OK, it’s been 5 months since I’ve been online. This is not unusual. I’m still working through what it means to be a priest, whether presbyteros or hiereus but in the interest of full disclosure, most of these ideas come from a book written many years ago by a wonderful, witty and somewhat strange priest, Robert Farrar Capon. In his book An Offering of Uncles Capon examines the priesthood of Adam and the priesthood of Christ. In both of these he uses the meaning hiereus. His primary assertion is that Adam, as a figure representing all humankind, was created to be a priest and thus all human acts, intentionally or not, are priestly acts. But that leaves us with a conundrum and that’s where I pick up after the long delay:
The role of the hiereus priest is the transformation of the ordinary through oblation. Phew! That was loaded with jargon. However, jargon is a shortcut for a longer declaration, so let me try that instead. When we offer and embrace others in the love of God, change happens. Not big headline change, but a quiet and small change that has depth which shows itself slowly and in ways that build meaning and joy in life.
If that was all there was to it then life would look a lot different than it does. The painful reality is not all priestly offerings build meaning and joy. We are priests. We are created to be priests. All our offerings are priestly offerings. But that means that betrayal, abuse, deceit and other equally sinful acts are priestly offerings that rob meaning, rob joy from those caught up in the offering. Such offerings are part of a Mass, but it is Black Mass of unmeaning. Our world is full of such masses of unmeaning: the greed and immorality of the financial frauds behind the Great Recession; the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teens and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teen; schools shootings, innumerable incidents of stalking, spousal and child abuse, drug violence and even the tediously vile political advertisements and social media postings all evidence the human propensity for offering Black Masses of unmeaning. In the overwhelming tide of such awful priestly acts it seems like the priestly acts of building and blessing are like fighting all of Hell with a water pistol.
The problem we face is that the priesthood of Adam cannot be both the problem and the solution. A new priesthood is needed, not based in human history, but entering from outside. That’s just what has happened. A new priesthood, which is a fulfillment of old promises, is already on the ground. The nature of that priesthood and how we can participate in it will be the subject of the next posting — hopefully before the end of the year!
The Apprentice Priest 
That’s a thought provoking insight into humanity Jack. Thanks.
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Well written my friend.
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Very thought provoking. It will take some time to work through this, but, thank you.
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Wonderful presentation, Fr Jack! More than thought provoking, but rather, insightful. In what you have written, I cannot help but wonder where you would place, “…you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek…” (Heb 7:17). Perhaps both hiereus as well as presbyteros? Inside and outside? Nonetheless, what you have given is priceless! A merry and blessed Christmas to you and Dori!
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