The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-02-07

shadow Of the Messiss. the Crest
High Priest.
Whenever Christ spoke of the
organic nature of His Church, He
gave special attention to the func-
of the apostles. He made them
His representatives, His spokes-
men, and the legitimate success
ors to His divine mission. Because
they were one body, they had to
have one head.
Peter was the one chosen by
Christ for that sublime office. But
the other Apostles were his as
sociates; they shared as members
of that apostolic body both the
authority and the responsibility,
subordinate to heaven and depend
ent upon Peter, their head. That
is why Christ spoke to Peter first
and then to all the Apostles, when
He gave to them the keys Of
heaven, saying, Whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven; and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven"
Likewise, on the Mount of the AS
%cension, He spoke to them as one
body: "As the Father sent Me, l
also send YOU" For this reason the
successor of St. Peter, the Pope,
in his encyclical letters always at
dresses the Bishops not as mere
delegates but rather as his asS0-
c%iates, viz, Venerable brethren"
The Bishop, by virtue of his
office, has power par excellence"
over--both the Mystical Body of
Christ, the Church, and over His
real, true and substantial body in
Holy Eucharist. st. Thomas teach
es that within his diocese the Bish-
0p is the head of the apostolate,
so that nothing can be done in r.
lation to it without his initiative
or consent. The Bishop is the one
charged with the sanctity of all.
He is the teacher of truth, and
source OF grace under God. His
work is to assure the generation,
conservation, and growth of this
life. (CF. Pere Gerland, O.P., p.
222, Revue DeS Jeunes).
There is no time when a Bishop
is so truly exercising his office as
when he stands at the altar. St.
Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews,
comments of this supreme
function OF a Bishop in the follow
ing words: Every high priest TAX
en- from among men is ordained
for men in those things which ap-
pertain to God; that he may offer
up gifts and sacrifices for SINS"
If it is said that the priest also Of
fers up sacrifice. and that this
function is not therefore the spec
ial prerogative of the Bishop, nor
peculiarly distinctive of his office,
then il is well to recall the fact
that only the Apostles, namely,
the first Bishops, were present at
the last supper when Christ spoke
the words OF command: do this
in commemoration of me-" Again,
we turn to st. Ignatius Of Antioch
who states: THAT eucharistic sacri-
flee alone can be regarded as legit.
innate which is offered while the
Bishop or his delegate presides."
st. Thomas Aquinas reminds us
that the power Of the priest to on
secrate the body and blood of
Christ, while equal to that Of the
Bishop, still depends on his COM
munion with the Bishop.
If it is thought that this distinc-
ton minimized the dignity Of the
priesthood, then we should remind
ourselves Of the ordination ritual
where certain highly significant
words are used in communicating
the powers Of. the priesthood to
the ordil.andi. The 0rdaining pre-
late, after the imposition Of hands,
addresses the new Levites as ''co-
0peratores Ordinis nostri." They
are Intimately associated with the
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