There is only one who forever lives to intercede for us. That is Christ Jesus my King. We do not read anywhere in the canon that those who pass from this life to the next live to intercede for us. But we do read that Jesus does.
Read that line in context:
Heb 7:17-28 said:
For he testifieth: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech. There is indeed a setting aside of the former commandment, because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof: (For the law brought nothing to perfection,) but a bringing in of a better hope, by which we draw nigh to God. And inasmuch as it is not without an oath, (for the others indeed were made priests without an oath; but this with an oath, by him that said unto him: The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever.) By so much is Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And the others indeed were made many priests, because by reason of death they were not suffered to continue: But this, for that he continueth for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood, whereby he is able also to save for ever them that come to God by him; always living to make intercession for us.
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily (as the other priests) to offer sacrifices first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, in offering himself. For the law maketh men priests, who have infirmity: but the word of the oath, which was since the law, the Son who is perfected for evermore.
Does this passage say that Christ is the only one who prays? Certainly not! That would be quite contrary to a multitude of other passages. Does this passage say that Christ is the only one who prays for other people? Certainly not! That would also be quite contrary to a multitude of other passages.
This passage concerns Christ as our
High Priest. Christ is Priest in the most full sense of the word. Those we call "priests"/"presbyters" (whose priesthood is limited) and "bishops" (who are high priests) are His ministers in the priesthood -- God acts through people.
Aquinas said:
He shows that he is the true priest, because the others were prevented by death from continuing, because all must die. Hence, when Aaron died, Eleazar succeeded, as is clear from Numbers (20:28) and so on. For as we notice in natural things, which are signs of spiritual things, incorruptible things are not multiplied under the same species; hence, there is but one sun: so in the spiritual things in the Old Testament, which was imperfect, the priests were multiplied. This was a sign that the priesthood was corruptible, because incorruptible things are not multiplied in the same species. But the priest who is Christ is immortal, for He remains forever as the eternal Word of the Father, from Whose eternity redounds an eternity to His body, because 'Christ rising from the dead, dies now no more' (Rom. 6:9). Therefore, because he continues forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, Christ alone is the true priest, but others are His ministers: 'Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ' (1 Cor. 4:1).
Christ's priesthood did not end with the Passion, He continues
"a priest for ever". What is the intercession that Christ makes for us? His Passion only happened once in time but His Wounds did not disappear when He was raised, as we read:
Jn 20:24-29 said:
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God. Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.
What do we see in the Heavenly Liturgy?
Apoc 5:6 said:
And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.
So Christ is
living, yet also
"standing as [He] were slain". Christ sacrificed Himself once on Calvary, but it does not end there. He
applies His Passion throughout the ages,
"whereby he is able also to save for ever them that come to God by him", by presenting His Holy Wounds to the Father.
The Council of Trent clearly defined the Mass as such:
Council of Trent said:
Et quoniam in divino hoc sacrificio, quod in missa peragitur, idem ille Christus continetur et incruente immolatur, qui in ara crucis semel se ipsum cruente obtulit ... Una enim eademque est hostia, idem nunc offerens sacerdotum ministerio, qui se ipsum tunc in cruce obtulit, sola offerendi ratione diversa.
And forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner who once offered himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross ... For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different.
The prophet Malachi speaks of the Christian Mass:
Mal 1:11 said:
For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.
A "clean oblation" is in contrast to a "bloody oblation". In the Jewish Temple, there were three forms of sacrifice -- the sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of bread and wine, and the sacrifice of blood. In the Mass, the three forms are brought together in unity.
We have the sacrifice of praise:
Orate Fratres said:
Orate, fratres: ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum Patrem omnipotenem.
R: Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium de manibus tuis ad laudem et gloriam nominis sui, ad utilitatem quoque nostram, totiusque Ecclesiae suae sanctae.
Brethren, pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty.
R: May the Lord receive the sacrifice from thy hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our welfare and that of all His holy Church.
The priest is the one who has the sacrificial authority to say the Mass and to speak
in persona Christi -- "This is
my Body", "This is
my Blood". But we are a holy priesthood. The priesthood of all believers is not contrary to the sacerdotal priesthood or the singular Priesthood of Christ. We as lay people are also priests, after a manner, because we offer up the sacrifice of praise on our home altars.
