We gather to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on the night he instituted the Holy Eucharist and the priesthood. This is the glory of Holy Thursday. But, lest we forget, this was also the night his first priest betrayed him. Judas, who was given the power to change ordinary bread and wine into the Lord’s Body and Blood like the other apostles; Judas, who as a bishop could have ordained, confirmed, anointed and absolved; Judas, who should have become St. Judas—allowed Satan to enter his heart, and shortly thereafter he turned his back on the Messiah he had given up everything to follow.

The tragedy of Judas, unfortunately, has been repeated throughout the history of the Church. The current sex abuse scandal in Boston is just the most recent example of the phenomenon. As some of you will recall from my homily back on the first Sunday of Lent, "sex," "celebrity" and "silver" are valid ways of describing the 3 temptations Satan threw at Jesus after his 40-day fast in the desert. Well they are also the 3 big temptations Satan throws at the rest of us—and that includes priests. Contrary to what some naïve lay people believe, ordination does not eliminate temptation! (I wish it did, but it doesn’t!) And besides, Jesus, our great High Priest was tempted, so why should we ordained priests be exempt?

But the good news is that we—priests and laity alike—have the grace of Jesus Christ at our disposal to help us overcome every temptation we encounter in life. Yet the sad reality is that not all priests avail themselves of this power. As is the case with many lay people, they choose to give in and sin grievously. With Judas, one of the original priests, it was silver that did him in—30 pieces to be exact. But sex and celebrity also have claimed their share of victims in the last 2,000 years.

This is the honest and sober truth. On the other hand, let’s try to keep all the negatives in perspective. A few weeks ago I was watching a CNN report that dealt with the Boston situation and similar scandals in the country, and the reporter ended the segment with these words: "Of the nations 40,000 priests [actually the number is more like 46,000], only a fraction have been accused of misconduct."

Now that was NOT the impression he had just given in his report! Nor is it the impression given in most of the secular press when these issues are discussed. Quite frankly, I thank God the modern media weren’t around in the first century! If they had been, you can be sure the only apostle we would have heard about would have been Judas! And it would have been implied that the eleven others were just like him!

Jesus Christ was the Great High Priest and he was sinless. This means that anytime we hear about a priest who has committed a grave sin, what we’re hearing about is not the priesthood itself, but rather a perversion of the priesthood! That’s an important distinction to keep in mind. The priesthood is rooted in Christ, and as such it has no association whatsoever with sin. The people in the media think they’re attacking the priesthood these days, whereas they’re really attacking a perversion of the priesthood—a perversion which should be attacked and condemned (as all sin should be)!

So let’s focus tonight on the priesthood itself, which is the Lord’s great gift to his Church. On the night before he died, Jesus gave 12 ordinary men a special share in his ministry. His purpose was to continue his saving work here on earth. The new Catechism says this in paragraph 1547: "The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church." Notice it is Christ who is acting here; it is Christ who builds up the Church in a unique way through the instrumentality of the ordained priest. So it’s not Fr. Ray who changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, it is Jesus who does it through me. It’s not Fr. Ray who forgives your sins in the confessional, it is Jesus who does it through me. By the unique grace of the sacrament of Holy Orders, priests are empowered to act in persona Christi Capitis (in the person of Christ the head). Consequently you need not worry even if you receive a sacrament from a "bad priest": in such a case you still receive the sacrament, because it is Christ himself who ministers to you. This is what makes the gift of the ministerial priesthood so special: the sacramental graces which come to us through the priest do not depend on the priest’s worthiness.

In Fr. Roger Landry’s recent homily which I attached to the bulletin a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned St. Francis of Assisi, who once was asked, "What would you do if you knew that the priest celebrating Mass had three concubines on the side?" Francis replied, "When it came time for Holy Communion, I would go to receive the sacred Body of my Lord from the priest's anointed hands."

Every priest is called to be holy, like Lord he is ordained to serve. But even when he isn’t, it’s good to know that Jesus is not hindered in his ability to nourish and forgive and ultimately save us.

Of course, the fruits of a priest’s ministry will be much more evident if he is holy. His people will not only receive sacramental graces when he acts in persona Christi, they’ll also be blessed by his example, charity and service. As we heard in tonight’s Gospel, when Jesus ordained his first priests he performed an act of humble service in their presence, and said to them, "As I have done, so you must do." He knew that their holiness would be an instrument whereby he could convert the world.

And that’s precisely what happened! This is why you must pray for your priests to be holy. An evil priest can do immense damage, but a holy priest can do ineffable good.

And the parish is where the graces of the priesthood are most operative. It’s where the Mass is celebrated most frequently; it’s the primary location in which people are reconciled to God through the sacrament of Reconciliation; it’s where marriages and baptisms and confirmations occur. In short, it’s the place where the priest—as priest—can do the most good for the people of God.

I’ve been influenced by many wonderful priests in my life—at Providence College, and at the other universities I attended; on retreats and at conferences. But those who influenced me most profoundly were parish priests, like Westerly’s own Fr. Giudice, who was the curate at my home parish when I made my first communion. I admired those men, who were morally virtuous, and who showed me what it meant to be a man of God.

In his book, Priests for the Third Millennium, Bishop Timothy Dolan tells a story about a friend of his from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Fr. George Lodes. In 1962, Fr. Lodes was in Rome, and had the privilege of meeting Pope John XXIII in person. He met the Holy Father along with a number of other priests: they all stood side by side as the pope moved down the line to greet them one by one. Each of the priests introduced himself, and told the pope what he did.

The first said, "Holy Father, I’m a university president," and then knelt to kiss the pope’s ring. The next said, "I teach in a college"; the third, "I’m a hospital chaplain"; the fourth, "I’m the chancellor of my diocese." And on and on the litany went.

Fr. Lodes felt a little embarrassed, because his ecclesiastical credentials paled in comparison to those of the others, so when the pope finally reached him, he leaned over, and said, very softly, "Holy Father, all I am is a parish priest."

In response the pope immediately genuflected before Fr. Lodes, kissed his hands, then rose to his feet and said to him, "That is the greatest priestly work of all!"