Catholics need continual reminders about the three offices afforded us at our Baptism, namely the offices of priest, prophet, and king. These offices are mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the context of our Baptism, the anointing with sacred chrism, and our incorporation into Christ (CCC 1241). The priestly office is concerned with administration of divine worship and sacrifice. The prophetic office is to act as the interpreter and mouthpiece of God, which can be through words, either spoken or written, as well as actions. The kingly office, which certainly would include governance and rule, would also be characterized by humility and service as modeled by Christ at the Last Supper (John 13:1–17).
These offices are firmly established in the Scriptures as primarily attributed to Christ. In Acts 3:22, St. Peter calls Jesus the prophet foretold by Moses; Hebrews calls him our “great high priest” (4:14); and he is the “king of kings” in Revelation 17:14. Because these offices apply to Jesus, they can also be attributed to his body, the Church (cf. Colossians 1:18). The strongest reference to this comes from 1 Peter 2:9. With allusions to the Old Testament people of God (Exodus 19:6), Peter calls the Church a “royal priesthood” and “a holy nation.” Here one can find references to the kingly and priestly offices of all the baptized. Both offices are fulfilled by the laity in the world through the governance of earthly matters, through building holy marriages and families, and through the regular prayers and sacrifices offered in one’s life of faith (see Lumen Gentium 34–36). The Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19–20 alludes to the prophetic office for Christians when he tells us to “make disciples” and “teach.”
Fortunately, Catholics have many opportunities to be reminded of these offices every Sunday at Mass. We are also given opportunities to participate in these three offices so that we can continue to witness to them as we leave the liturgy and build up the Church in the world. Though not exhaustive, what follows is a starting point for readers to explore further instances of the kingly, prophetic, and priestly offices.
Entering as a King
Consider the Introductory Rites of the Mass. We sing a chant or hymn as the priest processes into the sanctuary. This rite should remind us every week of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem commemorated on Passion Sunday. Jesus was making a kingly entry into Jerusalem similar to that of King David (2 Samuel 6:14–15). It was not lost on him nor those welcoming him that Zechariah said specifically that the “king” would come to “Jerusalem…riding on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). The entry by the priest at Mass should remind us of the time Christ the king gloriously entered his city before his singular sacrifice, a sacrifice that will also be made present to us not much later.
After the priest processes forth in a kingly manner, he will sit on the presider’s chair. In the Cathedral one finds the bishop’s chair, known as the cathedra. Each indicates the authority of the one sitting in it. This authority of the chair is referenced by Jesus in Matthew 23:2 when he discusses those who teach from “the chair of Moses,” which was the symbol of doctrinal religious authority of the time. This religious authority is also the basis for the devotion to the “Chair of St. Peter,” which is celebrated in the Church on February 22. Every church has an authoritative chair where the leader of worship will sit.
It may be uncomfortable to compare the presider’s chair or the bishop’s cathedra to a throne. In fact, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) states explicitly that the priest’s chair must not have the “appearance of a throne” (310). However, both the cathedra and the throne symbolize royal authority. Ultimately, any kingly authority is derived from God’s authority, to which these symbols of authority also refer. This authority, though, must be grounded in God’s word, proclaimed by his prophets.
The Voice of God
The clearest example of the prophetic office in the Mass is found in the proclamation of the Sacred Scriptures. We all get to proclaim the Good News by singing the Gloria, imitating God’s messengers, the angels, and their proclamation of the Nativity. However, it is in the Liturgy of the Word where “God himself speaks to his people” (GIRM 29). Those persons reading are meant to speak forth God’s word, which is the etymology of the word prophet.
New Testament prophetic voices would often incorporate phrases from the Old Testament, which would have been the only Scriptures they knew at the time. Prophetic voices today must also incorporate the Scriptures in their proclamations if they are to be faithful to this office. However, only a select few participate in the prophetic office in this way in the liturgy. For the rest of the congregation, there is a more common, and perhaps more reflective, means of participation in the prophetic office that is less obvious—that of the attentive listener.
