Catholic Commentary on Leviticus 21

"The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to put on the sacred linen garments." (Leviticus 21:10)

Holiness Required of Priests

The priests who minister at the altar are held to an additional standard of holiness beyond what is required of ordinary Israelites. They may not defile themselves by contact with the dead except for the closest relatives; they may not shave the edges of their beard or cut their bodies; they must marry a virgin. The high priest may not dishevel his hair or tear his clothes; he may not go near any dead body, even his own father or mother; his wife must be a virgin from his own people. The Catechism draws from this elevated standard the principle of priestly celibacy and the theology of the ordained minister as configured to Christ the Bridegroom who gives himself wholly to the Church (CCC 1579).

A man with a physical defect may not approach the altar to offer the food of God: the blemished priest may eat of the sacred food but may not minister at the altar. This restriction, now entirely superseded in the theology of holy orders, served in its original context to preserve the wholeness of the offering: the priest represents the community before God and his physical integrity signifies the integrity of the worship he mediates. Christ, the unblemished high priest, is the fulfilment of this requirement.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the high priest was called to a standard higher than the people because he stood between them and God. Every position of spiritual leadership carries a corresponding weight of responsibility. Do not take on the ministry of intercession lightly. The standard is higher where the proximity to the holy is greater.

Prayer

Lord God, you held your priests to a higher standard of holiness because they stood between you and your people. Sanctify your priests today. Give them the integrity of life that the sacred office requires. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

21
Holiness Required of Priests
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2 except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3 or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. 4 He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.
 
5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 6 They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.
 
7 A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart. 9 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.
 
10 The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose * 21:10 Or must not uncover his head or tear his garments. 11 He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 12 He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.
 
13 The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”
Restrictions against Those with Blemishes
 
16 Then the LORD said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.
 
18 No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 19 no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.
 
21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food, 23 but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’ ”
 
24 Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

*21:10 21:10 Or must not uncover his head

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