(This is not my altar, just one from the internet. I haven't set one up since I moved back in with my parents at the beginning of November so I just have religious items around my room. It's much, much better to have an altar and a steady prayer life through the Rosary and the Divine Office - I feel so uncentered without an altar)
1Pe 2:3-5 said:
If so be you have tasted that the Lord is sweet. Unto whom coming, as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and made honourable by God: Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. ... But you are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people: that you may declare his virtues, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Who in time past were not a people: but are now the people of God. Who had not obtained mercy; but now have obtained mercy.
We ourselves are a sacrificial offering to God through our prayers and our lives and, God willing, our deaths.
Ps 49:14 said:
Offer to God the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High. ... The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of God.
Heb 13:15-16 said:
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is to say, the fruit of lips confessing to his name. And do not forget to do good, and to impart; for by such sacrifices God's favour is obtained
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The sacrifice of bread and wine is quite obvious. Christ takes the Jewish sacrifice of bread and wine and fulfills it in the Eucharist with His Body and Blood.
Jn 6:31-35 said:
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread. And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.
1Cor 10:16-18 said:
The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread. Behold Israel according to the flesh: are not they, that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar?
We become the Body of Christ and partake of the altar through participation in Holy Communion -- the Body and Blood of Christ.
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The third part is the bloody sacrifice. This is what happened on Calvary.
(This was from the Epistle reading today...)
Eph 5:2 said:
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.
1Cor 5:7b-8a said:
For Christ our pasch is sacrificed. Therefore let us feast.
The three sacrifices of the Jewish Temple -- praise, bread/wine, and blood -- are united in the Mass. Christ sacrificed Himself on Calvary, He presents His Wounds before the Father to apply His Passion in all ages and we participate in this re-presentation through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receive Him under the veil of the Eucharistic elements in order to become the Body of Christ and present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God (cf. Rom 12:1).
So when you say that Christ lives forever to intercede for us, that is quite true, but it is the
manner of intercession -- the re-presentation of His Wounds to the Father -- that is of critical importance to understanding what St. Paul is saying in the Epistle to the Hebrews. There is
one Sacrifice of Christ and we all must join our sacrifice, our crosses, to His in the Mass and throughout our lives in order for them to be acceptable to God.
False sacrifices to God, which are apart from the only truly acceptable Sacrifice, are "strange fire" before the Lord:
Ex 30:7-9 said:
And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the morning. When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it: And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations. You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition nor oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.
And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces. And Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron, taking their censers, put fire therein, and incense on it, offering before the Lord strange fire: which was not commanded them. And fire coming out from the Lord destroyed them, and they died before the Lord.
The sons of Aaron did not use the fire of God which He had provided them but instead used "strange fire". This would be like if Abraham had refused the ram in the thicket and found something else to sacrifice instead. God gives us what we need to sacrifice to Him.
Ex 10:25-26 said:
Moses said: Thou shalt give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, to the Lord our God. All the flocks shall go with us: there shall not a hoof remain of them: for they are necessary for the service of the Lord our God: especially as we know not what must be offered, till we come to the very place.
We are not the ones who can make up sacrifices for God, only God allows those sacrifices to Him which He has specified and that which He has specified, He shall provide.
Gen 22:7-8 said:
Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust? And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.
God Himself provides the Holocaust. He provides His only Son. Christ, the True Sacrifice, continually intercedes for us before the Father, not by words alone but by presenting to the Father His Wounds. We
must participate in Christ's Sacrifice in order to
become Christ and thus be saved.
Let us rejoice, then, and give thanks that we are made not only Christians, but Christ. Do ye understand, brethren, and apprehend the grace of God upon us? Marvel, be glad, we are made Christ. For if He is the head, we are the members: the whole man is He and we.
So no true sacrifice, no true prayer,
nothing which is ordered to God is separated from the Sacrifice of Christ.
Eph 1:22-23 said:
And he hath subjected all things under his feet, and hath made him head over all the church, which is his body, and the fulness of him who is filled all in all.