A. Choose one of the following words and answer: holy Orders, marriage, community or initiation.

 1. All Christians participate differently the priesthood of Christ

    Jesus Christ-true and supreme priest of the New Covenant-reconciled us to God through the sacrifice of the cross, as a priest and victim. But having to continue the sacrifice, the Lord wished to communicate to the Church a participation of his priesthood, which is reached through the sacrament of Holy Orders.

     This unique participation is known as ministerial priesthood, which enables to act in the person of Christ, Head of the Church: bishops and priests.

     But we must say that the whole Church, founded by Christ, is a priestly people, so that-by Baptism- all the faithful participate in the priesthood of Christ. This is called the common priesthood of the faithful.

 2. The common and the ministerial priesthood are essentially different

   The ministerial priesthood differs essentially and not only in degree from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of their brothers. Those who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders are ministers of Christ, instruments which serves to continue his work of salvation in the world through the teaching, the worship and the pastoral governance.

 3. The institution of the sacrament of Holy Orders

    Christ chose his Apostles and at the Last Supper instituted the priesthood of the New Covenant. The Apostles and their successors in the priesthood were commanded that renew the sacrifice of the cross at Mass; and with these words: "Do this in memory of me" (Luke 22, 19), he instituted them as priests of the New Testament. The Day of Resurrection, he also conferred them the power to forgive or retain sins, giving them the power that he had.

     As the Apostles knew that the priesthood should continue in the Church when they died, after evangelizing a city and before leaving it, they laid hands to others communicating the priesthood (Timothy 1,6; Acts 14,23).

 4. The three degrees of the sacrament of holy Orders

    This sacrament has three degrees. The Episcopate and the Priesthood are various forms of ministerial participation in the priesthood of Christ. However, the diaconate is intended to help and to serve. Therefore, the term priest appoints bishops and priests but not deacons. However, the three degrees are conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders.

     Normally, when we speak of priests, it means the presbyters, and in the following numbers we refer to them, but there are things that can be applied to the bishops and deacons.

 B. Choose one of the following words and answer: ministerial, common, Lunch, Dinner, episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate.

 5. The priest is a man consecrated to God forever

    Under the sacrament of Holy Orders, the priest is minister of Christ, the mediator between God and men to worship God (worship, thanksgiving, satisfaction) and to communicate the grace to men.

     The powers that are granted are not temporary but permanent. People who receive this sacrament receive an indelible character and are priests forever. The character distinguishes the ordered from the other faithful: he participates in Christ's priesthood in an essentially different way. Along with the character, he receives other graces in the priestly consecration to resemble to Christ, so it can be said that every priest is another Christ.

     This sacrament can only be received by the baptized males that have the qualified conditions.

 6. Ministry of Priests

    We have seen that the priesthood gives authority to exercise the sacred ministry. The main manifestations of the ministry of priests are:

     a) To preach the Word of God. The priest exercises this ministry when he preaches the homily during Mass, when he teaches catechesis and on multiple occasions: meditations, retreats, religious doctrinal formation, etc.

     b) To administer the sacraments and especially to celebrate Mass. Since the Christian birthday to death, the priest is beside him helping with the sacraments. But the main ministry of priests is to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

     c) To lead the Christian people to holiness. The priests have the mission and duty as good shepherds to feed the flock entrusted to them by the bishop: with prayer and mortification, helping them in their needs, accompanying them in difficult times and with the irreplaceable task of spiritual direction, so that Men remove obstacles that impede receiving God's grace.

     d) To direct the official prayer of the Church to the Lord, with the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours. If all men should pray to honor God and ask for so many needs, the priest must do it all the more reason. He feels like nothing else miseries and real needs of men. Therefore, the Church has commanded that the priests pray the Divine Office daily. It is a cry that continually rises from earth to heaven, so that we can say that twenty-four hours a day the Church is officially praying through its ministers.

 7. The spiritual mission of the priest

    From everything we have seen, we can say that the priest's mission in the world is fundamentally spiritual: lead men to God, educate them in the faith and give them the grace of Christ contained in the sacraments. A priest is the minister of the whole Christian community and unity element. It is logical to distinguish him, even in his outer bearing, as ordered by the Church, and has completely filled the day with his priestly activity, without time to devote to other things, much less interfering with the tasks of the laity .

 8. Duties of the faithful towards priests

    Being so great dignity of the priest and so essential his function in the Church, it is logical that parents leave their children free to follow their vocation if God calls them to the priesthood. The faithful should pray for God will grant good shepherds and zealous ministers to the Church. They must profess great respect, veneration and love to the priests, considering them as what they are: ministers of Christ, parents and pastors of souls. Therefore, they should also help them generously in their material needs.

 Catechesis Course. Mister Jaime Pujol Balcells and Mister Jesús Sancho Bielsa. EUNSA. Navarra. 1982. With the permission of the authors.

 C. Choose one of the following words and answer: mediator, representative, tag, character, male or female.

 D. Indicates which mission of the priest refers: to preach the Word of God, to administer the sacraments and celebrate Mass, to guide the Christian people to holiness or to direct the Lord the official prayer of the Church.

  Catechisms Questions

 1. How is the priesthood of Christ participated in the Church?  The priesthood of Christ Church is participated in two fundamentally different ways: by the common priesthood, having all the baptized and the ministerial priesthood, which have received the sacrament of Holy Orders.

 2. Are there degrees in the sacrament of Holy Orders?  From the beginning the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: bishops, priests and deacons.

 3. What are the main functions of the priest?  The main functions of the priest are: preach the word of God, celebrate the Eucharist and the other sacraments and lead Christians to God the Father.

 D. Select the button for the correct answer. the possible answers are Below:

   Purposes of Christian life

 - To request to be many holy priests and receive with joy the vocation to the priesthood, if God calls.

 - To deal with love and respect to all known priests of the parish, school...

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