5th Sunday of Easter
In this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word, we focus on two details that come from the first and second readings for this upcoming Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A. The first reading is taken Acts 6:1-7 and the second is taken from 1 Peter 2:4-9. Both details touch on the topic of the Sacrament of Holy Orders—the order of the diaconate and the order of the priesthood.
The Readings: Click Here
Looking for Sunday Catholic Word Merchandise? Look no further! Click Here
Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
In this episode, we’re going to focus on two details that come from the first and second readings for this upcoming Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A. The first reading is taken Acts 6:1-7 and the second is taken from 1 Peter 2:4-9. Both details touch on the topic of the Sacrament of Holy Orders—the order of the priesthood and the order of the diaconate.
Let’s start with Acts 6:1-7. Here’s what we read:
At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. 3 Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, 4 whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. 7 The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
The detail that’s relevant to doing apologetics is the laying on of hands by the apostles over these seven men for the sake of service. Many throughout the theological tradition have appealed to this text as biblical evidence for the sacred order of the diaconate. Here are a few reasons that Curtis Mitch and Scott Hahn give for this interpretation in their commentary The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible.
First, the laying on of hands elsewhere is tied to the sacramental sign of ordination (1 Tim. 4:14). Second, these men have hands laid on them to “serve” (6:2), which in Greek, diakoneo, is a verb that’s related to the noun for “deacon” in Philippians 1:1. Third, the ministry of at least one of these men, Philip, involves preaching (Acts 8:5) and baptizing (Acts 8:12).
However, there’s a case to be made that this is not a reference to the sacramental order of the diaconate.
Firstly, the Catechism of the Catholic Church never references this text when it speaks of the diaconate as a degree of Holy Orders. Such an omission carried great weight given that the Catechism appeals to biblical text to justify its teachings throughout.
Secondly, the International Theological Commission’s 2002 document From the Diakonia of Christ to the Diakonia of the Apostles, which was approved for release by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, explicitly denies Acts 6:1-6 as a biblical reference to “the institution of the diaconate.” Granted, this is not a document of the magisterium. However, it does represent orthodox and learned Catholic opinion on this topic. This being the case, a Catholic is permitted to deny this passage as a biblical reference to the institution of the ordained diaconate.
Why does the ITC conclude this?
I’ve deciphered three lines of argumentation. First, the document emphasizes the reason for their appointment: “Acts 6:1-6 describes the institution of the ‘Seven’ ‘to serve at tables.’” The point here is that their institution it’s not simply for “service,” which would lie at the heart of the ordained diaconate, must specifically to solve the problem of the Hellenist widows being neglected in the daily distribution of food.
Second, the ITC appeals to the Latin Vulgate. It points out that whenever the Scriptures speak of a deacon belonging to one of the churches, referencing Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8, 12, the Vulgate “does not use the word minister, but retains the Greek word diaconus.” Given that diakonos has a wide range of meaning in the language of the New Testament, covering a variety of difference services, the ITC concludes that the Vulgate doesn’t provide for us reason to think this is the institution of the order of the diaconate.
The ITC’s third line of argumentation is a reference to the seventh century Byzantine Council in Trullo (A.D. 692), which analyzed the contents of Acts 6:1-6 and taught that the Seven were not ordained deacons.
Again, it’s not out of bounds for a Catholic to question the common appeal to this passage as a biblical justification for ordained deacons.
Speaking of ordained, don’t the apostles lay their hands on the seven men? They do. But this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a sacramental laying on of hands. The laying on of hands in the early church was used for a variety of purposes, one being simply to visibly appoint or set someone apart for a particular service. This being the case, we can’t conclude this is a sacramental ordination simply because it’s a laying on of hands. Other evidence would be required to decipher which type of laying on of hands this is: sacramental or some other type. Given that the immediate context suggests the specific duty of “serving tables,” it doesn’t seem to be sacramental.
So, this detail offers us a little different flavor for our apologetical discussions. Unlike details that we’ve looked at in previous episodes, where we’ve used a detail to engage apologetically with someone who’s not Catholic, this detail lies at the center of an intra-Catholic debate: whether this text serves as biblical grounds for the Catholic teaching on the sacramental order of the diaconate. I suppose it’s stuff for the apologetical nerds. But that’s what we do here at the Sunday Catholic Word.
