By The Most Reverend William J. Levada
We should see in the ordination of priests a singular grace of the Holy Spirit, a continuation of the gift of Pentecost in and for the Church. For priesthood too is the work of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to fulfill the mission his Father gave him. By making men his priests today, Jesus is giving to them a measure of the Spirit, which anointed him at his baptism. He proclaimed at Nazareth the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah at the beginning of his ministry, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me . . . to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).
It is especially through the sacrifice of the Mass, the sacramental representation of Christ’s sacrifice of redemption, that priests become his chosen instruments. They do this in sanctifying and building up the Church to be the priestly people of God’s election, the people of the new and everlasting covenant, the beloved Bride made holy by the love of her divine Spouse, Jesus Christ our high Priest.
At his Ascension, Jesus told his apostles, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The Acts of the Apostles, which contain those words, speaks of another book whose chapters are still being written—the "Acts of the Holy Spirit". Today we are participating in another important page of that book, the "Acts of the Holy Spirit", which is the story of the new priestly people of God, the Church.
The Holy Spirit, author of this book, invites us to be his co-authors. Only the final chapter of the book has been written in advance. As Christ himself said at the Last Supper, "From now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the coming of the reign of God". This time between the beginning of the Kingdom in the person and work of Jesus Christ and its fulfillment at the end of time, is the time of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of holiness whom Jesus poured out on Pentecost to fulfill his prayer, "Thy Kingdom come". By pouring his own Spirit into our hearts, Jesus makes it possible for us to pray with him, "Abba, our Father, thy Kingdom come". For this purpose the Church puts on our lips in the prayer of consecration of priests the words, "Renew within them the Spirit of holiness".
Today we must look at the bridges and buildings of our lovely city of St. Francis and ask, "Do we have here new towers of Babel whose builders ignored their God?" Those at Babel said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves" (Gen. 11:4). This Scripture reading about the tower of Babel, illustrates by the confusion of languages God imposed at Babel and the gift of tongues of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which overcame the confusion of languages, that the city we build will be built in vain if God is excluded from it. Priests, on whom the gift of the Holy Spirit of Pentecost is invoked, are not called to be architects or contractors, entrepreneurs or politicians. Instead, they are called to be ministers of the Spirit to the builders of the earthly city, so that it may be built according to God’s law and purposes, and thus not be built in vain.
The proclamation of the gospel of holiness is the true service that priests are to render to God’s people, as co-workers of Jesus Christ. He said as much to his apostles at the very moment of their greatness, at their priestly ordination at the Last Supper, when their thoughts were still rooted in seeking "greatness" according to human standards and not God’s. Among you, Jesus tells them, greatness means to be a servant, to wait on tables and serve others, "For I am among you as one who serves".
The world is hungry for this service of Christ witnessed in the lives of his priestly people. His people, the Church, needs the service of holy priests, servants whose lives "imitate the mystery they celebrate, who model their lives on the mystery of the Lord’s cross" as we pray in the ordination rite at the Presentation of the gifts. This service culminates in the celebration of the Mass, where they give God’s pilgrim people the bread of life, the fruit of the vine, the Body and Blood of Christ which transforms the Church into the Body of Christ. In this way they help the people of God prepare for the fulfillment of the Kingdom, the heavenly banquet, according to the promise Christ himself gave us at the first Mass: "In my kingdom, you will eat and drink at my table". In their service at the Eucharistic table, priests become the icons of Christ, who invites us to the eternal banquet where he will be among us as the one who serves.
This article was condensed and compiled from the Ordination Homilies of The Most Reverend William J. Levada, Archbishop of San Francisco, given on June 6 and 13, 1998.
Read other articles of spiritual enlightenment in the August 1998 edition of
the San Francisco Charismatics