’t know it is often administered at home, nursing home or hospital.

During those early days, when the Letter to the Hebrews was written, the Church had not yet developed our understanding of sacraments and priests. Former Jews in the church were probably feeling grief over the fall of Jerusalem and the razing of the temple. (Two thousand years later there is only the Wailing Wall left of that magnificent structure.) Without that anchor in Jerusalem, how could they worship? Hebrews assured the Christians,

…we have such a high priest, 
who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in heaven, a minister of the sanctuary 
and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.

Today, the sacrament of the priesthood – and, I am certain, the presence of ministers in Protestant churches – reassures God's people of his constant, reassuring company. His name is Emmanuel, God with us. When they want to meet "God with skin" they turn to their priests. 

Hebrews would remember, of course, that every priest offers sacrifices first for his own sins and then for those of the people. The faithful know their priests and ministers are fallible human beings. They are just as willing to forgive us as we are to forgive them.

I called a group of women together once, reminding them, “I’ve quarreled with nearly all of you by now, after five years in this parish, and each one of you is very dear to me. I know you can work out your differences!” And they did.

In the heart of our priest Jesus, and in the hearts of our ordained clergy, we find our unity and make our sacrifices to Almighty God.

Please pray for your priests and ministers, and for the young people in our seminaries.