BpAndre
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Joined: 20 Aug 2005
Posts: 126
Location: Chicago, IL.
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 Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:23 pm Post subject: Holy Orders |
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Holy Orders
“We believe that Orders is a Sacrament which confers upon those who validly receive it the power to exercise the several functions of the ministry. Bishops are the ministers of this Sacrament. The Catholic Apostolic National Church makes a distinction between the Minor Orders and the greater or Holy Orders; the latter being so called by reason of eminent dignity they confer and the grave obligations they impose.” 22
Although not necessary for ordination, the state of celibacy in the priesthood is an honorable, sacred and altogether wholesome thing, for those men who are truly called to it. Celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of God is biblically supported, “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive this.” (Matthew 19:12)
The beginning of married men in the ordained ministry is through Christ Jesus. Jesus chose men, some of whom we know to have been married, as His apostles. The identified leader of the Twelve, Simon Peter, who had been given the “keys to the Kingdom” by Christ Jesus Himself, was married. The New Testament instructions on the selection of clergy indicate that there were married deacons, priests and bishops. During the first twelve centuries of the church’s life, thirty-nine popes were married, and many priests and bishops as well. In addition, three popes, Pope Anastasius I, St. Pope Hormidas, and Pope Sergius III, sired sons that later became popes themselves, two of whom were later declared saints [St. Innocent I, and St. Silverius].
Priests who are married and priests, who are celibate, share the same supernatural sacerdotal priesthood, without differentiation. Each priest brings his unique witness of Christianity to bear, and both complement the nature of the sacramental priesthood. The celibate priesthood more closely represents the monastic life, which the celibate priest imitates, whereas, in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as the Easter Rite Roman Catholic Churches, clerical celibacy is uniquely linked to monks in monastic life, and the married priesthood is the norm. Priests faithfully living in either estate glorify God in their lives, and provide a balance to our Church.
The appointment and selection to Holy Orders is to a supernatural and sacred office, as a priest of the New Covenant, prefigured in the Levitical priesthood of the Old Covenant. That this is a sacred office, established by Christ, and understood as such by the Apostles is thus underscored, “For he was numbered among us, and allotted his share in this ministry. (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language A-kel da-ma, that is, Field of Blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it’; and ‘His office let another take.” (Acts 1:17-20) [emphasis added]
Likewise, St. Paul, too, understood Apostleship to be a sacred office, established by Christ in His appointment of the Twelve, and carried on by others appointed and selected by them, through the laying on of hands and prayer:
“This saying is sure: If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money.” (1 Tim 3:1-3) [emphasis added]
Sacramental ordination to Holy Orders takes place with the laying on of hands by a bishop and with the prayer of consecration. The importance of this act is seen throughout Scripture, and the understanding that, through the laying on of hands, a spiritual authority, originating with Christ and passed to the Disciples, is supernaturally conveyed. “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor participate in another man’s sins; keep yourself pure.” (1 Tim 4:22)
Every deacon and priest is tied to the bishop spiritually, as the bishop posses the fullness of the priesthood, given the Apostles by Christ Jesus Himself. Every bishop then, is spiritually bound to Christ who is the High Priest of the New Covenant. “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘Thou are a priest for ever, after the order of Mel-chiz-e-dek.” (Heb 5:5-6)
[cited from the CANC Catechism]
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Bishop Andre' Jhohn-William Queen, SCR
Vicar General
Catholic Apostolic National Church
Phone: 773.942.4660 |
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