If the nature of the O.T. priesthood/authority changed over time, why would it be impossible for the N.T. priesthood/authority to change?

[DrumminFool91]

A co-worker of mine is arguing that scripture shows that priesthood and authority constantly being given and taken away, often times due to misdeeds of the priest or group of priests in the Old Testament. His argument is that due to corruption and false teachings preached by the Church, God allowed the nature of the priesthood and priestly authority to change during the so-called Reformation in fulfilment of Matthew 16:18 (the gates of Hell not prevailing against the Church). I think he’s wrong but my argument is basically that he is misinterpreting Matt 16:18. Is there any other support I can look to in scripture?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear friend,

The Old Testament priesthood didn’t just happen to pass away. It was fulfilled by Jesus who is the eternal priest. The priesthood which He shares with His priests, has never changed in its nature. It is impossible for the real nature of Christ’s priesthood to change because He is God. God didn’t allow the nature of His priesthood to change during the Protestant Reformation. His Church roundly condemned the Protestant reformers for their error in this. Because of their failure to preserve the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist, they lost the ability to validly ordain future priests. When the Eucharist is divorced from the sacrifice of Calvary, it eventually reduces to the merely symbolic meal that so many Protestant denominations have now. Certainly, the real presence became a real absence. No one ever refers to a sacramental Protestant priesthood.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.