Sharing The Mission Of Christ, Priest, Prophet, and King – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; September 29, 2024

Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!

Moses´s wish appears to arise from his exasperation in trying to govern a recalcitrant and rebellious people that seems incapable of receiving and understanding God’s word. How much easier if they were all prophets, guided by the Holy Spirit, endowed with the wisdom from above, which is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. (Jm 3:17). At the same time, Moses’s wish was itself a prophecy, a prophecy that was fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

Alas there is evidently some sort of blockage on the part of the people of God. If Jesus fulfilled Moses’s wish we are faced with two related questions: “If we are all prophets, why do we still need teachers?” And, “If we are all prophets, if we all know the truth, why do we not agree with one another and live in harmony?”

St. John wrote something that brings these questions to the fore: I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. (1 Jn 2:21) And, I write this to you about those who would deceive you; but the anointing [that is the Holy Spirit] which you have received from [Christ] abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. (1 Jn 2:26-27)

He is writing to the Christian faithful as if, indeed, they were prophets, who know the truth, who need no teacher because they have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit who teaches them all things. Why then does he need to write to them?

Now that we have the questions, let’s consider the matter in order, because it all involves Jesus as the Messiah, filled with the Holy Spirit, and the way in which he communicates the Holy Spirit to those who believe in him.

Jesus, the Son of God made man, is the Messiah or Christ, which means “anointed one”. In the Old Testament priests, prophets, and kings were anointed with olive oil which signified that they had been chosen by God for a mission on behalf of his people, which they were to fulfill in the power of the Holy Spirit. (cf. 1 Sam 10:1; 16:13) In the case of Jesus, as the very Son of God made man, he was anointed with the fulness Holy Spirit, given to him in the very conception of his sacred humanity so as to communicate it to his faithful. From his fulness we have all received. (Jn 1:16) He does this in his Church through the sacraments.

Baptism wipes out the stain of original sin and all actual sins; it makes the soul a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, who enriches the soul with the life of sanctifying grace, uniting the person to Christ, making him to be a true child of God and heir of heaven, and incorporates him into the Church as a member of Christ’s Body. (Cf. CCC 1262-1271) Baptism also stamps on the soul an indelible mark (called “character”) which sets the Christian aside as belonging to Christ and commissions him, we could say, to share in Christ’s own mission as priest, prophet, and king. (cf. Order of Baptism of Children, CCC 1273)

In the sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit is given anew, imparting a special strength and an additional character. The Catechism teaches us that Confirmation “gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross.” (CCC 1303, cf. 13-4) Confirmation then in particular makes the Christian share in Christ’s prophetic mission.

Baptism and Confirmation, then, impart both grace and character, the grace can be lost by mortal sin and the character can lie dormant as it were. For his part, Christ has given us and continues to give us all that we need. If the members of God’s people are not living as Christ, priest, prophet, and king, that means that they are failing to cooperate with the grace and neglecting the character. If Christ’s people do not agree in truth and live together in harmony, that is because of their infidelity and sin.

Let us consider a little what it means to share in Christ’s mission of priest, prophet, and king, reserving the prophetic mission, which is suggested by today’s 1^st reading, to last.

Jesus Christ, the High Priest, offered his own Body and shed his own Blood in sacrifice, according to the will of his Father, giving him glory and making expiation for our sins. He is both priest and sacrifice or victim. All the baptized are given to share in Christ’s priesthood and victimhood, but there is an order according to which they share.

The ordained priesthood visibly represents Christ’s priesthood in the Church, serving as his instruments in the continual offering of his Body and Blood, in an unbloody manner, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Through the sacraments, administered by the visible priesthood, the faithful are also given to share in Christ’s priesthood. The faithful, share in Christ’s priesthood by offering their own lives, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, everything they think, do, and say, their joys and their sorrows, through, with, and in Jesus Christ, who is offered in the Mass. In the words of St. Peter, offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pe 2:5) And they fulfill the exhortation of St. Paul: Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your reasonable worship. (Rm 12:1) They do this, in union with Christ, “for all who are dear to them, for the redemption of their souls, in hope of health and well-being, and paying their homage to … the eternal God, living and true.” (Roman Canon) Indeed, they do this begging God’s mercy, through Christ’s sorrowful passion, for themselves and for the whole world.

There is also an order of sharing in Christ’s royal mission. Before ascending into heaven Christ said to the Apostles, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. (Mt 28:18-19)

The ordained priesthood, especially the Pope and bishops, who are ordained in the apostolic succession, share in the royal mission of Christ by governing in his name his Church, which is the community of “disciples”, believing in Christ and learning his way of life.

