O! what a tremendous power is wielded by the Catholic preacher! Hundreds of souls are hanging on his words; hundreds are sustained by him in spiritual life, and leave the Church depending on him whether they go forth fortified with the Bread of life, or famished and disappointed. I can say of every Priest what Simeon said of our Lord, “This man is set for the fall and the resurrection of many in Israel.” Not only are Priests the ambassadors of God, but they are also the _dispensers of His graces_ and the almoners of His mercy. “Let a man so regard us,” says the Apostle, “as ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God.”(499) How can he be called a dispenser of God’s mysteries whose labors are confined to preaching? But he is truly a dispenser of Divine mysteries who distributes to the faithful the Sacraments, the mysterious symbols and efficient causes of grace. As St. John Chrysostom observes, it was not to angels or archangels, but to the Priests of the New Law that Christ said: “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.” To them alone He gave the power to forgive sins, saying: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven.” To them alone He gave the power of consecrating His Body and Blood and dispensing the same to the faithful. He has empowered the Priests of the New Law to impart the grace of regeneration in Baptism. He has assigned to them the solemn duty of preparing the dying Christian for his final journey to eternity: “Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord.”(500) As far as heaven is above earth, as eternity is above time, and the soul is above the body, so far are the prerogatives vested in God’s ministers higher than those of any earthly potentate. An earthly prince can cast into prison or release therefrom. But his power is over the body. He cannot penetrate into the sanctuary of the soul; whereas the minister of God can release the soul from the prison of sin, and restore it to the liberty of a child of God. To sum up in a few brief sentences the titles of a Catholic Priest: He is a _king_, reigning not over unwilling subjects, but over the hearts and affections of his people. His spiritual children pay him not only the tribute of their money, but also the tribute of their love which royalty can neither purchase nor exact. He is a _shepherd_, because he leads his flock into the delicious pastures of the Sacraments and shelters them from the wolves that lie in wait for their souls. He is a _father_, because he breaks the bread of life to his spiritual children, whom he has begotten in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.(501) He is a _judge_, whose office it is to pass sentence of pardon on self-accusing criminals. He is a _physician_, because he heals their souls from the loathsome distempers of sin.