- Eucharist
- Holy Orders
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- Excellent website
devoted to Vocations and the Eucharist:
www.therealpresence.org
Eucharist
The Holy Eucharist is the oldest experience
of Christian Worship as well as the most distinctive. Eucharist comes
from the Greek word which means thanksgiving. In a particular sense, the
word describes the most important form of the Church's attitude toward
all of life. The origin of the Eucharist is traced to the Last Supper
at which Christ instructed His disciples to offer bread and wine in His
memory. The Eucharist is the most distinctive event of Catholic worship
because in it the Church gathers to remember and celebrate the Life, Death,
and Resurrection of Christ and, thereby, to participate in the mystery
of Salvation.
Real
Presence
The simplest way to express what Christ asks us to believe
about the Real Presence is that the Eucharist is really He. The Real Presence
is the real Jesus. We are to believe that the Eucharist began in the womb
of the Virgin Mary; that the flesh which the Son of God received from
His Mother at the Incarnation is the same flesh into which He changed
bread at the Last Supper; that the blood He received from His Mother is
the same blood into which He changed wine at the Last Supper. Had she
not given Him His flesh and blood there could not be a Eucharist.
We are to believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ - simply, without qualification. It is God become man in the fullness of His divine nature, in the fullness of His human nature, in the fullness of His body and soul, in the fullness of everything that makes Jesus Jesus. He is in the Eucharist with His human mind and will united with the Divinity, with His hands and feet, His face and features, with His eyes and lips and ears and nostrils, with His affections and emotions and, with emphasis, with His living, pulsating, physical Sacred Heart. That is what our Catholic Faith demands of us that we believe. If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are. ---Father John A. Hardon S.J.
Holy
Orders
Origins
Like Jewish synagogues, early Christian congregations were organized under
the leadership of elders. In the New Testament, the terms elder and bishop
are interchangeable. Although mentioned rarely, deacons are always referred
to in association with bishops, whose assistants they were. The early
church may have recognized only these two orders, as most Protestants
argue. The emergence of a third order can perhaps be identified, however,
in the figures of Timothy and Titus, recipients of the letters that bear
their names, who had authority over bishops and deacons. The process of
establishing a threefold ministry probably varied in different localities,
but three distinct orders - bishops, presbyters, and deacons - were recognized
by the 2nd century.
Priesthood
Individual Christian ministers were not called priests until the 3rd century,
when the term was first applied to bishops because of their role as celebrants
of the Eucharist. The term priest (Latin sacerdos) implies a sacrificial
ministry, and the Eucharist was regarded as sacrificial because of its
mystical relation to the sacrifice of Christ. When presbyters were authorized
to celebrate the Eucharist in the 4th century, they too were called priests.
Today, the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches regard bishops,
priests, and deacons as constituting holy orders. Because both bishops
and presbyters function as priests, the Roman Catholic church, until the
Second Vatican Council, considered priests (including bishops and presbyters),
deacons, and subdeacons as the three orders.
The Sacrament
The sacrament of holy orders is conferred in three ranks: bishops, priests,
and deacons.
Bishops (episcopoi) are those who have care of multiple congregations and have the task of appointing, ordaining, and disciplining priests and deacons. They are often called 'evangelists' in the New Testament. Examples of first century bishops include Timothy and Titus (1 Tim. 5:19-22, 2 Tim. 4:5, Titus 1:5).
Priests (presbuteroi) are also known as "presbyters" or "elders." In fact, the English term "priest" is simply a contraction of the Greek word "presbuteros." They have the responsibility of teaching, governing, and performing the sacraments in a given congregation (1 Tim. 5:17, Jas. 5:14-15).
Deacons (diakonoi) are the assistants of the bishops and have the task of teaching and administering certain church functions, such as the distribution of food (Acts 6:1-6).
Articles
Activities, etc.
Related Catechism
US Conference of Catholic Bishops Website
www.usccb.org