Here is the verse that was quoted so often at the Plenary Council, Gal 3:28
“And there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
 
It was quoted with an emphasis on the equality of all the baptised, with a view to implying that if all are equal, then all roles in the Church should be open to all people, including priesthood.
 
The equality of all persons before God is not in dispute, but the deduction that this means equality of roles is.
 
Firstly we need to remember that St Paul is writing this letter to the Galatians, someone who has studied the Old Testament with particular diligence and who is very familiar with the worship conducted in the Temple at Jerusalem.
 
Therefore when he talks about distinctions between Jew and Greek, male and female, he expects his audience to bring to mind that in the Temple at Jerusalem there was a court of the Gentiles which excluded those of gentile birth from entering the inner court. Also in that Temple is a court of the women which excluded them from the inner court too.
 
Slave and free likely refers to the freedom a non-slave possesses to travel to the Temple at any time. A slave however can only go to the Temple when the person who owns him/her permits it.
 
In Christ Jesus then, everyone has equal access to God the Father, everyone may approach Him in the inner court.
 
These distinctions with regard to Temple worship are man-made. Therefore they can be changed, and in Christ Jesus they are.
 
It is noteworthy that St Paul did not add ‘priest and non-priest’ to that list.
 
A priest has access to the Holy of Holies, and only a priest, by the eternal decree of God about the sons of Aaron, recorded in the Old Testament. That’s unchangeable.
 
During the history of Israel, God underlined the seriousness of that eternal degree several times.
 
The sons of Aaron were under strict obedience to fulfill what God had decreed. In Leviticus 10:1 we find that when two of Aaron’s sons took a shortcut and filled their censers with ordinary fire instead of the fire from the altar, they died immediately.
 
In 2 Sam 6:6-7 we see a Levite, who as a Levite had permission to handle and carry the holy things in prescribed manner, reach out with his hand to touch the ark of the covenant when it seemed unsteady. He died immediately because he had not touched the ark in the prescribed manner.
 
But the really big story is in Numbers 16. Here we have a group of Levites and a few non-Levites complaining that since the whole community is consecrated to God why do Moses and Aaron have extra special roles and not others? This is exactly the same argument those working towards a pathway to the priestly ordination of women were using at the Plenary Council.
 
The complainers in Numbers 16 asked, ‘The whole community and all its members are consecrated, and the Lord God lives among them. Why set yourselves higher than the community of the Lord God?’
 
Moses answered them, ‘the Lord God will reveal who is His, who is the consecrated man that He will allow to come near Him. The one He allows to come near is the one He has chosen.’
 
In effect, this is God’s choice, not ours, and this depends on God’s permission, not ours.
 
As the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us in Heb 5:4, ‘No one takes this honour on himself, but each one is called by God, as Aaron was.’.
 
As emphasis, fire came down from heaven to consume the complainers who wanted to assume the priesthood, and the earth opened up and swallowed their tents and families alive.
 
No one in Israel tried that argument again!
 
You may retort, but the 12 apostles of Jesus weren’t priests or levites. Shocking isn’t it?! Theirs is a priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek not according to the order of Aaron. Melchizedek was chosen directly by God, around the time of Abraham, and in this different non-temple order of priesthood Melchizedek offered to God bread and wine. Even more shocking, the order of Melchizedek isn’t a hereditary priesthood.
 
This is God’s direct choice, His calling, which needs to be both responded to and discerned.
 
Remember, this about God’s own decrees, not about the kind of human laws that can change from time to time.
 
When the Church confirms that she has no authority to ordain women, that’s what the Church means, ie. that this particular authority is reserved to God alone, with Whom there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. James 1:17
 
It’s one of those things that you can accept, or reject, but which you can’t change.
 
So although each of us has equal dignity before God, and everyone has access to His Heart, we do have different roles given by Him.
 
As a cautionary tale, lest anyone think those roles are interchangeable, have a look at 1 Maccabees 5. The desecrated Temple has finally been cleaned and purified, and the temple sacrifices have resumed. Much effort, much prayer and many battles made that possible. Now the threats to Israel have multiplied. Because there are threats in both Galilee and Gilead the warriors in Israel form into two groups to go and meet those challenges. But the Temple they have all fought so hard for, it needs protecting too. So a priest and a community leader were placed in charge of the remnant in Jerusalem, of the people, levites and of the remaining warriors left behind. These were placed under obedience to guard the temple and to not go and fight the enemy until the other two groups of warriors returned. However the desire for military glory tempted them, they left their post at the temple, went out against the enemy, and got completely slaughtered.
 
The role of warrior was important. The role of guarding the temple was important. Both were needed. When those with the role of guard wanted to take on the role of warrior, disaster followed.
 
Heed this, please! It is God’s choice alone who is to undertake the role of priest. If that is not the role God has given to you, then do not set your heart upon it. Only disaster will result if you insist on a role that God has not given to you.
 
If we were not so scripturally illiterate and not so lacking in reverence towards the Lord God, we would see how groundless the push for the priestly ordination of women really is.
 
May God help us in His mercy, lest we perish at the frown of His face. Amen.

​Recent days have been full of rare treats, an Ordination Mass for two Dominican priests and a Dominican deacon, and one of the first Masses of Fr Matthew Boland O.P.
 
