Caput XXI
Christ Alone Consecrates
Just as Christ alone baptizes through any minister, so too He alone consecrates the Eucharist through the priest, and His word spoken once at the Supper bears fruit throughout the Church until He comes again.
Christ baptizes, just as God the Father bears witness through John the Baptist, saying: "The one on whom you see the Spirit descending — this is the one who baptizes" (John✦ 1, 33). So baptism through the hands of any holy man is no better than through the hands of a sinner, since no matter what sort of person the baptizer may be, it is Jesus who baptizes. The same should be understood about the ministry of the holy altar — namely, that it is Christ himself who consecrates the offering through the hands of a priest, whether righteous or unrighteous. And just as John taught in his homily on the betrayal of Judas, now Christ himself is present, and the priest does not consecrate the body of Christ, but Christ himself does so through the priest. For just as the voice of God commanded once at the beginning of the world that the earth bring forth fruit through each passing year — and that command has always had its effect in generation — so also that same voice of the man Jesus said once at the Supper: "This is my body," and "Do this in remembrance of me." But until, as the Apostle says, he himself comes to judge, that voice fulfills its effect throughout the whole Church.✦✦✦
The Unworthy Minister Cannot Undo God's Promise
Even if the consecrating priest is another Judas, God who cannot lie fulfills what He has promised.
And indeed it can happen that the one who consecrates is another Judas, to whom the king says, "Friend, how did you get in here?"✦ (Matt. XXII, 12.) Yet the one who does not lie will do what he promised.
The Weight of Ecclesiastical Authority
The force of excommunication or admonition derives its weight not from the person who imposes it but from the majesty of God whose authority stands behind it.
From this, then, let each person understand indirectly that the force and weight of excommunication — or the weight of an admonition — through whatever person it is carried out, is measured by the majesty of God, by whose authority it is imposed.1
Read the original Latin
Christus baptizat, sicut Deus Pater Baptistae Joannis testatur dicens: Super quem videris Spiritum descendentem, hic est qui baptizat (Joan. I, 33). Non ergo melior est baptismus per manus cujuslibet sancti hominis, quam per manus peccatoris, quoniam qualiscunque baptizator sit, Jesus est qui baptizat. Sic et de ministerio sancti altaris debet intelligi, quia scilicet et per manus aut justi aut injusti sacerdotis oblationem consecrat ipse Christus, et sicut Joannes in homelia de proditione Judae disseruit nunc ipse Christus praesto est, et non ipse sacerdos corpus Christi consecrat, sed ipse Christus per ipsum. Nam sicut vox Dei in primordio mundi semel jussit, ut terra per singulos annos fructum afferat, et illa semper habet effectum ad generationem; sic et eadem vox hominis Jesu semel quidem in coena dixit: Hoc est corpus meum, et hoc facite in meam commemorationem: sed donec, ut ait Apostolus, ipse veniat ad judicandum efficientiam ipsius rei, vox ista per omnem Ecclesiam adimplet. Et quidem fieri potest ut is qui consecrat, alter Judas sit, cui rex dicat: Amice, quomodo huc intrasti? (Matth. XXII, 12.)
Is tamen qui non mentitur faciet quod promisit. Hinc itaque ex obliquo unusquisque intelligat, quia vis et pondus excommunicationis, aut admonitionis pondus, per qualemcunque personam fiat, ex Dei majestate pensetur, cujus auctoritate deponitur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.1.33 — And I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining — this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
- ↩Gen.1.11-Gen.1.12 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
- ↩Luke.22.19;1Cor.11.24 — And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' 1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'
- ↩1Cor.11.26 — For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
- ↩Matt.22.12 — "And he says to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
Notes
- 1 ↩Ex obliquo rendered 'indirectly' — i.e., by inference from what has been said, not by direct statement.
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