Christ the Priest

Christ the Priest lifts up his hands
To bless the feast that he prepares,
To fill the soul who will receive
Bread from the hand of Christ the Priest.

Christ the Priest lifts up his voice
To preach the news of holy joy;
The Father’s love and Heaven’s peace
On Earth are ours in Christ the Priest.

Christ the Priest lifts up his prayers
Before our God with many tears;
He always lives to intercede
For us who come through Christ the Priest.

Christ the Priest lifts up his cross,
A living sacrifice to God,
To feed the poor, and wash our feet,
And give himself as Christ the Priest.

Make us a sacrifice,
That we may live with Christ,
To announce the praise of God
Who called us from the dark into his light.

Christ the Priest lifts up his saints
Whom death had buried in the grave;
A little while their bodies sleep—
Then rise to life with Christ the Priest.

Seminarians want to be priests. We pray about priesthood, we talk about priesthood, we read about priesthood. We like wearing cassocks when we serve Mass, and some of us keep incense in our rooms. But during these early years of formation, the seminary priests remind us not to think too much about our vocations to the priesthood. Instead, we must first grow in our appreciation of Christ’s priesthood.

And the seminary is a wonderful place to see Christ’s priesthood. He is the priest present on the altar twice each day and resting in the tabernacle in our chapel. He is the priest who preaches the Gospel in the scriptures that we read and meditate on. He is the priest interceding for us during our holy hours, and our rosaries, and our many private prayers for each other. And he is the priest hidden in our brother seminarians, whom we serve and whose company we enjoy. Christ is our priest, and this is why we are in seminary.

We try to focus on Christ, but we still want to be priests someday, and that desire only becomes stronger as we come to love him better. In fact, all baptized Christians, as we come to love Christ more, are called to the priestly mission of bringing Christ into the world—not just on the altar but also in secular jobs, in religious life, and in marriage. Saint Peter calls the entire Church “a holy priesthood,” offering our daily lives as “spiritual sacrifices” with Christ and announcing the good news to others (1 Peter 2:5, 9). This mission, this common priesthood of all the faithful, is based on Christ’s priesthood and is itself the basis for every Christian vocation.

As we close another year of seminary formation, we look forward to parish assignments, summer jobs, and family vacations. In August, most of us will return to St. John Paul II Seminary for another year. Some will go on to major seminary in Rome, Boston, Washington or Emmitsburg. A few, having discerned another calling from God, won’t return to seminary at all. But wherever God leads, and whatever steps we must take to follow, we hope that our lives will always reflect Christ’s priesthood, bringing us and those around us closer to Christ, closer to Heaven, and closer to the light that already begins to brighten our days.

Mr. Fassero is a Pre-Theology seminarian for the Diocese of Richmond.