So... are the priest's christ?

[Pathway2]

I am trying to understand what the role of the priest in confession and the Eucharist. Please explain what the role is about, the origins and how it theologically works.

 

[Vico]

I am trying to understand what the role of the priest in confession and the Eucharist. Please explain what the role is about, the origins and how it theologically works.

Holy Orders are given at three levels, the diaconate (deacons), the presbyterate (priests), and the episcopate (bishops). The priests and bishops can act in persona Christi.

Catechism

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

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

1558 "Episcopal consecration confers, together with the office of sanctifying, also the offices of teaching and ruling. . . . In fact . . . by the imposition of hands and through the words of the consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is given, and a sacred character is impressed in such wise that bishops, in an eminent and visible manner, take the place of Christ himself, teacher, shepherd, and priest, and act as his representative (in Eius persona agant)."37 "By virtue, therefore, of the Holy Spirit who has been given to them, bishops have been constituted true and authentic teachers of the faith and have been made pontiffs and pastors."38

Canon law (CIC):

Can. 1008 By divine institution, some of the Christian faithful are marked with an indelible character and constituted as sacred ministers by the sacrament of holy orders. They are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God by a new and specific title.

Can. 1009
§1. The orders are the episcopate, the presbyterate, and the diaconate.
§2. They are conferred by the imposition of hands and the consecratory prayer which the liturgical books prescribe for the individual grades.
§3. Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity.

 

[End_Timer]

Hope this helps

“Today the Lord said to me, ‘Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy.

Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul

 

[runningdude]

God the Father is the ultimate source and authority.

• Christ, God the Son, rules by his side.
• Christ is a priest, prophet, and king.
• Christ appointed Peter to rule his church on Earth. Church means the assembly of the faithful.
• Christ, as a priest, baptized, anointed, shared his body (communion), and laid his hands upon Peter and the apostles, commanding them to do the same among the faithful.
• The apostles, and their appointees, the bishops, serve Christ, and pass on his grace.
• The bishops appoint priests and deacons to aid them by laying their hands upon them (ordination).

The sacraments provide a human connection to Christ, by mediating his grace through human actions. Ultimately, all graces flows from God the Father, down though Christ and the church, for the salvation of man.

 

[guanophore]

I am trying to understand what the role of the priest in confession and the Eucharist. Please explain what the role is about, the origins and how it theologically works.

This article may help you.

 

[PJM]

At the instant of transubstantiation {the instant the bread and wine actually BECOME Jesus Christ in Person} and again at the instant of absolution in Confession the Priest is miraculously transformed into “Alter Christi” ; ANOTHER CHRIST.

The term is theological; but based upon the realities of both Sacraments; both of which were {ARE} instituted by Jesus Himself. 1st Cor 11:23-30 & John 20: 19-23

Hope this answers your question?

Easter Blessings,
Patrick

 

[TheLittleLady]

This article from the Catechism should help:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a6.htm