What is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for him? (Ps 8:5)
That Almighty God should take any particular interest in human affairs is a marvel that defies full comprehension. God has no needs. He is “perfectly blessed in himself” (CCC §1). Only “sheer goodness” could motivate such concern for man.
That God’s Eternal Son descended to live a human life and to die a human death and so merit redemption for every man and woman is a yet more astonishing display of such “sheer goodness.”
But God did not stop there. In the mystery of his love, God has deigned to set aside certain men—whose human nature is decidedly and often evidently imperfect—and to make them mediators of his “sheer goodness.” Because God wants his goodness to abound more and more. And so he chooses certain men to make his goodness abound in ways it simply otherwise would not. And so these men feed and forgive, baptize and anoint in his holy name.
Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! (Luke 5:6)
From the human standpoint, there are no ultimate “whys” to this call. That is God’s business. From the human standpoint, there are only “thats.” A man knows that his heart swells at the thought of divine things. A man knows that he enjoys praying and attending Mass and being forgiven and studying the good Lord’s ways and then speaking of them to his friends. A man knows that he cannot shake the daydream of celebrating Mass or forgiving sins in the Confessional or preaching the truth of God’s love given us in Jesus Christ.
And in and through each of these thats, a man begins to learn the one deeper that, which stands behind them all: the that of God’s merciful love, which has approached him first, which has called him first, which has led him to become a Friar Preacher . . . and which is healing him and purifying him and perfecting him slowly but surely so as to make him more and more like Christ and so more and more a maker of other Christs. And so he begins to discover partially, as in a mirror, why.
But God alone knows fully why—why the Cross, why the Priesthood, why the Order of Preachers, why me, why now. Primarily, a man knows only that. Especially that, by the grace of God, he is what he is.
Every high priest is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. (Heb 5:1)
A priest’s job is simple. It may not be easy, but it is simple. He brings people to Jesus, and he brings Jesus to people. Jesus offered the one sacrifice for sins. The priest extends its effects, presenting it again and again, daily, on the altar. Jesus forgives sins. The priest gives this forgiveness to others. Jesus heals; Jesus strengthens; Jesus consoles; Jesus enlightens. The priest, by a power from without and a cooperation from within, heals and strengthens and consoles and enlightens.
To do these things, a priest need not be erudite, cultured, or sophisticated. But he does need to know love. Which is the knowledge of the Cross, of Christ’s throne of grace, of Christ’s loveseat—not a mere fact of ancient history but a present reality, a present cause at work now, unto the salvation of those who do believe and of those who will. A priest guards this knowledge so as to give it to others: The Body of Christ. I absolve you. I baptize. By this holy anointing. Gifts and sacrifices for sins. Gifts and sacrifices for salvation.
The Master has need of it. (Luke 19:31)
God knows all whys. God knows all thats. God has no needs. But in his Mystical Body, the Church, God has made for himself a need for priests. And in the sheer goodness of his love, God has bound himself to meet this need.
It is a striking thing—a most bold thing!—that right before a man becomes a priest, immediately before the bishop with outstretched hands says those sacred, sacred words—GRANT, WE PRAY ALMIGHTY FATHER, TO THESE YOUR SERVANTS THE DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD—the bishop confesses this need, which is his need, the Church’s need, the need of God’s very own Mystical Body: “Now, we pray, O Lord, provide also for our weakness these helpers whom we need for the exercise of the Apostolic Priesthood.”
Need. And so God gives the world priests, not to condemn the world but to save it through Him to whom He configures every priest.
Tomorrow, in a work of sheer goodness, God will give the world many new priests. In Washington, D.C., to the Order of Preachers, he will give five. I know that I will be one of them. And I can point to many whys. But God alone knows why. Yes, in his love, he knows what and why he is about. Always has. Always will. And that is enough.
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Photo from Charleston Cathedral
