Although the universal Church of God is constituted of distinct orders of members, still, in spite of the many parts of its holy body, the Church subsists as an integral whole, just as the Apostle says: We are all one in Christ. No difference in office is so great that anyone can be separated, through lowliness, from the head.
In the unity of faith and baptism, therefore, our community is undivided. There is a common dignity, as the apostle Peter says in these words:
“And you are built up as living stones into spiritual houses, a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And again: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart.”
1 Peter 2:5, 9
For all, regenerated in Christ, are made kings by the sign of the cross; they are consecrated priests by the oil of the Holy Spirit, so that beyond the special service of our ministry as priests, all spiritual and mature Christians know that they are a royal race and are sharers in the office of the priesthood. For what is more king-like than to find yourself ruler over your body after having surrendered your soul to God? And what is more priestly than to promise the Lord a pure conscience and to offer him in love unblemished victims on the altar of one’s heart?
Because, through the grace of God, it is a deed accomplished universally on behalf of all, it is altogether praiseworthy and in keeping with a religious attitude for you to rejoice in this our day of consecration, to consider it a day when we are especially honoured. For indeed one sacramental priesthood is celebrated throughout the entire body of the Church. The oil which consecrates us has richer effects in the higher grades, yet it is not sparingly given in the lower.
Sharing in this office, my dear brethren, we have solid ground for a common rejoicing; yet there will be more genuine and excellent reason for joy if you do not dwell on the thought of our unworthiness. It is more helpful and more suitable to turn your thoughts to study the glory of the blessed apostle Peter. We should celebrate this day above all in honour of him. He overflowed with abundant riches from the very source of all graces, yet though he alone received much, nothing was given over to him without his sharing it. The Word made flesh lived among us, and in redeeming the whole human race, Christ gave himself entirely.
This article is an excerpt of a sermon by Leo the Great (400-461 AD), Sermon 4:1-2: PL 54, 148-149, English translation source from The Office of Readings.
Top image credit: illustration of Christians worshipping together, from Bigstock.com. Used with permission.
Leo the Great was born in 400 AD in Tuscany, Italy. He was well-educated, but yearned for the spiritual life. He became an archdeacon under Pope Sixtus III. When Sixtus III died in 440, Leo was unanimously elected Bishop of Rome. Leo led the church during a particularly troubled time when barbarian armies were ravaging what remained of the Roman Empire which was in total political and military collapse and suffered a vacuum of political leadership. Pope Leo filled the void and became the advocate for the temporal as well as spiritual needs of his flock. He is noted for persuading Attila the Hun to abandon his plans to sack the city of Rome in 452. He was the spokesperson for the Roman citizenry in 455 when the Vandal barbarians swept into Central Italy, securing concessions from them. Many of Leo’s sermons and letters were concerned with theological questions concerning the person of Jesus Christ and his role as mediator and savior. Leo died in 461 AD.