Priesthood in Roman Catholicism is rooted in two Old Testament images of priesthood. The first is the high priesthood of Moses' brother Aaron, which exercises three main responsibilities: worship and sacrifice, rendering the divine proclamation, and instruction of the people concerning divine law. The second image derives from God's covenant that names all of Israel a holy people, a royal priesthood. In the sacramental language of the church, the tri-fold leadership component of priesthood is bestowed with Holy Orders, while the corporate sense of priesthood springs from Baptism.

The Christian understanding of priesthood is grounded in Jesus, who is compared with the Levitical high priest in the exalted theology of the Letter to the Hebrews. First Peter also describes the church as a priesthood of believers. In the tradition of the early church, however, there were no individual priests to speak of. Perhaps the term seemed too confusing in a society already inhabited by Jewish and "pagan" priests. Instead, Christian leadership derived from the local bishop, who presided at Eucharist and provided guidance and governance. Each bishop was assisted by local presbyters, and as the church expanded territorially, the roles of presbyters stretched to include presiding at Eucharist. Priesthood, used at the end of the second century to describe the role of the bishop, gradually was extended to include the presbyterate. At this time episcopacy, presbyterate, and diaconate took on their normative divisions of responsibility.

After Constantine legalized Christianity in the 4th century, the orders of clergy took on a greater resemblance to hierarchies familiar to the Empire. Concurrently, the monastery phenomenon was growing in authority, and priesthood began to absorb the monastic ideal of separation from the lay state.

In medieval times, priesthood was increasingly identified with its liturgical powers in the Eucharist, minimizing its ministerial role and relationship to the community. After the Protestant Reformation rejected the non-biblical distinctions between clergy and laity, the Council of Trent (1545-63) upheld and strengthened them. The image of the Catholic priest was heavily reinforced in its distinctive character as the man set apart, both celibate and religious, who evokes the sacrifice of Christ in the actions of the liturgy and in his very being. It took a later Council, Vatican II, to reassert the dignity of the priesthood of the baptized, and to re-present priesthood as an extension of the bishop's pastoral ministry, locally expressed. The three-fold mission of preaching, sacramental ministry, and community leadership rebalanced the service of Holy Orders.

Scriptures: Exod 19:5-6; Deut 33:8-10; Letter to the Hebrews; 1 Pet 2:4-9

Books: The Theology of Priesthood - Donald Goergen, Ann Garrido, eds. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000)

Ministerial Priesthood in the Third Millennium - Ronald Witherup, et. al. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009)

From the opening pages of our scriptural tradition, we learn that life is a gift from God. Human life is literally animated with the divine breath, imparting a dignity to humanity that is indelible. For this reason, we declare that life is sacred, holy, participating in God's own life at its roots.

In the Bible we also learn that life is a choice, freely and fatefully determined: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live by loving the LORD...." (Deut 30:19-20) Throughout the generations of the Bible, we come to appreciate that life is so precious to God that God will sustain, heal, and restore it when necessary. Jesus comes into the world as "the way, the truth, and the life," and offers himself as "the bread of life." (Jn 14:6; 6:35) In fact, because life has such significance, God proposes resurrection as the ultimate measure to preserve our lives for eternity.The motto "respect life" originated in the pro-life movement which sprung into action after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion in Roe v. Wade. This movement certainly found strong grounding in biblical tradition as well as church history. Its call to honor the human dignity and rights of every person also echoed teachings of the Second Vatican Council like Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the World). Church theologians later broadened the call to respect life by speaking of a "consistent ethic of life" that considers human dignity and rights at both ends of the spectrum and in every circumstance throughout life. This is sometimes referred to as the "seamless garment" ethic, a term popularized by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago.

A consistent ethic of life concerns itself with decisions pertaining to conception and child-bearing, as well as death and dying. It also considers justice issues like poverty, immigration, capital punishment, the conditions of warfare, a living wage, the treatment of workers, racism and prejudice, and any stance that threatens the dignity or rights of a person or group. It would be inconsistent to respect the right of every person to be born, and otherwise to deny certain people rights and dignity once they're among us.

The phrase "respect life" remains popularly associated with the pro-life (anti-abortion) movement. A consistent ethic of respect for the gift of life is not a boutique option for Christians, however, but central to our purpose.

