Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
I don’t see any earthly “priest” in any of those.
There is a certain mathematical operand called 'and'. We Catholics take all of the verses in Scripture. We do not select them as our whims decree as of this morning after breakfast.
The Apostles were the first clergy; they were given the authority to forgive or to retain sins. This authority has been handed down through the succession of the Apostles to the clergy we have today. Neither you nor I have that authority.
Like it or not.
The prayer in Matt 6:9 is to God the Father in heaven, not to a confessor which is considered a sacrament in the RCC since the 7th century, simply because they want to worship the authority of their church more than faith alone in Christ alone.
Eph 5:20 also stresses this point. The prayer is to God the Father through faith in Christ, not through faith in the authority of the RCC.
Now here is some wisdom. Just as we observe those who probably at sometime are believers, but have such a scarred soul, that they place Christ second to the authority of their church, thinking they are behaving properly and righteously by their own reasoning,...and just as the same thinking is used by many Judiazers, arguing well from their Scriptural studies, but turning away from Christ when presented directly to them,...likewise, we also will likely encounter similar temptations in the Millennium Reign.
The human condition is so scarred that it will take millennia to sort it out, for us to perform as He intended for us think, act, will, and remain in fellowship in all things.