The Sacramental Character of a Priest
Priests often are people that people turn to in times of need, seeking advice and reassurance. They are trusted and loved by many for their kind, personable demeanor and a positive outlook on life.
Religious priests belong to a global religious order and community and take vows of obedience and celibacy. Diocesan priests are not part of a specific community or order and serve in their parishes helping people get closer to God.
1. He is a spiritual father
A priest brings the love and strength of Jesus into the parish, classroom, hospital room, prison, inner city, and wherever God’s people live. This involves bearing one another’s burdens, baptizing children and adults, bringing the Word of God to believers in their midst through sermons, delivering healing presence through the laying on of hands, and mediating at weddings, funerals, and other religious rituals and rites.
A spiritual father will only open his heart fully to a believer if he hears from the Holy Spirit to do so. Otherwise he can be set up for a broken heart and a false ministry. This is because not every believer is a true son or daughter but self-centered orphans seeking their own will! A real father will only make time for a true son or daughter as much as he would his own family.
2. He is a mediator
Having been sacramentally configured to Christ, head of the Church, priests share in His perfect mediation. As such, they have the unique task of truly assuming His mind and heart.
In general, a priest serves as the intermediary between a religious body and its deity or gods, teaching worshippers the proper reverence, gratitude, praise, way of life, and sacrificial giving required by the faith. He also performs various religious rituals and rites, such as blessings at weddings and births and mediating and easing grief at funerals, in faiths that believe in an afterlife.
A priest who is ordained to the religious priesthood lives with a particular religious community and may serve anywhere in the world that community operates. The ordination requires great holiness, detachment from worldly goods, and generous obedience to the divine will.
3. He is a comforter
Priests are often viewed as intercessors and intermediaries between humans and spirits, deities, gods, or higher powers. They are entrusted with the sacred information and rituals that define their religion, and they teach the reverence, gratitude, praise, worship, and sacrificial giving that are its cornerstones.
Preaching is an important part of a priest’s duties, as are weddings, funerals, and other religious rites. They may also work with groups or individuals who need counseling, guidance, spiritual direction, or support.
Priests usually wear distinctive clerical clothing that varies among Christian traditions. They must be celibate, though some bishops can dispense with this requirement for men from other Christian traditions. At Holy Comforter, Jose serves as Junior Warden on the Vestry and is a member of the Pastoral Care and Community Engagement teams. During the week, he works as a Cybersecurity Program Manager at Nexus Controls in Longmont.
4. He is a teacher
In virtue of his sacramental character the Priest is an instrument of God’s action. He preaches the Word of God and in this way teaches and builds up the Church.
This teaching is not done as one who imposes his own ideas, but rather with the humble and happy certainty of one who has discovered the truth and has been gripped and transformed by it. This truth is the Word of God that elicits faith in listeners.
A lot of people can find the priesthood difficult to understand, particularly from a doctrinal and theological perspective. This is why it’s important for prospective seminarians to really think about and discern whether or not becoming a priest is truly God’s call in their lives. If it isn’t, they should seriously consider something else.
5. He is a guide
Priests use their leadership and problem-solving skills to help others in times of need. They also have analytical thinking skills that they use when studying religious texts and giving sermons at worship services.
Many people consider Priest as a mentor and will turn to them for advice. As a result, they need to have effective communication skills that help them build trust with the people they serve.
A priest is a religious leader who has been ordained by a church to lead ceremonies and perform rituals. They can be found in all or some branches of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Wicca. They are regarded as having a special relationship with the deities or gods to which they belong and serve as a bridge between the sacred and profane realms.