What Are You Looking For? Part 2: The Liturgy and the Sacraments

The Sacrament of Holy Orders: Who Receives the Sacrament

The Sacrament of Holy Orders: Who Receives the Sacrament

            There sometimes is a misconception about the sacrament of Holy Orders.   It is reserved solely for bishops, priests and deacons.  Not all brothers, friars, monks, etc. receive Holy Orders.  Only those that are also priests or bishops do.  No woman can ever receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.  “’Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination.’  The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to from the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry.  The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return.  The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself.  For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.” (CCC 1577)

            With some women, this is not a very popular teaching of the Church, but if you really look at it, it makes perfect sense.  Going all the way back to the Old Testament we find the first High Priest chosen by God to be Moses’ brother, Aaron, not his sister, Miriam.  The Levitical priesthood was always handed down to the males, not the females.  Why would this be?  Did God not think women were capable enough to be a major part of salvation history, or was the world so patriarchal that a woman would be unacceptable?  The answer to both of those questions is “no”.  There were priestesses in pagan religions even back then, so socially it was acceptable.  As for God not thinking women were capable enough to be part of salvation history, the first gospel, the Protoevangelium would not have been given to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.”  (Genesis 3: 15 NABRE)  God had a special, unique role for women, which would ultimately be fulfilled in the Blessed Mother, Mary.

            In the Old Testament, God chose men to be his priests because in the fullness of time he would send his only Son, “born of the Father before all ages” to suffer, die and rise again from the dead.  His only begotten Son, Jesus, would become our High Priest.  When Jesus chose the Apostles who would carry out his ministry after his Ascension, he chose men.  “In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth.  This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis. (in the person of Christ the Head)  It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. (CCC 1548)

            If you look at this in simple terms, you could think of it like this: If you were casting a movie on the life of Christ, who would you choose to play Jesus?  Would you choose a man or a woman?  What about casting St. Peter?  What about casting Mary?  We would no more think of casting an actress to play Jesus than we would an actor to play Mary, because historically Jesus, St. Peter, and all of the apostles were men.  Just as historically Mary was a woman.  How could a woman truly act in persona Christi Capitas?  How can she truly represent Christ Jesus in every way?

            Just because women can’t be priests doesn’t mean that God sees women as less than men.  The greatest human who ever lived, the one the Enemy hates more than all others, even more than God himself, is a humble, simple peasant girl from Israel.  Her name is Mary.  She is the one all women should strive to be like.  She is the one all great female saints strove to be like.  She never tried to be something she was not created to be.  She is the Mother of God.  She raised him, she taught him.  She prayed for him and supported him.  She draws all of us to him.  That’s what women are created to do.  We are created to draw people to Christ.  We are created to draw them, through our prayer, our love and our gentleness to the Church.  As women we need to stop focusing on what we were never created by God to do and focus instead on what we are created by God to do.