The feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, which we celebrate today, is relatively new in the Church. The Holy See first gave approval for the feast in 1987 and then in 2012 offered episcopal conferences the possibility of including it in their national liturgical calendars. Little by little, therefore, the feast is spreading throughout the world and one can now find it in such countries as Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and England and Wales.
Celebrated annually on the first Thursday after Pentecost, the feast focuses on the priestly aspect of Christ's mission on earth. The New Testament Letter to the Hebrews especially points to this aspect. Jesus is "merciful and faithful high priest as far as God is concerned."to atone for the sins of the people. It is "the apostle and high priest of the faith we profess".the "great high priest who has passed through heaven"..
In the Old Testament, the Jewish High Priest, and only the High Priest, entered once a year (only) in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple in Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people, including his own. But the new and greater High Priest, Jesus, has entered the heavenly Holy of Holies, the very presence of the Father, "made" not by human hands but by God himself. And he, without sin, "ever lives to make intercession" for us.
Today's readings underline the atoning aspect of Jesus' priesthood, that is, how he atones for and cleanses our sins. He does not offer the blood of animals, as did the Jewish priests, which is "the blood of animals".impossible that [...] takes away sins".. He offers his own blood, his own self, in a perfect sacrifice of obedience. We see Him living this obedience when He struggles, successfully, in His agony in the garden, to unite His human will, which naturally feared suffering, to the divine will of His Father: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. But not as I will, but as you will.".
At a time when priestly vocations in the West are in decline, it is necessary to beg God for the grace of many more priests for his Church, ready to make of themselves a sacrifice to God for the good of souls. We must pray for many humble and obedient priests who are willing to drink the cup that God holds out to them. Most of the time it will be a cup of joy, as we read in the famous 23rd Psalm: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with perfume, and my cup runneth over.". But at times that cup will be one of suffering. With the prayers and love of the faithful, the priests will rejoice in the sweet wine of the cup and remain faithful when the chalice is harder to drink.
