A prefiguring

[CyrilSebastian]

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1541 states:

 The liturgy of the Church, however, see in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the instruction of the seventy elders, as prefiguring of the ordained ministry of the New Covenant.     

Please explain the prefiguring.

 

[Vico]

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1541 states:

 The liturgy of the Church, however, see in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the instruction of the seventy elders, as prefiguring of the ordained ministry of the New Covenant.     

Please explain the prefiguring.

Christ The High Priest was prefigured by the high priest Melchizedek (See Ge. 14:18-20) who was greater than Abraham and Levi.

The prefiguring of the ordained priesthood is by Aaron, the first high priest of the Israelites, which is the Levitical priesthood. 1541 The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the institution of the seventy elders,11 a prefiguring of the ordained ministry of the New Covenant. Thus in the Latin Rite the Church prays in the consecratory preface of the ordination of bishops:

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by your gracious word
you have established the plan of your Church.

From the beginning,
you chose the descendants of Abraham to be your holy nation.
You established rulers and priests
and did not leave your sanctuary without ministers to serve you…12
11 Cf. ⇒ Num 11:24-25.
12 Roman Pontifical, Ordination of Bishops 26, Prayer of Consecration.

Numbers 11
24 Moses therefore came, and told the people the words of the Lord, and assembled seventy men of the ancients of Israel, and made them to stand about the tabernacle.
25 And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, taking away of the spirit that was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the spirit had rested on them they prophesied, nor did they cease afterwards.

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