While the biblical prophets are primarily known for their proclamation of God’s words to his people, they all first listened attentively. This, arguably, is what set them apart as prophets more than their ability to speak. Samuel, when his prophetic office is being instituted, says he is “listening” (1 Samuel 3:10). Elijah models this prophetic listening as well in the famous episode on Mount Horeb when he heard God only in the whisper (1 Kings 19:12). In Ezekiel 3, the prophet is given God’s word on a scroll and instructed to eat it. This image of ingesting God’s word has been interpreted to mean “diligent attention and affection” (Haydock’s Commentary). It also foreshadows the Eucharist, when we receive God’s Word “made flesh” (John 1:14) in Communion.
Another significant aspect of the prophetic office is that while God did speak through the prophets and the human authors of Sacred Scripture, he did so in a way that respected their human dignity and free will. This understanding of God’s work through human instruments is illustrated numerous times throughout Christian theology, but most recently and authoritatively in Dei Verbum, which states, “God chose men and while employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities” (11, emphasis mine). While this refers to the composition of the Scriptures themselves, one can see it analogously applied to the explication of those Scriptures during the Mass. This dynamic interplay between human and divine authors is important when considering that the homily is also a participation in the prophetic office. While there is no guarantee that the priest or deacon will be the perfect mouthpiece of God in those eight-to-ten minutes, his expounding on and exhortation from the Sacred Scriptures can act as God using a human instrument to bring one to faith (cf. Romans 10:17) and action (cf. Acts 2:37).
A Priestly People
As the Mass moves from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, this accompanies a similar movement in the primary office exercised from the prophetic to the priestly. Priesthood is defined by sacrifice, prayer, and expiation, and one finds these actions also in the Mass. While these priestly actions are primarily found in Christ, and secondarily in the ministerial priest who participates in the priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Holy Orders, there are moments where the laity’s participation in the priestly office should be noted.
For instance, it is no small matter that we are called to sacrifice our material goods and present these offerings as gifts. This is not just to keep the lights on in the church. This offering will be given to “all who are in need” as it historically has been (see Justin Martyr’s First Apology, chapter 67), but first it is presented to God. Then, after the priest has brought the bread and wine to the altar for consecration, he invites us to pray “that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God” (emphasis mine). Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) exhorts the laity to “take part” at this point “with devotion and full collaboration” (48). While our sacrifice may pale in comparison to what will soon be offered, this small participation is just that, a participation. This is because our sacrifice is not just the money we have placed into the basket, but an offering of our very selves (SC, 48). This does not make the sacrifice of the Mass more valuable from God’s perspective since it is already infinitely valuable as the sacrifice of Jesus being made present; but we now share in the sacrifice that God sees as infinitely valuable.
Though our initial sacrifice may be small, it is important that it is united with the offering of the ordained priest and what he will soon be offering on the altar. When the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, it too will be offered up to the Father in the act of perfect worship given by the Son from all eternity (Hebrews 10). When we unite ourselves to this offering through our reception of Holy Comm-union, we participate in this offering as well. This is our small but efficacious participation in the priestly office bestowed upon us at Baptism.
A Final Call
The final part of the Mass could arguably provide a call to any of the three offices depending on the language used that day. The dismissal formula, the “Ite, missa est,” where the term “Mass” comes from, has several options. We might be told to “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord!” This speaks to the prophetic office most clearly as we are called to “announce” by our words and actions what has been shared with us. We might be sent “glorifying the Lord” by our lives. This implies the priestly office as our holiness incarnates the blessing we have received from God in the world. Finally, for us to “Go in peace,” would be the result of establishing justice and order, which are the roles of the kingly office.
Hopefully, the legacy of the Second Vatican Council will be the dissemination of the universal call to holiness. This necessarily includes the laity recognizing and actively participating in the three offices given to us by God at our Baptism. Though the call to holiness is universal, it finds unity in its Source and there is astounding variety to the ways God is made manifest in the lives of the saints. Similarly, we all share the same three offices of priest, prophet and king, which are similarly informed by the one divine liturgy in which all Catholics participate. May we, from this formation in the Mass, live out those offices in the unique ways in which God has called us.
