As I once again viewed Mel Gibson’s powerful “The Passion of the Christ” last evening I was impressed with its various images of the priesthood. Today, Holy Thursday, we celebrate the institution of both the Eucharist and the priesthood of the New Covenant, for it was at the Last Supper that Our Lord bestowed that new priesthood upon His twelve apostles. The thing that struck me was how the very first thing those newly ordained priests did was to flee in fear, deserting their Master, the one and true High Priest, as He was being arrested in the Garden of Olives. Only St. John remained somewhat loyal to his Master and would stand with Jesus’ mother at the foot of the cross. Judas distinguished himself as the very first apostate priest by actually betraying Our Lord to his enemies who, ironically, were also members of another priestly class. Peter denied that he even knew his Master and the other nine disappear until well after the Resurrection.

And how is it that the Jewish priests, who should have been first to recognize and welcome their Messiah, not only blindly failed to do so but became his active persecutors, arousing the crowds to demand the brutal execution of their true High Priest and king? Yet the Scriptures had long predicted that it must be this way – while those who knew the Scriptures the best utterly failed to recognize their fulfillment, accomplished by virtue of their own wicked malice. The Jewish Aaronic priesthood was to be the prototype and progenitor of a new and more complete priesthood established by Christ, yet at the crucial moment both old and new priesthoods stumbled and failed badly. One suspects that God had a purpose in all this, namely to show the hopeless condition in which sin places all of mankind, even those called to priestly dignity. Our human frailty, selfishness, and perverse natures needed to be clearly demonstrated so that man could see himself as he truly is, and not as he might vainly imagine himself to be.

God needed to humble even the best representatives of mankind, His priests, because exaltation invariably leads to pride, the very thing that had subjected man to Satan in the first place. Only God could purify man from the malignancy of pride and thus free man from his subservience to that ancient ‘father of pride,’ the devil. Christ’s terrible passion and death serves as an object lesson, especially for modern man whose inflated sense of self-sufficiency draws him ever further away from a humble attitude and childlike dependence on God, not only for his material needs but more importantly for his eternal good. It seems that in every generation this basic lesson needs to be reintroduced.

I think how the old saying, “the corruption of the best is the worst,” applies even more to the priesthood. Tragically we were reminded of that truth recently with the death of a former priest and cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, a man of great capabilities who turned them to the most foul uses. Caiaphas and Judas were not historical anomalies but precursors of that most pathetic of all mortals, the fallen priest. McCarrick’s downfall lay in his talents, easy success, and popularity – perhaps the most difficult temptation of all to suppress. But he demonstrates once again how broken human nature never changes – and why Christ’s humiliation as a means to overcome sin is the pattern that we too must accept. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15)

Much of today’s priesthood is in sad disarray, especially in the higher episcopal ranks, yet we can take heart from St. Paul’s words to the Hebrews. Paul well understood that even God’s chosen representatives walk on feet of clay. “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God… He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.” (Heb. 5:1-2) I think many lay Catholics today struggle with striking the right balance in dealing with their priests. We need to develop a proper respect for the dignity which such a high office bestows on the man without resorting to a fawning attitude. Too many I fear want to flatter the clergy, especially in those moments when we ought to be holding them accountable, though always with deepest respect.

There are also many elements in today’s society which openly despise the priesthood, and others who hold priests in contempt, often for the faults of other clerics – guilt by association. It is without a doubt a difficult and often thankless vocation, especially when screaming headlines love to make priests out to be moral monsters. At the same time we have all experienced those clerics (Fr. ‘Rock Star’) who seem to value popularity more than fidelity to the true and unchanging teachings of the Church. This can be just as painful to witness as watching some good priest being slandered or wrongfully persecuted. But if we truly value and love our priests, whether good, bad, or simply burned out (as many today are) then we must give them our affection and moral support. Most importantly we must pray for them unceasingly. I suggest picking one particular day of the week, such as Thursday when Christ instituted the priesthood, and dedicate it to fasting and praying for priests and bishops.

Like Peter and the other apostles priests become special targets of the devil who fully realizes that if he can ruin the priesthood the whole world will be his. So spiritually befriend some priest, anonymously if need be, and pray for that one every day. The stakes are immensely high when you consider that every priest has the power to drag innumerable souls into hell or to lead them into heaven. For the priesthood is not just a job but an eternal calling from on high. The most foolish thing one could do is to take any priest for granted. Without the priesthood none of our own sins could be forgiven, meaning that our very salvation depends to a great extent on those priests who serve us. And always be grateful to Our Lord Jesus Christ for the great gift these men represent. A blessed Easter to all!

Francis J. Pierson +a.m.d.g.