The story of the transfer of Naboth’s property, that we hear as the first reading, is closely connected with the issue of injustice. The story combines different themes of greed, power, dispossession and injustice, resulting in the oppression of the powerless by the powerful. As I just celebrated my first year of ordination, this story prompted me to reflect on the role of a priest in dealing with the injustice in the world.
Just right before the coronavirus outbreak, Pope Francis issued his Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Querida Amazonia. The Holy Father put emphasis on the significance of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which configures a man to be a priest of Jesus Christ. Thus, “the exclusive character received in Holy Orders qualifies the priest alone to preside at the Eucharist.” Pope Francis reiterates further that, “the priest is a sign of that head and wellspring of grace above all when he celebrates the Eucharist, the source and summit of the entire Christian life.” The bottom line is that the sacrament of Holy Orders gives the great power to the priest to say, “this is my Body.”
After the issuance of Pope Francis’s exhortation, a respected senior Jesuit Priest reached out to me and suggested that I should volunteer to go to Amazon region because the Holy Father called those who have a missionary vocation to opt for the Amazon region. With all my humility, I do not think that I am suitable for the job because I do not have a missionary zeal like Saint Francis Xavier and other great Jesuit missionaries. But, I also have another concern regarding the expected role of a priest entering the missionary life in the Amazon region. Is there an expectation that the priest is to be an alter Christus that has authority to offer the Holy Sacrifice? Or, perhaps the expectation is that a priest is an agent of social justice. After all, many believe that Eucharist is about is not about the real presence, but rather a way of following Christ in loving our brother and sisters, especially the poor and the marginalized. Thus, Eucharist will be understood to make us more Christ-like in bringing justice and peace to the world.
Certainly, we must do whatever we can to help the poor and marginalized. As Christians, we have obligations both to love and to show justice by helping the least of our brother and sisters. But, there is a big danger to reduce Eucharist merely as an instrument of social justice. If we are treating Eucharist merely as the food for the poor and marginalized we will lose our faith in the transcendental order. We will shift our allegiance almost exclusively to the world enterprise to build the Kingdom of God on earth. Moreover, we will separate our faith and our works for social justice, then we will leave the works with certain autonomy instead of relying on the Catholic tradition. There will be no need for any Trinity or Incarnation. There will be no need for a priest to mediate between men and God any longer. After all, social workers or community organizers can do the work for social justice.