This priest was vesting for Mass and noticed his reflection in the image of Jesus. He noticed that his reflection lined up with the image and used it to assist in his preparation for mass. His eyes kept being draw back to the image and reflection and he felt prompted to take a photo. Holding his phone with arm out stretched he snapped the following image.
Adjusting his arm, he snaps another photo, giving us a single photo of the entire priesthood.
The man melts away and Jesus is made present. This IS the reality of the priesthood. That in every ordained minister is the very Person of Jesus Christ; an alter Christus — another Christ.
… the sacrament of holy orders sets the priest apart from the rest of the faithful who have not received this consecration. For they alone, in answer to an inward supernatural call, have entered the august ministry, where they are assigned to service in the sanctuary and become, as it were, the instruments God uses to communicate supernatural life from on high to the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. Add to this, as We have noted above, the fact that they alone have been marked with the indelible sign “conforming” them to Christ the Priest, and that their hands alone have been consecrated “in order that whatever they bless may be blessed, whatever they consecrate may become sacred and holy, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Mediatore Dei, 43 – Pius XII, 1947)
Vatican II reiterated this point as well as the Catechism 1548. When the priest says, “This is my Body,” “I absolve you,” or “May Almighty God bless you,” it is not the priest acting as a representative of Jesus, but rather “in the Person of Jesus Christ.”
This image spoke to the priest in it in a very specific and profound way. How will it speak to you? And going forward, how will you pray and fast for our priests?
Please encourage men to discern their call to the Sacred Priesthood, especially to the Fathers of Mercy, who are traveling confessors and preachers.
