Tu es Sacerdos in Aeternum – The Priest: A Friend and Servant of God

Abstract

The most exciting expression of the true nature of a priest is one that finds its true meaning in the phrase Servus Dei – a Servant of God. This expression John E. Rotelle, in his foreword to the book, The True Priest: The Priesthood as Preached and Practiced by Saint Augustine, is summed up as ‘Service’. Herein, the Church Father, Augustine understood service as the “true meaning of ordination – service to God in transmitting the message of Jesus to humanity and service to the people of God in helping the power of God’s spirit to enter their lives.” 1 To this act of service and from a biblical understanding, Gerald O’ Collins, and Michael Keenan Jones express that Priests are chosen by God and not self-appointed. This thought finds its meaning in the Old Testament passages of Exodus 25–30, 39–40; Leviticus 8– 9; and Number 1–10, wherein YHWH elected priests (and Levites) to serve as His instruments for the benefit of the chosen people. In the New Testament, Jesus also received a divine mandate to serve as high priest of the new covenant.