Scriptures: Gen 2:7; Ps 36:10; Ezek 37:1-14; Jn 10:10; Rom 14:7-9; Gal 2:20

Books: The Consistent Ethic of Life - Thomas Nairn, ed. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008)

The Seamless Garment - Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008)

The word martyr means witness. To die in testifying to your faith unites the martyr to Christ in death as in life. Martyrdom was a common fate among the first Christians, who early on were victims of mob violence (as in the death accounts of the deacon Stephen and apostle James in Acts), and later executed en masse by order of the Empire in the third century. Documents such as The Martyrdom of Polycarp (157) and The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas (203) give us a good picture of what fidelity to the faith might cost in those generations. Constantine's Edict in 312 made Christianity lawful, after which the number of martyrs in the West precipitously declined.

Early Christians believed that the dead awaited the time of Final Judgment before attaining heaven. Martyrs, however, achieved heaven at once because of their deep communion with the death of Christ. Even if a martyr had not yet been baptized, their blood shed for the faith qualified as a form of baptism. Martyrs' graves became sites of pilgrimage and annual celebrations of Mass on their death anniversaries, including funerary banquets. Churches were built over their tombs. The relics of martyrs were honored and often relocated to other churches and basilicas. Such relics are still placed in altars today.

The idea of martyrdom as the ultimate form of Christian death made it prudent to discourage the provocation of martyrdom in some circumstances. Gradually the ascetic ideal of the monastery came to be viewed as "spiritual martyrdom" that was equally esteemed.

Christian martyrdom did not disappear from history after the fourth century, of course. In times and places where religion becomes politicized— Japan in the 16th century, Uganda in the 19th century, Mexico in the early 20th century, or the Middle East today—martyrdom resurfaces. The period of the Reformation saw both Protestant and Catholic martyrs who died for their doctrinal positions. Missionaries of every era face the possibility of death whenever they enter unfamiliar cultures where their motives are mistrusted.

In the modern era which is highly politicized, identifying martyrs among the faithful dead has become increasingly complicated. While the deaths of people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany or Bishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador were clearly heroic, it's less clear to some whether they died as a result of their politics or their faith. Being declared an official church martyr may be beside the point. If we die with Christ, we are guaranteed to live with him.

Scripture: 2 Macc 6:18—7:42; Acts 6:8—8:1; 12:1-3; 2 Tim 2:11-12; Rev 7:13-17; 17:6

Books: The Big Book of Martyrs - John Wagner (New York: Paradox Press, 1997)

Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People - Martin McGee (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2008)

Depending on the name we received at baptism, each of us has a special intercessor or protector in the heavenly communion known as our patron saint. The saint can also, technically, be an angel. But either way, having help on the celestial end of Christian reality is a distinct advantage.

The practice of selecting a patron has early roots in Christianity, as the catacombs make clear. When the mostly-adult converts of the Roman Empire were received into the church through baptism, they often took the names of apostles or early martyrs. The history of a particular patron might figure into the identification one felt with him or her: by manner of occupation, personal suffering shared, or desirable virtue to be emulated.

In time, the patronage of saints was extended to entire nations, professions, illnesses, or other special needs. Also, individual parishes and whole dioceses are given into the patronage of particular saints. In light of these layers of patrons, each of us probably has quite a few celestial personalities to call upon in time of need. 

If you're a United States citizen, you have the patronage of Mary under her title Immaculate Conception. If your home is in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, you have a link to Francis of Assisi as well. Your parish may be St. Gabriel's, so add an angel to your spiritual Rolodex. If you're a lawyer, you can call upon Thomas Moore. If you're a lawyer in San Quentin, you have the attention of Dismas, the "good thief" at Golgotha and patron of prisoners. Trouble with your eyes? Call on St. Lucy. Lose something? St. Anthony is your guy. Have a headache? Teresa of Avila can help. In desperate situations, keep St. Jude Thaddeus especially close. And if you ever get to go fishing again, Andrew the Apostle is at your service. Your baptismal name, or a variant of it, will tell you who your number one patron is.

Some of us have distinctly modern names that don't evoke our Christian ancestry. Families in recent times have unevenly considered the celestial partnership between the communion of saints in this world and the next. Yet in each generation, names tells us we belong somewhere: to this clan, that nationality or society. Some are named for no other purpose than fashion, or to engage a veneer of second-hand celebrity. If you don't seem to have a natural patron, by all means choose one. There are plenty standing by and at your service.

Scripture: significance of naming: Gen 2:19; 3:20; 17:5, 15-16; Exod 3:13-15; Matt 1:23; 16:17-18; Luke 1:59-66

Books: Dictionary of Patron Saints' Names - Thomas Sheehan (Huntingdon, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001)

This Saint Will Change Your Life - Thomas Craughwell (Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2011)