I reject your contentions because of one very strong Catholic contention, which is that there is no absolute break between Judaism and Christianity. Indeed, we think that so much in the Torah, both ceremonial and in doctrine , is a foreshadowing of the Gospel. The priesthood, which you reject, is the continuation of a tradition that goes back to Abraham, foreshadowed in the priest-king of Salem Mechezidak, whose offering of bread and wine, are, so we think, a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, and the todah—thanks-giving offering institutioned by David, who is the figure of the Christ. We have always rejected the notion of a hereditary class,, like the Levites, and the need for a temple. But we don’t reject the broader notion of the priesthood of the people of God, and the narrower one of the sacrerdotal priesthood or the re-presentation of the Lord’s sacrifice on Calvary in the mass.
The “re-prentation of the Lord’s sacrifice on Calvary in the mass” is one of the abominations the believers in Jesus Christ, alone, reject. The Scriptures are so patently clear a once-and-for-all sacrifice in His blood was sufficient that any “re-presentation” of it is a fabrication of men, a true blasphemy. Heb. 7:27, “Jesus...who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did ONCE FOR ALL when He offered up Himself.” One of us is grossly mistaken here, my FRiend.
Every believer is in a “priesthood nation” insofar as we can speak of the grace granted to anyone drawn into the family of God (IPet 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal prieshood, a holy nation, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light.”
There is no ceremonial priesthood. There is no absolution of sin by other men. There is no pope. There are no indulgences. There are no sacraments. There is no veneration of Saints. There is only Jesus.