How do the faithful share in the royal mission of Christ? The first step is actually to believe in and obey Christ the King. Believing in him and obeying his teaching we then govern and direct our own bodily life in accordance with the Gospel, in accordance with the law of charity. Then we seek also to set in order whatever small portion of this world has been entrusted to our care (whether a family, whether a particular task, whether a ranch or business, whether a job in which we are employed by another) according to the Gospel.

Finally, though, we cannot exercise the priestly or royal missions, without faith and without the understanding and intelligence that comes from faith.

It all starts in faith, living faith. That requires our sharing in the prophetic mission of Christ, listening to his word, seeking to understand his teaching, and allowing it shape our whole way of thinking and outlook on life. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rm 12:2) It is not enough, however, to hear the word of God, we must also put it into practice. (cf. Mt 7:24-25; Lk 11:28)

Here we need to see how the prophetic mission is also shared in due order, starting from Christ himself, who is the very Word of God made flesh. The order coming from Christ in his Body the Church is why there is still a need for teachers.

Sharing in the prophetic office of Christ does not mean, “I know and I can spout off whatever I feel like because now I am a prophet.” Rather, it requires the docility and humility to receive and to learn, so as to put into practice, to take responsibility to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, always to be prepared to give an answer to any one who asks for the reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence. (1 Pe 3:15)

We need, then, to see how it is that the faithful can be taught by the Holy Spirit and yet need the teaching authority (Magisterium) of the Church, how the Magisterium of the Church and the prophetic mission of the faithful work together.

The Magisterium sets forth, with authority, the teaching to be believed, as received from Christ, through his Apostles and recorded in Sacred Scripture. The Magisterium is the authentic interpreter of the word of God, in Scripture and Tradition. The Magisterium, however, is not above the word of God but in service of the word of God. (cf. Dei Verbum 10) That means that if what is said is in evident contradiction to the Gospel tradition, it is scandal and not teaching. In any case, under the guidance of the Magisterium, the faithful themselves must listen to the word of God in Scripture and Tradition. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. (Jn 10:27)

All the human words are guides, through which Christ speaks to us, but it is the Holy Spirit, teaching interiorly, who gives the understanding. That is what St. John means when he says that the “anointing” will teach us about everything. Through the gift of knowledge the Holy Spirit helps us distinguish between truth and error, between what is to be believed and what is to be rejected. Through the gift of understanding he gives us to understand the inner meaning and connection of what we believe. Through the gift of wisdom he gives us to savor the reality that has been made known to us.

Now, if a schoolboy does not pay attention, does not study, does not do his homework, and then takes the test asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten him, he can expect to fail. Yet, we all know that some people study very hard and learn the material but still the light does not go on and they never really grasp what they have learned. Others freeze up during the test. Others know the answers but just can’t think of them at the right time. They need the help of the Holy Spirit to understand and to remember.

Or we could consider an essay test given at the end of a class in sacred Scripture. The student has both listened to the teacher and read the Bible. On the essay test he displays his understanding of what he has learned from the Bible, under the guidance of the teacher. The teacher then grades the exam and gives his judgment and that judgment should be rather in accord with the meaning of the Bible than his own opinion. Both teacher and student should be seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

That gives us an idea of the role of the Magisterium; it does not substitute for but presupposes that the faithful are themselves engaged with God’s word; both should be seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in seeking to understand the word of God, which comes to us not just through Scripture, but also through Tradition.

Alas, that does not seem how it is working in practice. As I said at the outset there seems to be some sort of blockage on the part of the people of God. I would suggest that the blockage starts right here with their prophetic mission. Many of the baptized do not live out the royal and priestly mission of Christ because they are closed to his teaching. They are baptized but not really “faithful”.

I do not say this to point an accusing finger, but to state an observable fact. If we consider the gifts that Christ has bestowed on the baptized, if they were truly faithful to those gifts the world would be a far different place. If just one tenth of the baptized lived, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the priestly, prophetic, and royal missions of Christ, offering their lives through the Blood of Christ as a living sacrifice, governing their lives according to the teaching of the Gospel, which means living the law of charity, and bearing witness to Christ by word and deed, to each other and to the whole world, that would make a difference. If out of a world population of 8 billion there were 100 million living saints in the world? That many saints could not go unnoticed. The other 7.9 billion would either end up killing the 100 million or being converted themselves.

It must be acknowledged that the breakdown, the blockage, is found at every level of the Church. Everyone, from the Pope down to the least of the faithful is called to repentance.