Holy Order: Priests - Page 3

Index

The duties and work of priests

Let us see what a priest’s real work is.  Briefly, it is to honour God by administering the Sacraments of the Church, by teaching the Catholic Faith, and by saving souls.

Offering worship to God

The first duty is the first duty of everyone, to offer worship to God.  And in the case of a priest that means to act for Our Lord, the Heavenly High Priest, by celebrating the Eucharist, in which Our Lord both offers himself, and is offered by us, to God, and also brings us before his Father’s Throne

Honouring God: saving souls

The second duty of priests is to honour God by turning people from their sins; in other words, to save their souls.  The teaching of the Catholic Faith and preaching will often have this as its purpose.  Furthermore, an important part of the work of priests is hearing confessions and giving God’s complete forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) to those who are truly sorry for their sins.  Priests, like the Apostles, are called by Our Lord to be “fishers of men” (Jerusalem Bible, Mark 1:17), which means catching souls for him, catching those who very often are unwilling to be caught until they actually are.

Honouring God: helping people to follow Jesus

The third duty of priests is to honour God by leading their people in the way of holiness and helping them to become like Jesus himself.  To do this, they will teach the Catholic Faith and in their preaching they will hold up Our Lord before their people as their example and persuade them to follow that example themselves, teaching them how to live and to die as the children of God.  And in the Sacraments, and especially in Holy Communion, priests are there to give their people, from Our Lord himself, all the strength and life they need in order to do this.

Besides the powers which we have already mentioned, priests are also given power to bless.  It may be the people, as at the end of the Eucharist, or it may be things, such as the water used in the Sacrament of Baptism, or holy water, or a new house or a crucifix.