058: Why the Catholic Priesthood is Totally Biblical

The Art of Catholic with Matthew Leonard

I've heard it. You've heard it. I used to even say it! "The Catholic priesthood isn't biblical."...Wrong! If you were to boil the (so-called) Protestant Reformation down to its essence, it basically did away with the priesthood. Most Protestants have no sacramental life because there are no priests to give them the sacraments. (Most don't believe in the sacraments at all.) They believe (and I realize I'm painting with a broad brush here) in something called "the priesthood of all believers." After all, 1 Peter 2:5 says, "and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Our Separated Brethren take this to mean that every Christian has equal potential to minister for God, thus there is no need for a separate ministerial priesthood. But that's not what the Bible says. In this episode of the Art of Catholic I interview Fr. Tommy Lane, a Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, who wrote a tremendous book called "The Catholic Priesthood: Biblical Foundations". And in this episode we discuss: The two kinds of priesthood in the New Covenant of Christ Old Testament history of priesthood (including the original priesthood of fathers and sons and that mysterious guy Melchizedek) How we know Christ established a new priesthood even though he never used the word "priest" (a common Protestant argument) Why we view the Last Supper as the moment of the Apostles' ordination Why the author of Hebrews emphasizes the humanity of Christ as the new high priest (while asserting his divinity, of course) We couldn't hope to cover every aspect of the scriptural foundations of the Catholic priesthood in one episode, but we covered a lot. Enjoy! God bless! Matthew Priests are required to pray every day...and so are we! If you really want to understand the ins-and-outs of deep prayer: what it is, how to do it, the 3 Stages of the Spiritual Life, vocal, meditative, & contemplative prayer in the Catholic tradition - this is the book for you! "Matthew Leonard, in an engaging style, shows how ancient Catholic prayer traditions still meet the needs of today’s Catholics.”—His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington "We all need help to grow spiritually...Matt Leonard shows us the way." - Dr. Scott Hahn, author, speaker, and Professor of Scripture and Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville Grab your FREE copy of my quick guide to deeper prayer 8 Ways To Jumpstart Your Prayer Life! It's an easy step-by-step guide to help you rocket to God! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't miss a show! Subscribe to The Art of Catholic by clicking this link and then clicking "View in iTunes" under the picture and then "Subscribe"! Love the show and want more people to hear the Catholic faith? Leave a review by clicking here and then the "View in iTunes" button under my picture. This pushes the show up the rankings and puts it in front of more people. Android user? You can listen to The Art of Catholic on the Beyond Pod app from the Google Play Store.