Respect Shown To Ecclesiastical Superiors

"We are ambassadors for Christ; God, as it were, exhorting by us" (2

Cor. v. 20).



"As the Father sent me, I also send you" (John xx. 21).



"Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature"

(Mark xvi. 15).



THE respect Catholics have for the bishops and priests of the Church is

often a matter of surprise to those not of the Faith. They do not

unders and, as Catholics do, that the priests are "ambassadors for

Christ" sent to "preach the Gospel to every creature." For Christ

instituted the priesthood to carry on divine worship, to govern the

Church, to preach His doctrine, and to administer the sacraments.



As in the Old Law God chose His priests from among the family of Aaron,

so in the New Law He chooses them from among those whom His apostles and

their successors see fit to ordain. Priests and other ministers of the

Church receive in the sacrament of Holy Orders the power and grace to

perform their sacred duties. If we would but consider seriously for a

moment the importance of these duties and the great dignity of the

minister of God, we would have no difficulty in understanding the

reasonableness of the Catholic practice of showing profound respect to

God's priesthood.



The priest is the minister of Jesus Christ, who chose him that he might

obtain for himself the greatest good and in return bestow this good upon

his fellow-man. Jesus Christ chose him that he might aid Him in the work

for which He came on earth. What a noble mission! What important duties!

What a great dignity! To aid Jesus Christ in saving souls, to teach them

the truths of salvation, to loose them from their sins, to offer the

eucharistic sacrifice for them, to pray for them, to minister unto them,

and to fill them with Heaven's choice blessings; for such a high

mission, for such important duties did Jesus Christ choose the priest.

If his duties are so important, his dignity must be correspondingly

great.



On the banks of the Lake of Genesareth the Great Teacher chose Peter as

His vicar and head of His Church. As the pontiff could not be

everywhere, Peter and the other apostles imposed hands on others as the

needs of the growing Church demanded. They understood that it was by a

living, teaching ministry this work of salvation was to be carried on.

For we find it recorded in the 14th chapter of the Acts that Paul and

Barnabas ordained priests in Lystra and Iconium.



Paul also consecrated Titus Bishop of Crete, for the express purpose of

ordaining others. Thus we see that as Christ was sent by the Father, the

apostles by Christ, so, too, is the priest invested with the same power

"for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry and for

the edification of the body of Christ" (Eph. iv. 12), and that no one

but a priest divinely called, rightly ordained, and legitimately sent

has power from God to teach God's words to the faithful. He is the

ambassador of God, commissioned to do His work with His authority; the

vicar of Christ continuing the work He commenced; and the organ of the

Holy Ghost for the sanctification of souls. He is ever imitating his

model, going "about doing good." He devotes his life to alleviate the

sufferings of men. To spend one's life instructing man is but second in

importance to alleviating his sufferings. This the priest is ever doing.

He rescued us from barbarism; saved for us at the risk of his life the

Holy Scriptures, the classics of Greece and Rome, and the writings of

the Fathers; founded the great universities of Europe; and is to-day, as

in the past, the greatest educator in the world. He does all this for

love of God. Do you wonder, then, that Catholics love and revere their

priests?



Nowhere can there be found a body of men or a series of rulers so

venerable, so renowned for wisdom, justice, charity, and holiness, as

the Popes, bishops, and priests of the Catholic Church in every age,

from the time of Christ until the present.