Apostolic Office (by Father Edward Kilmartin, S.J.)
Christian liturgy differs from sacred drama not merely because of the mystery content but because the presence of Christ and his saving work takes place through rites which are a form of expression of the faith of the Church. But how are the dynamics of liturgical actions to be presented in such a way that they are clearly seen as social actions in which there is no complete disjunction between the representation of the mystery of salvation and the private lives of those involved in the action, the "actors," both minister and faithful?
The proper approach to the problem of the relation between faith and institution should begin with the fact that the content of office of the "chosen witnesses" of the Resurrection is the obedient exercise of their faith in Christ. Through the gift of faith Christ formed these witnesses into the community of believers sent in full power. By witnessing to their faith, the apostles are the way by which Christ becomes personally present to others and draws them into his Church.
Those who succeed the apostles as leaders of the Church derive their faith from the faith of the Church, which has its apostolic succession or tradition from apostolic office and the witness of all believers to their faith. Thus apostolic office, strengthened by the gift of the Spirit in ordination, is a special mode of exercise of the faith of the Church.
Christ's personal presence in word and sacrament is inwardly dependent on the exercise of this faith of the Church. This becomes clear when it is recognized that the apostles themselves were, properly speaking, not servants of the ipsissima verba Christi but servants of the word of God through the obedient exercise of their faith. The apostles--Paul especially makes this clear--recognized that they preached the word of God if they witnessed to their faith. Christ was understood to be present and acting because the preacher exercised the faith in which Christ is present as sharing source of faith.
The word of God exists in this world only in the form of a believing "Ant-Wort," as Langemeyer expresses it; and this holds for the sacraments of Christ. The forma sacramenti is the expression of the faith of the Church. Sacraments do not exist without the "ecclesial word of faith" which draws gestures of ordinary life into the realm of the celebration of the life of faith. The exercise of faith is the way by which the symbolic representations of Christ's special presence, derived from Christ as formative norm of its self-expression, are executed.
Within this perspective one sees clearly that pastoral office, by its mere presence, cannot account for a special presence of Christ in liturgical celebrations. The special presence of Christ is derived from what the community with its leadership does to express its faith. We can speak of the need for office in the celebration of the Eucharist in view of the fact that here the Church most perfectly manifests and realizes its true being. In the old Church it was the requirement of the symbolic correspondence between the comprehensive, ecclesial reality of the community and the Eucharist which dictated the presence of the pastoral office. Still, office is inserted into this special, ecclesial activity and so obtains a special qualification.
Of itself, office does not qualify the symbolic action in its symbolic function. Rather, the function of office to represent, foster, and maintain the unity of the Church becomes through its liturgical activity in a special way transparency for the proper grounds of the unity of the Church: Christ. Because the office bearer represents the Church united in faith and love in his role as leader, he represents Christ. Consequently, he acts in the name of but not by the commission of the local community, which is not completely identified with the Church eschatologically sanctified.
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