2024/07/29

154. The Priesthood and the Cross

The first paragraph (Revelation 21:1-8) of the Prophecy of the Spirituality of the Holy Spirit (chapters 21-22), the seventh prophecy in the Prophetic Structure of the Book of Revelation (see diagram below), has the same structure as the last paragraph (20:11-15) of the Prophecy of the Completion of the Liturgy of the Mass (chapters 19-20), in which the Eucharist hidden in heaven in the fourth prophecy appears, as discussed in the previous issue. From this fact, we saw that the first paragraph of the Prophecy of the Spirituality of the Holy Spirit reveals the mystery of the Eucharist. 

The following second paragraph of the Prophecy of the Spirituality of the Holy Spirit (chapters 21-22) begins with the phrase: "Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 21:9). Here, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb" represents the cross on which Jesus' body was nailed and which supported it (cf. blog № 149). This cross signifies the priesthood, the office that the priest himself bears, who performs the words of Jesus in memory of him. So, when Jesus chose the Apostles and sent them out, he told them, "[H]e who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38). 

When the priest, who asked the Father for the bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Jesus in Jesus’ name, takes the bread and lifts it above the altar that he surrounds with the congregation, his body becomes the cross to which Jesus' body was nailed and which supported his body. The Gospel reads, "But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Mag'dalene" (John 19:25). Jesus looked at them from the cross and spoke to them (cf. John 19:26-27). Hence, the priest shows the consecrated host towards the congregation gathering around the altar together. 

All these events accomplished by Jesus were inscribed in the memory of the Apostles, who had stated, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you" (Matthew 26:35) at Jesus' last table but failed to fulfil the words. At the same time, Jesus' prayer that the Father's name would continue to protect the Apostles was there (cf. John 17:11-19). 

Jesus told the Apostles, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:13-14) and continued, "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). He then prayed to the Father, "And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth" (John 17:19). 

The "truth" is Jesus himself (cf. John 14:6). It was on the cross that Jesus, the Truth, consecrated himself. Hence, when the priest lifts the Eucharist, which became the body of Christ in response to his prayer, above the altar that he sourounds with the congregation, the very body of the priest who supports the Eucharist becomes the cross that supports the body of Jesus and becomes the one consecrated together, being nailed to Jesus. Thus, Jesus' prayer that "they also may be consecrated in truth" is fulfilled. 

The friends Jesus said he would "lay down his life for his friends" refer to the Apostles, who were to assume the priesthood. It was Jesus' determination not to lose any of the Apostles (cf. John 18:9), to whom he said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you" (John 15:16). 

Maria K. M.