What Does It Mean to Be a Priest?

Priests were not first introduced in the New Testament. In fact, priesthood existed right at the beginning of the Old Testament. So, how can we understand the priesthood in the economy of salvation? How do we distinguish the Old Testament priesthood from the new? Mike Gormley and Dave VanVickle answer these questions and more.

Snippet from the Show
“In the whole history of humanity, there is only one man who is both priest and victim. That is Jesus Christ.”

The Priesthood of the Old Testament

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1539

The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance. A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests are "appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1540

Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and prayer, this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about salvation, needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish.

One Priesthood

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 1544

Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men." The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High," as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek"; "holy, blameless, unstained," "by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified," that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross.