All Christians are called to be part of Jesus’ radical model for the priesthood.
By Fr. Peter V. Woodruff

"From the beginning of history, humans have sought contact with the divine. In many cultures, this means people name a person, family or a special group as official mediators with God, performing sacred rites to act as a go-between. This is what we call worship. In Catholicism, the mediators with God are priests.

Catholics have viewed priests in this light for most of the Church’s history. Despite this common view, it’s important to know that God, through his son Jesus Christ, reversed this relationship. Through Jesus, God took the initiative in communicating with humankind by sending his only son to create a more genuine relationship with humanity. It was God, not people, searching for a bridge to humankind.

Jesus never put himself above others. He served his people with a preference for the excluded and the poor. He met his people in their need. He taught, healed, walked with and corrected. He was the servant of his people, and they recognized him as their teacher.

Through Jesus, people found within themselves the strength to take on a life of commitment and risk. His friends, the apostles, were changed and strengthened by their faith in him, and they took on the very people who had killed him.

Jesus neither exercised his priesthood through the ritual of the temple nor did He take responsibility for a synagogue. The way in which He lived his own mission shows that He believed that the main meeting place between the divine and the human is the loving relationship among people. Jesus’ life proposes a way of priesthood that’s radically different from the traditional form.

Fr. Peter Woodruff, accompanied by members of a parish community, blessed the iron columns of a church being built in Lima, Peru.

Jesus appreciated what it means to be human. He was aware of the darker side of humanity, but did not accept it as the basis for ordering human relationships. He emphasized the potential all of us have. He taught a way of love and forgiveness. For him there is no other way.

Jesus’ enemies wanted to keep in place an organization of society based on lies, so they killed him to protect their interests. They attempted to make a scapegoat of him to keep in place an unjust social order based upon deception.

But Jesus’ friends discovered He is the way, the truth and the life, and they began to announce this to everyone. They described his execution and triumph over death. They presented Jesus as both the victim and the conqueror of an unjust order.

The priesthood of Jesus serves a radically different social order. He proclaimed that life can conquer death and He called on all who believe in him to take on a commitment to life. Christian faith demands we put our energies into responding to his invitation, regardless of our faults and failings.

Baptism calls each Christian to unmask lies that often are deeply rooted in cultures and nations. We have all seen challenges to societal lies, such as how one race is superior to others and how men are superior to women.

Jesus is about solidarity with victims of societal lies and rejects any move to blame them. Jesus says it is not acceptable to blame victims for the evil they are caught up in. Some people think unjust societal structures are not religious issues. But Jesus demonstrates otherwise. By unmasking societal lies, Jesus exercised his priesthood by living and publicly stating the truth that He is the door through which God comes into our lives. Every human can share in this priesthood.

Promoting Truth & Justice
How can we share in Jesus’ priesthood? The Church outlines two ways: the ministerial priesthood and the common priesthood of all the baptized. Much importance has been given to the ministerial priesthood, but less attention has been given to the common priesthood.

The ministerial priesthood is about serving God’s people in two ways: solving people’s problems and helping them to solve their own problems.When the ministerial priesthood puts all its energies into the former, it fails to serve people as it should. But when the ministerial priesthood helps people deal with life’s challenges, it becomes true to its mission as people discover ways to share in Jesus’ priesthood in life’s ordinary events.

Ministerial priesthood should support people in their search for ways to promote truth and justice in society. Priests who isolate the Church from the world as if it is a refuge rather than a dynamic, life-giving influence are denying the very mission they pretend to promote.

Many committed Church leaders believe Jesus asks his followers to side with the poor and excluded. This means working to change the social order that keeps many people poor and on the fringes of society.

The ordained ministry is about promoting, animating, supporting and accompanying others in their life commitments. The ordained are called to help all baptized Christians live in a family spirit, supporting each other and respecting their family members’ diverse gifts.

Our commitment to help shape the history of our world is the agenda we bring to our religious celebrations. We believe that “… the world itself will be freed from its slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8: 21).

Ordained ministers can easily become isolated from societal realities and end up promoting a religious faith that has little to do with real life.

Infused With New Life
I have shared in the life of parish communities in Lima, Peru, for many years and have seen how parish life can strengthen people’s daily lives and Christian faith.

As parish life has become more decentralized, parishioners have increasingly moved beyond passive religious practice and have taken on more personal responsibility in the mission of the Church.

This has infused new life into our parish communities as their members evangelize to others. Parishioners grow in self-confidence as mature, adult Christians. They develop partnerships with Church authority.

They also become aware of their own Christian identity: their right and duty to share in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ bestowed by their baptism.

So how can the ordained support the laity in their efforts to create a just and humane world? There is no one answer. Some remain in the background but find ways to help Christians who are committed to creating a just society.

Others may look for public ways to support social commitments, especially by taking personal risks such as confronting authorities who do not respect human rights.

At times, a gesture of solidarity is called for, even if it’s controversial. At times, the commitments of people will challenge and question the clergy. The clergy cannot be aloof from the struggles of life and restrict their work to internal matters. The Church is at the service of the kingdom of God, and that kingdom becomes real when truth and justice permeate all facets of life. It is neither just nor consistent to expect religious leaders to remain on the fringes of history.

Active In The Parish
In a world wracked by economic, ethnic and religious divisions,we strive to emphasize ways of following Jesus that will help promote unity.

In our parishes in Lima, we foster community growth by emphasizing sharing and participation and making decisions through dialogue. This helps people realize they can play an active part in parish life and gain the confidence needed to join other social organizations.

Many people have been encouraged by this way of developing a parish community.

They may never have had the chance to feel that they matter. But when they have a say, a vote and a chance to be elected to a community responsibility, it can improve their self-image and help them grow closer to God’s kingdom.

Columban Father Peter V. Woodruff first went to Peru in 1967, the same year as his ordination. He returned to his native Australia on a mission assignment in 2002.