It was a hard morning with the kids. The oldest didn’t listen and spilled his cereal all over the floor. I was upset, but surprisingly, my wife wasn’t. She refilled his bowl, patted him on the head, and then quietly got down on her knees to clean up his mess. It was such a small act of love, but her humble service made me tear up.
My son obliviously munched away. “Thomas,” I said, “you know there were priests in the Old Testament and we have a priest at our parish. But do you know what a priest does?
He offers a sacrifice for other people. In a way, a priest cleans up a mess he didn’t make.
Jesus is the priest that offers the sacrifice of Himself for everyone. Did you know that because we are baptized, we are all supposed to be priests like Jesus too? Look at mamma: she’s cleaning up a mess she didn’t make because she loves you.”
John Paul II talks about the ordained priesthood and the priesthood of all Christians. They are not the same, but they are both a real priesthood. The suffering and sacrifices in our life are not meaningless.
Because we are Christians, even cleaning up a bowl of spilled cereal has so much value. Even if you feel like you have nothing to offer the Church because you are sick in bed or some other limitation, your life matters, because Jesus has made you a priest like Him too.