Surely, then, the priesthood is by its own nature, requirements, and obligations an essential rule, and the highest state of perfection divinely instituted by our Lord Himself.
But this is not all. The priest has also jurisdiction over the mystical Body of Christ—that is, over the souls of those who are born again of water and the Holy Ghost. S. Paul says, "We are the good odour of Christ unto God in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one, indeed, the odour of death unto death; but to the others, the odour of life unto life. And for these things who is so sufficient?"[1] That is, who shall not fear? What can be more formidable than to stand between the living and the dead, charged with the priestly office, to give account for the souls committed to our trust? The Fathers call it an office which angels fear to bear. To be a king over a people, or a leader over an army in which the earthly life of men is at stake, is formidable. How much more is a superiority the effects of which are eternal? What sanctity, what charity, what humility, what patience, what wisdom, what firmness, what equity, are "sufficient for these things"? If the relation in which a priest stands to His Divine Lord in the Holy Mass
- ↑ 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16.
