Chapter Three

MINISTERS OF THE SACRAMENTS

"Christ's servants, stewards of the entrusted with the mysteries of God" (1 Cor 4, 1)

1. "In persona Christi Capitis"

"The Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity".(⁴⁷) This sacramental dimension of the whole mission of the Church springs from her very nature as a reality which is "both human and divine, visible yet endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world but as a pilgrim".(⁴⁸) In the context of the Church as "universal sacrament of salvation",(⁴⁹) in which Christ "manifests and actualizes the mystery of God's love for men",(⁵⁰) the sacraments, privileged moments in communicating the divine life to man, are at the very core of priestly ministry. Priests are especially conscious of being living instruments of Christ, the Priest. Their function, in virtue of sacramental character, is that of men complying with the action of God through shared instrumental effectiveness.

Configuration to Christ in sacramental ordination places the priest at the heart of God's people. It allows him to participate in a way proper to him, and in conformity with the whole structure of the ecclesial community, in the triple munus Christi. The priest, acting in persona Christi Capitis, feeds the flock, the people of God, and leads them to sanctity.(⁵¹) Hence the need for credible witness to the faith in all aspects of priestly life and in his respect for and celebration of the sacraments.(⁵²) The classic doctrine, repeated by the Second Vatican Council, must always be borne in mind: "while it is true that God can accomplish the work of salvation through unworthy ministers, God nevertheless, ordinarily prefers to manifest his greatness through those who are more docile to the promptings and direction of the Holy Spirit, so much so that they can say of the apostolate, thanks to their own intimate union with Christ and holiness of life: ‘it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me'" (Gal 2, 20).(⁵³)

Priests, in celebrating the sacraments, act as ministers of Christ and, through the Holy Spirit, participate in a His priesthood in a special way.(⁵⁴) Hence the sacraments are moments of worship of singular importance for new evangelization. It must be recalled that they have become the only effective moments for transmitting the contents of the faith. While this is true for all the faithful, it is even more true for those who, having lost the practice of the faith, occasionally participate in the liturgy for family or social reasons (baptisms, confirmations, marriages, ordinations, funerals etc.). A credible life-style on the part of priests should be complemented "with a high standard of ceremony and liturgical celebration:(⁵⁵) it should not seek spectacle but truly ensure that "the human is directed toward and subordinate to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, this present world to the city yet to come".(⁵⁶)