p/c Caminante Wanderer.
The three munera, or duties, of the priest are to teach, sanctify and govern. Since the 1990s, the “teach” aspect of the priesthood has been relegated to the laity. The “sanctify” aspect of the sacraments remains somehow with the priest, but is treated as shallow magic-tricks at most Nordo parishes. Finally, the “govern” aspect of the priesthood is relegated entirely to the bishop as an unchecked juggernaut CEO of positivistic-obedience in areas he is taken seriously. In places the bishop is not taken seriously, he’s seen as just a cover for child-abuse and Democratic funding.
I want to write about the most under-rated munera of the priesthood, which I believe is teaching. A priest is called to teach the flock not unlike how Christ the High Priest was the supreme master of faith and life. Most people do not associate the gift of celibacy with the gift of teaching, but there is something angelic about teaching connected to continence:
And Jesus answering said unto them, “The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”—St. Luke 20:34-36.
Although the angels obviously cannot reproduce physically, St. Thomas Aquinas says they do participate in a certain type of paternity by illuminating lower angels. This is done by passing on heavenly truths in a sort of lighting-quick trickle-down hierarchical system of shared-information in heaven. St. Thomas writes about this in the First Part of the Summa, Question 45, Article 5: “A superior angel illuminates an inferior angel… In this way, even in heaven, there is paternity, as the Apostle says, From Whom all paternity in heaven and on earth is named.—Eph 3:15.
Thus, the angels are spiritual fathers by teaching others. So also the priest in his celibate life of prayer and study is a spiritual father by teaching of others. If a priest is not producing spiritual children (either by actual teaching or living a silent penitential life for the salvation of souls) he may fall into the life of being a predator, or at least being a parasite upon the body of Christ. A priest’s ability to imitate Christ the teacher increases as his purity comes closer to the angels and as his charity approaches that of Christ the High Priest. To illuminate others is to help save their souls.
The above is a study I saw on X, but I would sure like it to be mine.