There is an ESSENTIAL difference between the priesthood of the laity and the ministerial priesthood. Yet we all belong to the one priesthood of Jesus Christ by reason of our baptism. With Holy Orders the priest is configured to Christ as Head and Shepherd and acts "in the person of Christ" in the celebration of the Eucharist. This is so, as you say, that the people can be served and given the saving sacraments of grace. The lay person does not have the configuration to Christ as Head and Shepherd. The priest by reason of his consecration is placed in the forefrent of the Church to lead and rule because he is configured to Christ as Head and Shepherd.-------The priest is called by God to offer sacrifice to God for us and to be our representative before God. He may be sinful, as the Book of Hebrews says, so he is to offer sacrifice to God for his sins as well.---Christ has constructed and given to us a great gift of the Church and the sacred priesthood so that we might live in His life now and for all eternity.
What I was trying to get at, is simply that the prelates and the laity together, indeed all the fellowship of believers, collectively are the Church of Christ. And that while all Christians are called to humility, positions of leadership require that humility be made manifest.