Treats like that deserve to be shared, so here are some of my amateur photos and some notes from the homilies:

​The Ordinations took place at St Benedict's Broadway on 9 July 2016. It is a beautiful church, with a lot of history and currently part of Notre Dame University campus. Some of the WYD Sydney events took place here (for anyone who thinks it looks familiar).
 
Ordained Priest were Matthew Boland and James Baxter, and ordained Deacon was Robert Krishna.

​The readings were from Jeremiah 1:4-9 Do not say 'I am a child', go to those whom I send you ; Psalm 89 I will sing forever of the goodness of the Lord / I have chosen David my servant and with oil anointed him ; 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 The love of Christ overwhelms us. He gave us the work of handing on the news of reconciliation ; Luke 22:14-20, 24-30 The Last Supper narrative, Here am I among you as One who serves.
 
The homily was given by Archbishop Anthony Fisher O.P. and this is a rough transcript:
 
'What does it mean to be a priest of Jesus Christ? If we look at some of the great Hollywood movies from the 1950s onward, the priestly characters are depicted in a romantic and heroic light. A bit too far from reality in places, but they did manage to capture the spirit of sacrifice with some accuracy. Jesus turns our notions of leadership and greatness up-side-down when He reveals that He is among us as one who serves. Every priest is called to serve after the example of Jesus. If this is how Jesus acts, then we must do the same; we must empty ourselves and empty ourselves for others. Thus we may preach Him as His ambassadors. We are members of the Dominican order, called to preach Him, an order that is essentially clerical, but hopefully not clericalist. This year we mark the 800th anniversary of the Dominican order, and see these three as a special gift to us. Dominicans made their mark in the colonial period of Australia, even before the Benedictines. There is a patch of land nearby that is still called Blackfriars Estate. By the 1880s much of the original land was taken by the education office and acts of parliament. Those school buildings and the former teachers college now form part of the UTS campus (University of Technology Sydney). A Dominican is currently chaplain at UTS and our newly ordained Fr Baxter will be chaplain to Notre Dame campus. There is a story about how St Dominic spent all night in a pub conversing with a heretic, in order to convert him. Who knows, perhaps Matthew's experiences of working in a pub might prove advantageous as well. James had an experience in Year 2 of primary school of the truth and reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Time spent in his Year 11 days with an elderly priest caused James to ponder on the worthwhile life this priest had lived. He went off to Uni to study law, and it was only then that he started questioning whether law was the right path. An end of year retreat in 2003 started him thinking more seriously about the mission of the Church and what his own role in that might be. Matthew studied Maths and Physics and walked the Camino. The influence of Fr Dom Murphy began his attraction to the Dominicans. We know that Matthew has a particular passion for introducing others to the thought of St Thomas Aquinas. Robert has had a long journey too. At various times he has been a Hindu, an agnostic, an atheist, Anglican and finally a Catholic after a long intellectual search. For him, too, that end of year retreat in 2003 was a turning point in his vocational journey. Aquinas said that we should be awestruck that God should grant such graces in sacraments through human agency. No one can fully express the sweetness of this Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is the Sacrament of Sacraments. It is not just a sign of Christ's love, but Christ Himself, present body and soul, humanity and divinity to bring about communion with us. The hour has come for the three of you to take your place in a new way at the altar of the Lord. You are called to be heroes, to self-sacrifice, to put others first. You are called to serve, for that will prove your true greatness.'

​One of Fr Matthew Boland's first Masses as principal celebrant was at St John the Baptist, Woy Woy, on 11 July 2016. This parish was home base for him during his early adult years and the long process of discerning God's vocational call. He was often at morning Mass at Woy Woy when visiting his parents on study breaks.

​11 July was the memorial of St Benedict, and the readings were from Monday Week 15 of Ordinary Time Year II : Isaiah 1:10-17 God desires worthy sacrifice from hands clean of evil deeds : Matthew 10:34-11:1 Turn away from things not worthy of Me.

Again, this is only a rough transcript of Fr Matthew Boland's homily:

​'Some may think of St Benedict as a remote and distant figure from 6th century Norcia, but his story still resonates today. As a young man Benedict went to Rome to study, and saw the dissolute life of the city. His response to that was to begin a search for silence and a search for God. After a while a dying monastery asked for his help in getting it healthy again. The monks there were living a rather loose monastic life, and Benedict came to them bringing added strictness to their lives. Unhappy some of the monks tried to poison Benedict. However as he said the blessing, the cup containing the poison broke. That's a good reminder to pray grace before meals – just in case – isn't it? St Benedict is not without his influence in Australia. We have the monastic town of New Norcia near Perth together with the AFL Oval at Subiaco. The first archbishop in Australia was Bede Polding, a Benedictine. What can St Benedict teach us today? That we need silence in our lives in order to hear the Word of God and His message to us. That we need time to be with Him in silence, to listen. The prophet Elijah had his own search for God, going up a mountain (whenever the scriptures talk about going up a mountain, that's code for 'something really important is going to happen – pay attention'). It was in the gentle breeze that Elijah met God. If we don't give time to God, it is very hard to hear what He has to say. God has to be number 1 – even above family – and then everything else will fall into place. Take advantage of the silent moments at Mass, at adoration and at other times of prayer. Lectio Divina is a good way of meeting God in His Word. We ask that through the intercession of St Benedict before God, that His peace may come into our lives. Let us imitate St Benedict and include a bit more silence in our lives.'
 
St Benedict, pray for us.
St Dominic, pray for us.