Hebrews 7:23-28 Contrasting Old Priesthood with Jesus High Priest

[WatchfulPilgrim]

Please help me put to death a long-standing mental-block I seem to have regarding these passages. I left the Catholic Church 13 years ago and slowly returned over the last 5 or so. These passages have nagged at me all the while, and no one in my parish has been able to help me understand a Catholic view of them.

My problem:

Are these passages not showing how inferior an earthly priesthood is, in terms of intercession? It says there were many priests because “death prevented them from continuing in office”, but “Jesus lives forever” and “is able to save completely those who come to God through him.”. If a priest must intercede for us through confession (for forgiveness) and Eucharist (for “life”/spiritual sustenance) for instance, then how is this priesthood better? It says that He is able to save those who come to God through Him, in contrast to previously having to go through a priest (one who would one day need to be replaced, b/c death would prevent him from continuing his office). “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.” - so here it contrasts the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus with the inferior priesthood of the past - but is today’s priest not also offering sacrifices day after day for his own sins and the sins of the people? (albeit, the one same sacrifice, but revisited day by day for the priest and the people)

I hope I described that well enough to clearly state my issue.

In summary…

OLD PRIESTHOOD:

1. Mortal priesthood that needs constant replacement (due to death).
2. People must go through these mortal priests to come to God (intercede).
3. Need to offer sacrifices day after day.
4. Need to offer sacrifices for himself (as well as the people).
5. Men in all their weakness.

JESUS:

1. Lives forever.
2. Able to save completely those who come to God through Him.
3. Offered Himself once for all.
4. Sacrificed only for our sins.
5. Has been made perfect forever.

If one must have recourse to a priest to receive the life of Christ in the Sacraments, it seems to me to be a continuation of the inferior priesthood of old.

I just want to conclude by saying that I love my parish, and I love the Mass and go to Confession regularly. In practice, I am not opposed to these things, but at a time when parishes are closing and the numbers of priests retiring surpasses the number of seminarians being ordained, it is a scary thought to me that we may one day not have access to a local church at all.

Thank you in advance~

 

[BartholomewB]

The epistle to the Hebrews was written at a time when the Temple was still standing and sacrifices were still being practiced on a daily basis. Evidently there were Jewish Christians who had begun to harbor doubts, along the lines of “We have the Temple and the priesthood to intercede for us before God. Why would we need Jesus as well?” In reply, the writer is arguing that the priesthood without Christ is not enough.

it is a scary thought to me that we may one day not have access to a local church at all.

Yes, that certainly seems to be where we’re headed in the long term. Like you, I find that prospect very worrying.

 

[midori]

Priests aren’t priests for themselves— they’re priests for us.

As the Cure d’Ars pointed out, the priesthood was established by the love of Jesus for us.

Jesus is the food of our souls; the priests are the ones who make ready the Feast and serve the Table.

 

[WatchfulPilgrim]

Yes, that does make sense of it, thank you.

 

[Isearch]

One must remember that the priesthood spoken about in the Letter to the Hebrews was the priesthood of Aaron, who was a mortal man who sinned by making an idol. But the priesthood of those churches with apostolic lineage have the priesthood of Christ, the sinless and eternal Son of God.

 

[porthos11]

There is a question and answer that hopefully helps with understanding the Christian priesthood.

Q. How many priests are there?
A. One.

The key thing is that the Catholic priest is exercising the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. This is where the term “in persona Christi” comes from.

The priesthood exists because Jesus is priest, and he ordained men to be his ministers. He commanded them to “do this in remembrance of me” and “whosoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” We have a recourse to a priest for the sacraments because Jesus exercises his eternal priesthood through his unworthy instruments in the wayfaring state, because that’s the way he ordained it to be.

Another way of putting it: “When Peter baptizes, Christ baptizes. When Judas baptizes, Jesus baptizes.”

“In persona Christi”