Essence of Ministerial Priesthood = offering sacrifice in prayer to give glory to [God's] name Priestly scandal because some priests

failed to do this to a cataclysmic degree The same weakness is noted in the Gospel today, where the leaders of the Jews were not good models Call to conversion for all priests to continue to purify themselves We are all priests (Two participations in the one priesthood of Christ) CCC 1546 Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father." The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ's mission as priest, prophet, and king. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are "consecrated to be ... a holy priesthood." CCC 1547 The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, "each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ." While being "ordered one to another," they differ essentially. While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace --a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit--, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. Priest consecrate things to God in prayer. You are called to consecrate the particular circumstances of your life to God, to offer up all things: prayers, good works, joys, sufferings, trials, blessings. All is to be given to God through your baptismal sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. This is done especially at the Mass. General Instruction for the Roman Missal, after describing the ministerial priest, affirms the dignity and role of the common priesthood of the faithful at Mass (#5) : ...the celebration of the Eucharist is the action of the whole Church, and in it each one should carry out solely but totally that which pertains to him, in virtue of the place of each within the People of God. ... For this people is the People of God, purchased by Christ's Blood, gathered together by the Lord, nourished by his word, the people called to present to God the prayers of the entire human family, a people that gives thanks in Christ for the mystery of salvation by offering his Sacrifice, a people, finally, that is brought together in unity by Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ. This people, though holy in its origin, nevertheless grows constantly in holiness by conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the mystery of the Eucharist. A note on the words conscious, active, and fruitful, lest the true reality get lost in these words. The Mass is efficacious not by what we do, but by what God has done in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and by what he continues to do by making that mystery present to us in the great sacrament of the Eucharist. Our participation, our sharing, in the Mass is different depending on the roles we have I, the minister, participate differently than you all do, and have to enter into the prayer from a different perspective. Conscious and active participation is much more an interior action of the heart and soul than it is anything of the mind and body though these parts of the human person certainly play a serious part in the liturgy. What we are all called to do at Mass is pray, to adore God and glorify him this is what makes the Mass fruitful. This is true participation. Conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the Mass will make us all grow constantly in holiness. In light of this reality, I can truly say thanks be to God for this new translation of the Mass, which will help us all to enter into the mystery that we celebrate, to pray more deeply, to turn our hearts to always give glory to God, and offer spiritual sacrifices as we are called to do. If we approach this new Mass translation humbly, as servants after the heart of Christ who came to serve, we will find ourselves entering even more deeply into the greatest prayer of the Church, and the greatest mystery of our liturgical life, the Eucharist, the great Thanksgiving to God for our salvation.