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Called to mediate the presence of Christ in the world, priests are set apart to serve the church in every way: as reconciler, as healer, as teacher, and as friend. This is a demanding and often thankless calling. It is also a calling that would be impossible without the grace they receive from the Lord—especially the grace that comes from celebrating the Eucharist.
We believe that when a priest follows Jesus’ command to “do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19), he is acting in the person of the Christ himself. And he is not only acting on his own behalf, as if the Eucharist were a private act of devotion between the priest and Christ. No, he is bringing with him to the altar all the people whom he serves, just as Jesus did. Just as Jesus did on the cross, even today the priest takes us, with all our sadness and pain and all of our joy and gladness, to the Father so that he can transform us by his grace and mercy. In this sense, the priest is a living icon of Christ.
So let’s take a look at what it means that the priest acts in the person of…
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