Christian Vocation: Ordained Ministry of Priesthood

The Church is the foundation of Christian community but this founded values and moralities by
Christ cannot be spread without His instruments like the leaders of the Church like the priests in the
community. They serve as a deliverer of God’s Gospel to us.

Priesthood is defined as a sacred covenant with God and Church that is being dedicated to
creating sacred communities that prepare, equip, and send disciples in Christ’s mission. This would mean
that priests have a big role in the society on molding the value of a certain community.

The ordained ministry of priesthood is willed by Christ, which is essential to the Church, for
through it the saving act of the Lord becomes sacramentally and historically present in all generations.
This ministry is necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ in which this vocation is realized. As we
examine on the New Covenant, there is no other priesthood than of Jesus Christ. This priesthood
supersedes all the old priesthood. Christ alone portrayed the perfect sacrifice by the offering made of
himself to the will of the father.

The episcopal and presbyteral ministry, therefore, is priestly, in as much as it makes the ministry
of Christ present in effective proclaiming of the Gospel, in bringing together and leading the Christian
community, in the repentance of sins, and in the celebration of Holy Eucharist/Divine Worship by which
in a special manner the one sacrifice of Christ is actualized. Thus, the Christian who is called to the priestly
ministry receives by his ordination not a merely external function but a new sharing in the priesthood of
Christ, by virtue of which he represents Christ at the head of the community and, as it were, facing the
community. The ministry is therefore a specific way of exercising the Christian service in the Church. This
specific character is seen especially in the priest’s role of presiding at the Eucharist, a role that is necessary
for the full realization of the Christian worship. The preaching of the word and the pastoral office are
ordered toward the Eucharist, which consecrates the Christian’s entire life in the world.

The role of priests is very clear that they serve as a teacher and a pastor in this world to help the
community understand its own story in terms of God’s saving act in history. As we go back to history,
many priests acted as against to the will of Christ, many of them committed immorality that lead into a
cause that people do not believe in them and somehow feared upon them but as we look now, those dark
days were gone and we can see that most priests now acted in the light of Jesus Christ wants them to
behave upon.

Therefore, the vocation of priesthood is an act of full-voluntary commitment to Christ and Chuch
that as much as possible he must portray the life of Christ and bringforth the Gospel coming from the
Almighty to all people in the world. Lastly, according to Ezra Taft Benson, “The privileged of holding the
priesthood which is the power and authority to act in God’s name, is great blessing and privilege and one
that carries with it equally great obligations and responsibilities.