st for the Office and Work of
a Priest in the Church of God," must surely mean more than that a
Priest should try to be a good organizer, a good financier, a good
preacher, or good at games--though the better he is at all these, the
better it may be. But the gift of the Holy Ghost for "the Office and
Work of a Priest" must mean more than this.

We may consider it in connexion with four familiar English clerical
titles: _Priest, Minister, Parson, Clergyman_.

_Priest._

According to the Prayer Book, a Priest, or Presbyter, is ordained to do
three things, which he, and he alone, can do: to Absolve, to
Consecrate, to Bless.

He, and he alone, can _Absolve_. Think! It is the day of his
Ordination to the Priesthood. He is saying Matins as a Deacon just
_before_ his {131} Ordination, and he is forbidden to pronounce the
Absolution: he is saying Evensong just _after_ his Ordination, and he
is ordered to pronounce the Absolution.

He, and he alone, can _Consecrate_. If a Deacon pretends to Consecrate
the Elements at the Blessed Sacrament, not only is his act sacrilege
and invalid, but even by the law of the land he is liable to a penalty
of L100.[6]

He, and he alone, can give the _Blessing_--i.e. the Church's official
Blessing. The right of Benediction belongs to him as part of his
Ministerial Office. The Blessing pronounced by a Deacon might be the
personal blessing of a good and holy man, just as the blessing of a
layman--a father blessing his child--might be of value as such. In
each case it would be a personal act. But a Priest does not bless in
his own name, but in the name of the Whole Church. It is an official,
not a personal act: he conveys, not his own, but the Church's blessing
to the people.

Hence, the valid Ordination of a Priest is of essential importance to
the laity.

{132}

But there is another aspect of "the Office and Work of a Priest in the
Church of God". This we see in the word

_Minister._

The Priest not only ministers before God on behalf of his people, but
he ministers to his people on behalf of God. In this aspect of the
Priesthood, he ministers God's gifts to the laity. If, as a Priest, he
pleads the One Sacrifice on behalf of the people, as a Minister he
feeds the people upon the one Sacrifice. His chief ministerial duty is
to minister to the people--to give them Baptism, Absolution, Holy
Communion; to minister to all their spiritual needs whenever, and
wherev