Ordination to the Priesthood Homily Fr. Reich

Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle

St. John 20:24-29
21 December 2004
for The Rev'd Fr. Jeffrey Walker Reich
at St. John's Church, Aberdeen, Ms
by The Rev'd Fr. John H. Heschle, rector
St. Paul's Church by-the-Lake, Chicago, IL

Grant O Lord that thy word only may be spoken and thy word only received,
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"Vs. 28"

I...  I recon I have very little business as a born and bred Northerner, preaching to you fine Southern people. But blame Fr. Jeff, not me, for exposing you to this mini-course on the Priesthood. The whole theme of my own priestly anniversary last June, to which Fr. Jeff came to serve as Deacon of the Mass, was the theme: The Sacerdotal Priesthood.

I specified 'sacerdotal'- for there is also the Priesthood of All Believers to which the whole Church, as the Baptized community, witnesses as a priest to the world. Apart from and in addition to that priesthood is the Sacrament of Holy Orders, Ordination to the Sacred Order of Priests. It comes to us from the Old Testament Order of Melchizedek and Jesus' own incarnation here on earth. Priests are the living representatives of that Priesthood of Jesus and his incarnate body. That is the order Jeff will be solemnly consecrated to this evening by the Holy Spirit, through the imposition of the Bishop's hands.

I am honored and humbled to be asked to attempt this task of making clear what we do and what we don't do this evening. I have a soft spot in my heart for Mississippi because I was ordained both deacon & priest while John Allin was Presiding Bishop & Primate, he having previously served as your Diocesan Bishop. I am also moved by this feast of St. Thomas, since I was ordered a Deacon on the Eve of St. Thomas the Apostle. In short I am thrilled to be here and thank your gracious bishop for inviting me. I also revere this Parish, which was founded by the great Bishop of the Northwest, later Wisconsin, Bishop Jackson Kemper. His name is very well known and honored in the mid-west.

II... From the Gospel for today I see a clue for us to understand exactly what a priest is…a sacerdotal priest I mean. Let me say right off: it is not the "Leadership Model" or a CEO as taught in most of our seminaries. It is more than what I hear those institutions saying: "A re-focusing of your Baptism". That is the modern academic understanding, dear people of God- it is plain drivel and very poor N.T. theology.

When St. Thomas sees the living bodily-resurrected Jesus, he moves from an academic understanding of the principles of faith, to a living 'faith-filled' experience of God being very near, very close at hand. Thomas says at the sight of the Risen Christ: "My Lord and My God!"

You see, anyone can give intellectual assent but yet be fairly apathetic about living as a Christian. St. Thomas' doubt is not the opposite of Faith; in fact it leads him to a deeper and livelier faith. Apathy, not doubt, is the enemy of Faith. The words of St. Thomas have for centuries been the very words Christians repeat to themselves when the see the Eucharist, when the see the priest elevate and show the people the Gifts of God. For they are the gifts of our salvation. Our catechism teaches this is a "necessary sacrament" for our salvation- the Body and Blood, the soul and divinity of Jesus made present in the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass. That real presence of Jesus, as our Eucharist, happens only when a priest, who is validly consecrated by a Bishop in Apostolic Succession, prays the Canon or Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass. Then by our Blessed Lord's own promise we are at once at Calvary, at the Empty Tomb, at Ascension Day and Pentecost. You hear it repeated every Sunday: 'having in remembrance His blessed passion and precious death, His mighty resurrection and glorious ascension'.

III...  So it is when the celebrant (a Bishop or Priest, but not Deacon or Layperson) shows you the Host and Chalice….look up and with St. Thomas pray those words of scripture; "My Lord and My God". In essence that's what a priest is, the one who offers Sacrifice. He stands in the shoes of Jesus, he is His Icon- an image of the incarnate man Jesus Christ. What a priest is can be summarized in the first 3 letters of the alphabet. (I call them the ABC's of the priesthood) 'A' is for absolving sins. Only a bishop or priest can pronounce Absolution. So our Prayerbook teaches. Deacons and laypersons can only declare forgiveness. A priest pronounces Absolution. 'B' is for Blessing. A priest blesses objects and people. So you may ask your priest to bless your new car, a set of rosary beads or even your new home. Some blessings are traditionally reserved to the Bishop like the blessing of church buildings, Altars, Bells and Chalices.

'C' is for Consecration. A priest consecrates the Holy Communion to be the very Body and Blood of Jesus.

The gift to perform these acts comes not from the grace he received at Baptism, but from the grace he receives when by the laying on of hands the bishop consecrates him a priest forever. That's what the bishop will do to Jeff tonight that will allow him to do for you what you cannot do for yourselves- to celebrate the sacraments of our redemption. "My Lord & My God"…it is so awesome, isn't it? Every Sunday I look at these unworthy hands and am overwhelmed by what God has allowed me to do by his special grace of ordination. That's what Fr. Reich will do for you every Sunday, Holy Day and as many weekdays as he can. He will be the living Icon of Jesus, bringing the mysteries of faith alive & present right here. He will do this not in a purely academic way, but by the grace of Holy Orders, he will make Jesus really and truly present upon the Altar and in your daily lives. Awesome! No wonder we say 'My Lord & My God!"

IV...  So that's what a priest is. But what about what a priest does? This then I direct not to you dear people of God, but to the Ordinand.

Jeffrey, you saw a lot of what I do up in Chicago, and you have seen many other priest's 'do-it'. But Jeff, more important than doing-it, is the character behind all the doing. Priesthood is about BEING, more than it is about doing. You will receive tonight and indelible Character of Being. The grace of this sacrament is to be a priest. It is to be a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek.

It reminds me of the funny story of a good Baptist mother, who wondered what her son would be when he grew up. She & her husband devised as test. "When he comes home from school, they thought, they would have laid out on the kitchen table a $10 bill, a bottle of whiskey and a Holy Bible. If he picks up the money he will be a businessman. If he takes the whiskey he'll be a politician. Or if he grabs the Bible he'll become a preacher. They hid in the pantry with the door just ajar. Upon the boys arrival he quickly stuck the $10. in his pocket, took a swig from the whiskey bottle and put the Bible under his arm and left. What do you think this means?, said the father. The good Baptist mother said in horror; "Oh no, our son is going to be an Episcopal Priest!"

Well that's NOT the Character I expect from you Jeffrey. But I do expect for you to be a priest with a great deal of pastoral sensitivity. Sensitive to your parish's budget- you must be a good steward if you expect your people to tithe and give generously. You must be filled with the Spirit (not spirits of a whiskey bottle), but of the Holy Spirit- in a presence of Unity, of Truth and Justice. And you must be a man of God's Word, not just reading it academically, but in prayer and sacrament communicating God's message of Salvation, the Good News of Jesus. These gifts come from a character of knowing Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour. The doing must be based on a character of being.

So that every time you celebrate the Holy Mysteries, be in awe that God has granted your hands this privilege. And every time you look up at that Host you just consecrated, love the flock the bishop has committed to your priesthood. And with the same lively faith of St. Thomas the Apostle say to yourself: "My Lord and My God!" (Vs. 28)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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