I have heard lots of metaphors for the priesthood - the most prominent being "alter christus". But the most interesting one that I have heard lately is from Dr. Peter Kreeft in his talk "Women and the Priesthood". In this talk he says that priests are "spiritual garbage men". The priesthood, which is of and for the Church, exists for the salvation and sanctity of souls, not for personal empowerment. He says: "Like Christ, they [priests] are sewers, who drain off the world's sins. They clean up our spiritual garbage, and wash dirty, smelly feet like Christ did before He died." Being a "garbage dump" is the essence of priesthood. Listen to the lecture. It is quite good.
