Jesus Christ, the Great High PriestRead Time 8 min

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 53:10-11

Hebrews 4:14-16

Mark 10:35-45

The second reading for our Sunday liturgy is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews. In it, we hear that Jesus, the Son of God, is the “great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” (Hebrews 4:14) From now until the final Sunday in the liturgical year, the Solemnity of Christ the King, the second readings are drawn from the same New Testament book, the letter to the Hebrews. In it, we see an emphasis on the humanity of Christ and his role as priest. This language of priesthood is common to us as Catholics, but how exactly is Jesus Christ a priest?

In the old covenant, priests were those tasked with offering sacrifice to God on behalf of the people. These sacrifices were offered for the sins of the people and also, for their own sins. Priests in the old covenant were offering new sacrifices constantly, but in the Letter to the Hebrews, we see the priesthood of Jesus Christ as something altogether different. First, unlike priests of the old covenant, Jesus did not have to atone for his own sin, for he was sinless. Second, his sacrifice was offered once for all, as he ascended the steps for Calvary and gave the ultimate sacrifice, himself on the cross.

Each year, the Jewish people celebrate their holiest day; not Passover, but Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies (the innermost sanctuary of the Temple) and offer sacrifice for the sins of the people. Jesus, the great High Priest, by offering himself as sacrifice, enters into the true Holy of Holies, heaven itself, to offer to the father the purest sacrifice on behalf of all people. At Mass, the priest who, acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), makes present again the sacrifice on Calvary — the one sacrifice offered for all time — to God, the Father.

When we hear from people that they do not need to go to Mass to have a relationship with God, we can comfortably agree. Of course, we can know God outside of Mass. But the sacrifice of the Mass is not simply about engaging in our relationship with him — the work and dialogue of prayer — but is about making an act of worship. We can find God outside of Mass, but to worship God truly is to share in the sacrifice of the Mass, the highest form of prayer. The sacrifice on Calvary is an eternal act that is made present through the Mass and one which we are invited to share in each Sunday. On Sunday, we are called to worship, for we know that worship is what is owed to God. While we can pray on our own, we cannot worship without sharing in his one sacrifice as the great High Priest. As we gather each Sunday, may we renew again our desire to share in this worship by recognizing Christ in the Word of God, in the community of believers, in the person of the priest, and in the Eucharist which we receive.

Finally, it should serve as a poignant reminder that this identity of Christ as High Priest is one that we each share in by merit of Baptism. At Baptism, we anointed with sacred chrism oil and the minister prays that the individual assumes in their own life this threefold identity of Christ as, “priest, prophet and king.” We are called to be prophetic in our lives, through word and deed. A king provides for his kingdom, ordering it so that it might flourish and grow. Similarly, we are tasked with bringing order to what has become disordered by sin. Sharing in the common priesthood of the faithful, we are all called to do as priests do — that is, to consecrate and set aside things in our lives for God. In other words, to be collaborators in the work of sanctification. Our own journey of faith should be one which is grounded in daily consideration of these identities and whether or not we are authentically living them. Having been marked by the Lord we share in this purpose and mission, to share in his priesthood, by the sacrifices of our own, daily lives.