d) Fidelity of the priest to ecclesiastical discipline

15. An "awareness of being of being a minister" implies an awareness of the organic action of the Body of Christ. In order to make progress, the life and mission of the Church requires order, rules and laws governing conduct - in short, a disciplinary regime. Prejudice against ecclesiastical discipline has to be overcome, beginning with the very expression itself. Fear of citing ecclesiastical discipline or requiring the fulfilment of its demands must also be overcome. When the norms of ecclesiastical discipline are observed, tensions are avoided which otherwise would compromise the unitary pastoral effectiveness which the Church needs so as to fulfil her mission of evangelization. A mature appropriation of one's own ministerial responsibilities takes it for granted that the Church "organized as a social and visible structure...must also have norms: in order that its hierarchical and organic structure be visible; in order that the exercise of the functions divinely entrusted to it, especially that of sacred power and of the administration of the sacraments, may be adequately organized"[⁵²].

Consciousness of being a minister of Jesus Christ, and of His Mystical Body, also implies fidelity the Church's will as concretely expressed in the norms of law[⁵³]. The objective of the Church's legislation is the greater perfection of the Christian life so as better to accomplish her saving mission. That legislation should therefore be observed with sincerity and good will.

Among the various aspects of ecclesiastical discipline, docility to the Church's liturgical laws and dispositions, that is to say, fidelity to the norms which organize divine worship in accordance the will of the Eternal High Priest and of his Mystical Body, merits special importance. The Sacred Liturgy is an exercise of the priesthood of Jesus Christ[⁵⁴], a sacred action par excellence, "the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed...[and]the fount from which all her power flows"[⁵⁵]. In this area, consequently, the priest should be even more aware of being a minister and of his obligations to act in accordance with the commitments he freely and solemnly undertook before God and the Church. "Regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, on the Apostolic See, and, as laws may determine, on the bishop...No other person, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy of his own accord"[⁵⁶]. Arbitrariness, subjective expressions, improvisations, disobedience in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist patently contradict the essence of the Holy Eucharist, which is the sacrifice of Christ. The same is true of the celebration of the other sacraments, especially of the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance through which those who are penitent and intend to amend their lives have their sins forgiven and are reconciled with the Church[⁵⁷]

Likewise, priests should be careful to promote an authentic and conscious participation of the laity in the Sacred Liturgy, since the Church promotes such participation[⁵⁸]. There are functions within the Sacred Liturgy which can be exercised by the faithful who have not received the Sacrament of Orders. Other functions, however, are proper and absolutely exclusive to ordained ministers[⁵⁹]. Respect for the different states of life, and for their complementary nature in the Church's mission, requires that all confusion in this matter be carefully avoided.