The Ordination of Priests

In earlier times, the priest was an especially esteemed and elevated per­son in the community. His advice was sought and accepted in all questions of conduct in life. Without him, a relation­ship to God was unthinkable. Today, humanity has come of age, and religion tends to be seen as an individual matter. The relationship to God has developed with as many facets as there are people. This is also true of the Christian religion.

Christ’s mission is to further the free­dom and growth of human beings. Especially in a modern Chris­tian church, there should be no fallback to old forms. Against this  background, it may seem surprising that there are priests in The Christian Community. What can the task of the priest be today, when each individual seeks their own reli­gious path?

Why Are Priests Needed Today?

Every human being can learn to pray and seek their own forms of prayer. Whoever prays knows the feeling that the ‘success’ of prayer varies, but also that the power of a prayer can in­crease when a number of people pray together.

The question remains whether prayer serves only one’s own feeling of wellbeing, or whether it can be truly effective beyond that. If prayer is to bring about the trans­for­ma­tion of substan­ces (bread and wine) and to in­tensify them into the sac­rament, then the pow­er of this prayer cannot be entirely de­pen­dent upon the mo­men­­tary personal situation of those present.

Through the Ordination, a hu­man being places their whole being in lifelong ser­vice of Christ. Through this, they are given something that far outstrips their personal abili­ties – the possibility of fulfilling the sacra­ments at the al­tar. They do not become better human beings through this; rather they make themselves available for a spiritual event, so that the religious paths of the individuals in the cogregation can become ‘con­cen­trated’ into the sac­rament.

The Priest’s Cross and the Three Tasks of the Priest

In the Act of Consecration of Man (link), those pre­­sent have several opportunities to make the sign of the cross over forehead, chin and breast. At the same time, the priest makes a large cross, enclosed in a circle. In the Ordi­na­tion of Priests, which is woven in­to the Act of Consecration of Man, the priest-to-be receives this cross, inscribed for the first time – a pic­ture for the three priest­ly tasks:

• The ver­tical, from above to below: pro­­claim­ing the Gospel to human beings;
• the horizontal: performing the sacramental ser­vices with other human beings;
• the circle around the centre: cul­tivating a pastoral relationship with human be­ings. What does this mean in concrete terms?

Proclaiming – Mediating the Message from Heaven

The first task appears to be simple, for anyone who can read is able to read the Gos­pel to others. What is meant by ‘pro­claim­ing the Gos­pel’, however, is that some­thing of the di­vine should be conveyed through the priest’s speaking. What comes from heaven as a spiritual mes­sage is to be conveyed as a living power.

Before the first Gospel Reading within the Or­dination, the stole is laid about around the neck and crossed over the breast: what streams from heaven as ‘eu-angelion’ – good news from the angels – is to pass  through the priest’s heart and become au­dible for the people. Thought and Word are to become streaming life.

Performing Sacraments – God’s Deed and Human Deed in One

The second task has to do with an ideal that every human being can have: that in every deed, God may be active. In order that this hope may become a reality at the al­tar, the priest-to-be is anointed with con­se­crated oil. With this substance, which has been blessed with the power of ‘making in­clined toward love,’ a cross is inscribed on the forehead and on the backs of the hands, and the candidate is touched three times on the crown of the head. Openings to the divine world are ini­tia­ted through which the acti­vity of Christ can flow into the priestly acti­vity.

Then the candidate receives the chas­u­ble, the vestment which is always worn to celebrate the Act of Consecration of Man, which is open at the sides. They are vested with an ability that is beyond their personal capa­cities. Their hands are free to do deeds in which divine powers are at work.

Becoming a Priest through the Affirmation of Others

The first Christians called themselves those ‘on the Way’. Becoming a priest means practising thinking of oneself as incomplete; as a perpetual beginner. In the Ordination, the candidate is addressed as ‘You, one who is be­coming…’

In addition, the priest must be aware that he is doing something that no one can do a­lone and out of themselves. In order to be ab­le to work as a priest, one needs threefold support: from the divine world, from human be­ings, and from the priests’ circle.

This necessity comes to expression in con­nection with the anointing, when the priest-to-be is affirmed three times: by the one per­for­ming the ordination, by the ser­vers, and fin­ally by all the priests present be­hind him, with a powerful ‘Yea, so be it’.

Pastoral Care – To Serve Christ Means to Serve People

The third task is the pastoral connection with peo­ple. It does not take the place of the aid and chari­table activity of others. Pas­tor­al care is more about finding and sup­port­ing the spiri­tual dimension of each unique and distinc­tive destiny.

Towards the end of the Ordination, the ce­le­brant, carrying the chalice, walks a circle a­round the assembled priests, thus creating an inner space. This forms a centre, from which the newly ordained priests are sent into their congregations. They are giv­en the task of ‘putting their own be­ing in con­nection with the being of the com­muni­ty’. Thus, pas­toral care is not merely about offering advice; it is about an existential relationship to the oth­er people person with one’s whole heart – while at the same time com­pletely honouring the other’s person’s freedom.

To help each person at the place where he is treading his own path, without laying this down from the outside – this is the concern of the pas­­tor in The Christian Community. In the re­newed form of con­fession, the Sacrament of Con­sul­ta­tion (see this link), this path can condense into a sac­ra­ment.

Hierarchy

The divine beings – the Angels and Archangels and other beings that appear in the Bible–are in a “sacred or­der”, a “hierarchy”, among one an­other. There­by they can work to­geth­er. A com­munity want­ing to work out of the power of the spiritual world also needs such an ordering, so that with­in this working together, sac­ra­ments can take place.

Within this order, every priest carries re­spon­sibility for his local congregation, and bears it in his consciousness; some priests for more than one con­gre­gation (‘Lenkers’); and a few for the whole Chris­tian Community (three ‘Ober­­len­kers’, of whom one is the ‘Erzober­len­ker’). Increasing re­sponsibility comes with such adminis­tra­tive functions, but the prestige, pow­er or economic status of the priest is not in­flu­enced thereby.

All priests grant the Lenkers and the Ober­len­kers the task of sen­ding them out to their place of work. This ensures before God and hu­man beings that the sacraments can be contin­uously cele­brat­ed in all congregations.

Written by Claudio Holland. Edited by Tom Ravetz

Further reading

Priests Today–A New Understanding of the Task, Ann Christine Klemm