Meditate on God’s Word

Exercising our Priestly Call

“Beloved: let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.” These are the words of St. Peter that we find in the second reading today. St. Peter exhorts us to see ourselves as priests. The Catechism says “the faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king” (CCC 1546).

What is the primary and essential act that priests perform? The answer is simply that priests offer sacrifices. The USCCB in their Pastoral Letter on Stewardship* says that “In exercising this office, [disciples] most fully realize the meaning of [their] Christian stewardship.

To be an authentic steward is to offer our God-given gifts back to God for the good of the Church and our parishes. Essentially, it is to sacrifice our lives for Christ, just as He sacrificed Himself for our salvation. That is why He is the true, high priest that we strive to emulate. The USCCB goes on to say that “part of what is involved here for Catholics is a stewardship of time, which should include setting aside periods for family prayer, for the reading of Scripture, for visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and for attendance at Mass during the week whenever this is possible.” Let us conclude this reflection by asking ourselves, how well are we living up to the call of being part of the royal priesthood of Christ?

Summary

The Catechism says that “the faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king.” The primary and essential act that priests perform is to offer sacrifices. Let us strive to be an authentic steward by sacrificing our time and gifts for Christ, especially in the little things, just as He sacrificed Himself for our salvation.