JESUS CHRIST HIGH PRIEST

23 MAY FEAST OF JESUS CHRIST, THE ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST.

Our Lord Jesus Christ Eternal High Priest

It’s not often in one week that we celebrate two new feasts added recently to the liturgical calendar, but that is what happens next week, the first week after Pentecost. On Monday, we celebrate the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (see below) but on Thursday we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest. There may be over 400,000 ordained priests in the worldwide Catholic Church and, of course, all of us by our Baptism are made priests. But really there is only one priest, our great High Priest, Jesus Christ Himself. He is the mediator between God and humanity. It is in His priesthood that we all share in our various ways. Jesus is also the Victim that is offered, for on Calvary the offering He made was of Himself for the salvation of the world. That Victimhood we too share by offering up ourselves and all that goes into our daily life. Thus the Letter to the Hebrews says: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4: 14-16).