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Hi Tony,
Thanks for the question.
Any Christian, with any common sense,
will agree with the historical fact
that:
Jesus was the Man, he wasn't a woman.
Because the theology behind Holy
Orders has an ontological aspect (ontology
means "the study of being"),
and not a social, psychological one. Jesus, who
was sent by the Father and born of
the Virgin Mary as the Man, administers
His Sacraments thru men like Him.
This is the manner by which Our Lord
chose to institute this Sacrament and therefore all sacraments.
God took flesh Himself as Man in
Jesus Christ. Jesus was the God-Man
Himself!
He could have chosen another way,
but He didn't.
It's important to know that in the Sacrament of Holy Orders,
the priest receives a divine character
that is imprinted on his soul.
This allows him, when performing
any of the Sacraments, to do them, "in the person
of Jesus", the Man.
So, when I go to daily Mass and hear
the priest say, "This is
my body" and "This is
the cup of my Blood", although
they sound like the priest's own
words, they are actually Christ's Words!
Christ, Our Lord, is speaking
through the priest, using the
voice of the priest, to administer
the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
The same is true with Confession.
When I go to Confession, it may
sound like Fr. Mike's (my priest's) voice,
but Christ is using the body of
Fr. Mike, the priest,
to administer the sacrament of
penance and forgive all my many, many, many, many, many sins.
It sounds like the voice of Fr. Mike,
but it is actually Jesus forgiving
my sins through the priest!
I hope this explanation is short and clear enough for your evangelizing and apologetic purposes.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike Humphrey
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