Thursday, April 25, 2013

In Persona Christi; Ex Opere Operato

In questions with the 7 Sacraments, one that usually comes up is "Will the graces of the Sacrament still flow through even if the minister is not holy enough?"

Yes.
The beauty of the Sacraments is that the work of grace works through itself. For example, in the Sacrament of Eucharist, the priest only has to say the consecration and Christ's words "Do this in memory of me" and the transubstantiation of the bread and wine go to the Body and Blood of Christ. (The physical appearances "accidents" still look the same, but the substance itself has changed) The spiritual state of the priest does not matter because the graces of the sacrament flow through and works by itself.

What seems confusing about this is that if the priest was not in good moral standing, it looks like he would not be doing his job of 'In Persona Christi' or in the place/person/role of Christ. The detail to remember here is that Christ was Human, but also Divine, therefore, those who are simply Human could never be perfectly exemplary of Christ on Earth.

We are all called to Holiness and to strive for God's Glory in all that we do.

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