Now we can turn to the second detail that we’re going to look at for this episode. It comes from the second reading, which is taken from 1 Peter 2:4-9. Peter writes,
4 Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, 5 and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in scripture: “Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.” 7 Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone that will make people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall.” They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny. 9 But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
The key detail is verses 5 and 9. Verse 5 speaks of Christians being a “holy priesthood” and verse 9 speaks of Christians being a “royal priesthood.” Some Protestants, like Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie (Roman Catholics and Evangelicals, pg. 291), think these texts contradict what the Catholic Church’s teaching on the “ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests,” to quote paragraph 1547 of the Catechism. Like Martin Luther, these Protestants argue that if all believers are priests in Christ, the one priest, there is no need for a ministerial priesthood.
I deal with this objection in detail in my book Meeting the Protestant Challenge: How to Answer 50 Biblical Objections to Catholic Beliefs. So I’ll summarize a few brief points here.
First, affirming that all Christians are priests in Christ doesn’t entail the negation of a ministerial or hierarchical priesthood. They’re not mutually exclusive. For example, the Catechism references these passages as biblical support for its teaching that “the community of the baptized” make up the “common priesthood” of Christ (1141). Yet, it also affirms the existence of a ministerial or hierarchical priesthood. So, at least from a Catholic perspective, there’s not conflict between these two levels of priesthood because each participates in the sole priesthood of Christ in a different way.
But what about from a biblical perspective?
Well, everyone agrees that Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 2:9 is an allusion to Exodus 19:6, which refers to Israel as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” But during the time of the Exodus, the universal priesthood of the Israelites was merely one rank (the lowest rank) of priestly status among two others: the top level of Aaron the high priest and the middle level, which comprised his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, who served with Aaron (see Exodus 28 and Leviticus 8).
Peter is obviously drawing a parallel between Israel and the Church in 1 Peter 2:9. Therefore, the affirmation that Christians make up a universal priesthood of believers for the Israel of God in the New Covenant (Gal. 6:16) doesn’t automatically exclude a ministerial or hierarchical priesthood in Christ’s Church any more than the affirmation of a universal priesthood of Israelites excludes the existence of a hierarchical priesthood within God’s people in the Israel of God in the Old Covenant.
More work would have to be done to show whether there is in fact a rank of priestly ministry in the New Covenant that matches the other ranks for the Israel of God in the Old Covenant.
The question now is, “Is there such evidence?” As I point out in my book, the answer is yes.
One piece of evidence is the parallel itself. Again, Peter is drawing a parallel between Christ’s Church and the Israel of God in the Covenant. He affirms that both have a lower rank of priestly ministry: the common or universal priesthood. We know from Hebrews 3:1 there’s a match for the top level too: Jesus. t makes biblical sense, therefore, that there would also be a New Testament parallel to the middle rank: ministers specially ordained to serve the people with Jesus just as Aaron’s sons served with him. This appeal to 1 Peter 2:9, then, only strengthens the Catholic position. It doesn’t pose a threat to it.
Now, just as a teaser, when I deal with this objection in my book Meeting the Protestant
Challenge, I give three lines of argumentation that there is in fact a match for the middle rank in the New Testament, appealing to John 20:23 where He gives them the command to forgive and retain sins, Luke 22:19 where Jesus tells the apostles to “do this in remembrance of me,” and Romans 15:15-16 where Paul recognizes his ministry as a “priestly ministry.” You’ll have to get the book for the details.
Conclusion
Well, my friends, that does it for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word.
At least for the first and second readings for this upcoming Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A, the sacrament of Holy Orders—the order of the diaconate and the order of the presbyterate—is front and center. Definitely things worth pondering.
Thank you for subscribing to the podcast. Please be sure to tell your friends about it and invite them to subscribe as well. Also, if you’re interested in getting some cool mugs and stickers with my logo, “Mr. Sunday podcast,” go to shop.catholic.com.
I hope you have a blessed Fifth Sunday of Easter.