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Art: El Greco, Pope St. Pius V.
"I meet you, O Christ, face to face. I see you in your Sacraments." Saint Ambrose (Photo of Haditha Dam, Iraq.)
The parish priest shares in the ministry of the bishop and is thus appointed to pastoral care for a portion of the flock of God in union with the bishop. The priest exercises the ministry of reconciliation through forgiveness of sins.
"When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God's merciful love for the sinner."
-- CCC 1465
The flock hears Christ's voice through the handing on of revelation through Scripture and Tradition.
"The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, in three ways:
"- she was and remains built on 'the foundation of the Apostles,' the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself;
"- with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the 'good deposit,' the salutary words she has heard from the apostles;
"- she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ's return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, 'assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor':
- she was and remains built on "the foundation of the Apostles," the witnesses chosen and sent on mission by Christ himself;
- with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching, the "good deposit," the salutary words she has heard from the apostles;
- she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ's return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops, "assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor":
who never leaves his flock untended.
Through the apostles
you watch over us and protect us always.
You made them shepherds of the flock
to share in the work of your Son. . . .
http://www.christusrex.com/www1/mcitl/litlib.html