I read your reply with great interest. I don’t agree with everything you espouse. I believe that organized religions serve to primarily perform the same function - maybe just slightly nuanced - but the same function and objectives. In regards to your opinion that priests don’t consider it a job. That’s a bit naïve and an interesting assertion. I would say it’s a (vocation) and a job. They call it a vocation. They draw a paycheck from the dioceses just like any other important and vital craft (e.g., surgeon, soldier, police officer, firefighter, EMS). A priest and a pastor serve essentially the same mission of serving God and saving soles (whether you are Catholic or Protestant). With that said, in the end, it won’t matter if you were a Catholic or protestant, it’s how you live your life and what’s in your heart. Take care.
If you really are Catholic as your profile says you are, then you might want to do a little reading of the Catechism. (emphasis mine)
"
In the person of Christ the Head . . .
1548 In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. ***This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis:***23
- It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi).24
Code:
Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.25
VI. WHO CAN RECEIVE THIS SACRAMENT?
1577 "Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination."66 The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry.67 The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.68
1578 **No one has a right to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it by God.**69 Anyone who thinks he recognizes the signs of God’s call to the ordained ministry must humbly submit his desire to the authority of the Church, who has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive orders. Like every grace this sacrament can be received only as an unmerited gift.
1579 All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."70 Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to "the affairs of the Lord,“71 they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church’s minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God.72”
The Priest personifies Jesus to His people, and to His Church. Jesus is the Bridegroom and His Church is His Bride. A woman can never be seen as a personification of Jesus, or as a “Bridegroom”. That’s why a woman can never be a Priest in the Catholic Church.
