The Second Vatican Council emphasized the priesthood of the laity. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, all of us are privileged to participate in the one priesthood of Christ. Of course, Vatican II didn’t “invent” this teaching, rooted as it is in Sacred Scripture and the constant Tradition of the Church.
Perhaps the most frequently cited passage in this regard is 1 Peter 2:5, in which the first pope refers to God's people as a “holy priesthood,” called “to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
How, then, are the laity “priests”? After all, isn't laity defined as those who aren't clergy? And even if we are in some sense priests, how does that affect family life?
First, Vatican II, in its profound and positive teaching on the role of the laity, was careful to distinguish between the ministerial priesthood (clergy) and the common priesthood of all the faithful (laity). Both priesthoods share in the one priesthood of Christ, but only the ministerial priesthood confers the office of offering sacrifice on behalf of the believing community (i.e., the Church) in the person of Christ.
H. Lyman Stebbins, founder of Catholics United for the Faith, explained the difference this way: If I discover a fire near some wooden buildings and extinguish it, as a good citizen should do, that doesn't make me a fireman. Similarly, if I'm able to apprehend a mugger in the subway, that doesn't make me a policeman. And so, while we all have the “common” priestly function of offering sacrifice, glorifying God, and loving our neighbor, only those whom the Lord has called to the ordained priesthood fill the office on behalf of the entire community.
A priest, in a sense, is the opposite of a prophet. A prophet mediates God's Word to the people. A priest, on the other hand, offers sacrifice to God. We often hear the expression in Catholic circles to “offer it up.” Any aspect of our life that we unite with Christ's sacrifice is a pleasing offering to our Heavenly Father.
When we observe the 40 days of Lent, we make spiritual sacrifices to our Heavenly Father. In addition to fasting and abstaining from meat on the appointed days, many of us go further, perhaps giving up sweets or alcohol, or maybe even offering up severe illnesses or hardships in union with our crucified Lord. All such lenten practices and sacrifices entail participation in the one priesthood of Christ.
Family members exercise their priesthood in a variety of ways, such as through prayer, reception of sacraments, and acts of charity, and this extends well beyond the lenten season . Through the daily realities of married and family life, the Christian family is, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “called to be sanctified and to sanctify the [Church] and the world.”
While all family members participate through baptism in the priesthood of Christ, this is especially true of Christian spouses. Their mutual, self-giving love reflects the spousal love of Christ the High Priest and His bride, the Church (cf. Eph 5:32). In giving of themselves to each other and to their family out of love for Christ, their home becomes a school of love and an oasis of hope to the world. While the pope is the Vicar (or representative) of Christ for the universal Church and the bishop is vicar of Christ in his diocese (cf. Catechism, no. 894), Christian parents are “vicars” of Christ in the family, the domestic Church. Pope Pius XI highlighted this traditional understanding in his famous 1930 encyclical on Christian Marriage(Casti Connubii): “Parents…should be careful to make right use of the authority given them by God, whose vicars in a true sense they are.”
As “pastors” of their domestic Church, parents have the primary responsibility for nurturing the mustard seed of faith that was given to their children. The goal, as simply stated in the Baltimore Catechism, is for the children to know, love, and serve God in this life and be happy with Him for all eternity.
As the “first heralds” of the faith, parents help their children to know God not merely by talking about Jesus, but showing them Jesus and introducing them in age-appropriate ways to prayer and to the riches of the Church.
As for love, each morning my children recite from memory Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (“love the Lord your God…”). This daily reminder as we eat breakfast is a good thing, but even more important is a love of God and neighbor that is tangible. It must be experienced and breathed. If the parents don't manifest this love, the concept won't seem real to the children.
Also in the bosom of the family, the child learns that “to serve is to reign.” All the baptized are called to serve the Lord according to their state in life. Rather than be closed in on itself, the family must be a school of virtues, where the children learn the value of fraternal charity, generosity, and self-sacrifice, so that as adults they will accept with joy and holy zeal the specific vocation our Lord has in store for them.
The Catechism says that a “wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith” (no. 2225). We can't always discern, let alone measure, the progress of these “interior dispositions” in our children. Yet if we're faithful to our vocations as spouses and parents in the domestic Church, we've done our part, and the rest is entrusted to our merciful Father's providence and timing.
Leon J. Suprenant, Jr. is the president of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) and Emmaus Road Publishing and the editor-in-chief of Lay Witness magazine, all based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributor to Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass and an adviser to CE’s Catholic Scripture Study. His email address is leon@cuf.org .
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