Sacraments of Service: Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony

1. OLM Sacraments and Prayer Spring 2014 Sacraments of Service: Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony

2. Group Discussion • Form a group of 3 (and not more) and answer the following three questions: • What is a vocation? • What, if anything, differentiates a vocation from a career? • What is the basis of a Christian vocation?

3. Vocation: An Introduction • English: vocation • Spanish: la vocación • French: la vocation • Italian: la vocazione • German: die Berufung (vb. rufen) • Example: Meine Berufung ist Preister und Theologielehrer zu sein. • Latin: vocatio –vocare (vb. “to call”) • Greek: kalein — (vb. “to call, invite, summon”) • Hebrew: qārā’

4. The Basis of a Vocation

5. Part One The Sacrament of Holy Orders

6. Excursus: My Vocation Experience • Born: May 31, 1986: Oklahoma City, OK • Moved to ATL Suburbs: November 1987 • Lived in Clemson, SC: 1996-99. • Otherwise, grew up in Gwinnett County. • St. Pius HS: Class of 2003 • St. John Neumann Church • Clemson University: 2003-04 (Engineering) • Entered Seminary: July 2004 • Franciscan University (OH): 2004-06 • North American College (Rome): 2006-11 • Ordained a Deacon: October 8, 2009 • Ordained a Priest: June 26, 2010

7. My First Mass: June 27, 2010

8. The Threefold Munera • Traditionally, as Catholics, we identify three distinct offices (munera) to Jesus’ Messiahship: • Munusdocendi(teaching office): Prophet • Munussanctificandi (sanctifying office): Priest • Munusregendi (governing office): King • Christ is the preeminent: • Teacher (e.g. Sermon on the Mount) • High Priest (cf. Epistle to the Hebrews) • Good Shepherd (cf. Jn 10)

9. Holy Orders: The Biblical Witness • Genesis 14: Melchizedek (antitype) • Exodus: The Priesthood of Aaron and the Levites • Numbers 11:24-25: The 70 Elders • Psalm 110:4 — “The LORD has sworn and will not waver: ‘You are a priest forever in the manner of Melchizedek.’” • Applied to Christ in both Hebrews and the Synoptic Gospels (cf. e.g. Mk 11:35-37)

10. Hebrews: Christ the Great High Priest • The Epistle to the Hebrews: Refers to Jesus as the Great High Priest. (emphasizes how Christ supersedes what came before him): • The High Priest in Judaism • Chosen Among Men • Entered the Holy of Holies Once a Year • Offered Sacrifice (both for himself and the people) • Jesus: • Greater than the angels, like his brothers in every way. (Cf. Heb 2:17) • Entered the Holy of Holies Once for All (Cf. Heb 9:26) • Both Priest and Victim: “Offered once to take away the sins of many” (Heb 9:28)

11. History of Holy Orders • Ordo: A group within society. • In antiquity, there were a number of “orders” such as the Order of Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Subdeacons, Virgins, Penitents, etc. • Over time, theology developed and recognized that the ordination which permitted a man to preside over the Eucharist was its own Sacrament.

12. Vatican II • Three Degrees to the Sacrament of Holy Orders: • Bishops = Christ the Good Shepherd • Priests = Christ the Great High Priest • Deacons = Christ the Servant • Character Sacrament: Cannot be repeated.

13. Two Particular Issues • Celibacy: With very few exceptions, all Roman Rite priests are required to remain celibate (unmarried). Why? • Image of Christ the Bridegroom. • Freedom to Serve God with an Undivided Heart. • Prophetic Sign: Soldiers and Prophets in Antiquity • Ordination of Men Alone: Due to the priest’s unique role in serving as an image of Christ, only men may be validly ordained as priests. (Cf. St. John Paul II,OrdinatioSacerdotalis, 1994.)

14. Part Two The Rite of Ordination of Priests

15. Election of the Candidate • After the proclamation of the Gospel, a deacon calls all the ordinandi by name, and they respond: “Present.” • A Priest who assisted in the ordinandi’s training says: “Most Reverend Father, holy mother Church asks you to ordain these, our brothers, to the responsibility of the Priesthood.” • Bishop: “Do you know them to be worthy?” • Priest: “After inquiry among the Christian people and upon the recommendation of those responsible, I testify that they have been found worthy.” • Bishop: “Relying on the help of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, we choose these, our brothers, for the Order of the Priesthood.” • The homily follows.

16. Promise of the Elect • The ordinandi then make six promises: • To faithfully carry out the office of the priesthood. • To “exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, preaching and teaching the Catholic faith.” • To “celebrate faithfully and reverently, in accord with the Church’s tradition, the mysteries of Christ” especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation. • To pray constantly for the people of God. • To “be united more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a pure Sacrifice, and with him to consecrate yourselves to God for the salvation of all?” • Respect and obedience to the Bishop.

17. Central Rites • Litany of the Saints: Ordinandi prostrate themselves. • The Laying on of Hands (essential matter) • The Prayer of Ordination (essential form)

18. Post-Ordination Rites • The new priests, now ordained, now undergo four explanatory rites which show clearly how their lives have just changed: • Vesting with Stole and Chasuble:The new priests are clothed in their priestly vestments. • Anointing of the Hands with Chrism: “The Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God.” • Handing Over of Bread and Wine: “Receive the oblation of the holy people, to be offered to God. Understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross. • Sign of Peace with the Bishop and Other Priests Present

19. Part Three The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony

20. Marriage: A Definition • CIC c. 1055 §1. The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized. • c.1056: The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility, which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness by reason of the sacrament.

21. Three Meanings • The word marriage carries three possible meanings. These meanings are independent; a given marriage may meet one or more definitions: • Legal Marriage: An entity in civil law; the Church has nothing to do with this definition. • Valid Marriage: An entity in natural law; the Church has discerned this definition by reflecting on human nature, but it is not exclusively governed by the Church. • Sacramental Marriage (= Holy Matrimony): An entity in divine law; the Church exercises exclusive jurisdiction over this type of marriage.

22. Matthew 19:8-9 • [Jesus] said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.“ • A valid sacramental marriage is indissoluble, even if a couple obtains a civil divorce.

23. An Aside: Matthew 19:12 • “Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.“ • Both marriage and celibacy are part of Christ’s plan for the Church.

24. Ephesians 5:25-27 • “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her 26 to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, 27 that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” • The married couple is called to be a living image of Christ’s love for the Church.

25. Canonical Form • Catholics are obliged (in the Precepts of the Church) to observe the marriage laws of the Church. Specifically, this means that: • They either marry other Catholics or obtain a permission affirming their responsibility to do all in their power to raise their children Catholic. • They marry before a priest/deacon and two witnesses unless they obtain a dispensation (canonical form). • They regard marriage with the due seriousness with which the Church treats it: an unbreakable lifelong covenant.