Easter 5, Morning after thoughts...

Good morning!

Well, like I mentioned yesterday, this passage from 1Peter 2 was something that Luther made a pretty big deal about during the Reformation era. I chose not to concentrate so much on that angle, as much as I did on the textual angle of being both "living stones" in a new temple *and* offering "priestly sacrifices" as holy people.

But, maybe you're wondering just what is the current thinking in the Church of Rome regarding something as "Protestant" as the "Priesthood of all believers." And before I attempt to answer that question I should include the caveat that whenever we try to answer the question what does Rome believe about this or that...the same pitfalls exist as when others try to answer the question "what do Lutherans believe about this or that?" For example: What do Lutherans believe about ordaining women? What do Lutherans believe about praying with other Christians? What do Lutherans believe about who can preach or celebrate the Lord's Supper? Bottom line: IT DEPENDS! It depends on which Lutherans you ask. Well, something of the same issue exists even in the Church of Rome. His Holiness the Pope just visited the USA. If we could've asked him what he thought of the priesthood of all believers, we would've received an 'up-to-the-minute' ruling on the matter, as--after all--the Pope IS the voice of what the Roman Church believes.

Since we weren't able to ask him, though, I would like instead to turn to a volume in the "Days of the Lord" series. This series is put out by Liturgical Press, a Roman Catholic publisher, and was introduced in the early 90s, so would qualify as basically recent. Specifically, these books are commentaries on the Sunday readings, designed to aid in sermon preparation & development. Here's what the appropriate volume has to say about this passage of 1Peter:

"The appellation "holy priesthood," "royal priesthood," has sometimes been taken to mean that every baptized person is in fact a priest, in our common understanding of the term. Certainly, for some centuries, the Catholic Church has avoided insisting on the priestly character of all the baptized. Today, with certain controversies being toned down, the "common priesthood of the faithful" has once again taken its rightful place in the Church's doctrine. There is a real participation in the priesthood of Christ. This has important consequences for participation in the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, for prayer, and for the duties of the laity in the apostolate. Distinct from that of ordained priests, the "common priesthood of the faithful" allows for a better understanding of the nature and function of the ministerial priesthood within the priestly people, as well as the indispensable complementarity of both. Peter is clearly speaking of the proclamation of the gospel that falls to all. Actually, today perhaps more than ever, the spreading of the good news demands that all believers take on responsibility for it, according to individual vocations and charisms. It is just as great a mistake, for the same reasons, to ignore the evangelizing ministry of the laity as of the priesthood."

All in all, I'm not sure that Martin Luther could've expressed the idea better himself!
Does that mean that the Catholic Church is now Protestant? No, of course not.....but if anything it shows that it is important to read & listen to what the various church bodies are saying **today**. If there's a lesson in here, it's that too often we tend to refer to the polemical documents of the reformation era--documents that were crafted in the heat of battle. It's amazing to note that after a few hundred years when everyone has calmed down, at least some of the differences that do exist no longer appear to be light years apart.

Cheers!

TM