• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Fulton Sheen on the Priesthood of the Baptized

Fr. David Friel · November 4, 2018

ECENTLY, I delivered a paper at the annual conference of the Society for Catholic Liturgy. The theme of the conference was Romano Guardini, in honor of the centenary of his classic book, The Spirit of the Liturgy (1918). The title of my presentation was “Romano Guardini and the Priesthood of the Baptized.”

In researching this topic, I have grown more keenly aware of the need for renewal in the common understanding of the baptismal priesthood. The Second Vatican Council speaks very clearly about the subject in Lumen gentium, nos. 10–11. Too often, however, it seems that we are hesitant to speak about the priesthood of the baptized, for fear that it might somehow denigrate or take away from the ministerial priesthood. A healthier view might see the necessity of understanding both forms of the priesthood together.

Disclaimer: I may be the only member of the millennial generation who still regularly uses cassette tapes. Most of the cassettes I own are retreats and catechism talks by Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen. While listening to one of his retreats, given to the presbyterate of Gary, Indiana in 1973, I was struck by a section in which he speaks forcefully, albeit indirectly, about the need for the laity to recover a sense of their share in the baptismal priesthood.

Although the retreat was directed chiefly at priests, there were also religious sisters and members of the laity present for the conferences. Here is my transcription of Sheen’s comments directed toward the laity:

Lay people: you are Christ. You belong to the royal priesthood. The royal priesthood differs from the hierarchical priesthood in two ways. First of all, you make spiritual offerings, we [ministerial priests] make a Eucharistic offering. Secondly, we are directly united with Christ the Head, you are in the Body and then are united to Christ the Head through His priests. But that we need not stress.

What I wish to emphasize is that, simply because you have the faith, you offer something. You are not just coming here and offering Mass, offering something in the collection. You’ve also got to be victims! And this we’ve forgotten. . . . We are all victims. . . . We are tied up to Christ, Who offers Himself. 1

In Sheen’s view, the difference between the baptismal and ministerial priesthoods was not in need of stress. It was, rather, the commonality between them—namely, the ability to unite oneself to the sacrifice of Christ—that required attention.

In Ratzinger’s book, The Spirit of the Liturgy, titled in homage to Guardini’s text, the future pontiff argues that, during the canon, the human action steps back in order to allow the divine action to take priority. Ratzinger goes even so far as to observe: “In this real ‘action,’ in this prayerful approach to participation, there is no difference between priests and laity. . . . Participation in that which no human being does, that which the Lord himself and only he can do—that is equally for everyone.” 2

Renewal of this sense among the faithful, I have found, was a prevailing goal of the Liturgical Movement of the early twentieth century. Even now, in the early twenty-first century, such renewal remains a largely unfulfilled goal.

HILE composing this blog, I discovered that Sheen’s retreat for the Diocese of Gary, IN is now available on CD. I would highly recommend this retreat, as well as his famous Dublin retreat, to priests and seminarians. I have found much spiritual profit—as well as homiletic material—in these retreats.

Details of next year’s conference of the Society for Catholic Liturgy have already been announced. The theme will be The Sacred Liturgy and the Family, and it will be held at the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul in Providence, RI from September 26–28, 2019. The call for papers is posted on the SCL website.




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Fulton J. Sheen, Bishop Sheen Retreat for Clergy, cassette 1, side 2, “Christ, Priest and Victim” (North Haledon, NJ: Keep the Faith, Inc., 1973).

2   Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, trans. John Saward (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), 174.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bishop Fulton J Sheen Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The pope regrets that this trade in African slaves, that he believed having ceased, is still exercised in some regions and even more cruel way. He begs and begs the King of Portugal that it implement all its authority and wisdom to extirpate this unholy and abominable shame.”

— ‘Pope Pius VII, writing to the King of Portugal’

Recent Posts

  • Church Music Shouldn’t Be “Headache-Inducing”
  • Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
  • Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
  • Apply Right Now! • Sacred Music Symposium
  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.