The Qualities of a Successful Priest
The Qualities of a Successful Priest
There are qualities which, if present in one of the priestly fathers, help in the success of his ministry and in the people gathering around him. Among them are:
1. Strength of Teaching:
That the priest be well nourished in knowledge, with depth and spirituality in his sermons, and richness and breadth in his information. Thus the people gather around him, feeling that they benefit from him. So was the Lord Christ, the High Priest; so were our fathers the Apostles; and so were the first bishops, the teachers of the Church. Among the examples of teaching priests in our generation is Father Mansa Yoḥanna, priest of Mallawi.
2. Pastoral Visitation of the People:
The priest who succeeds greatly is the one who visits the people of his district house by house and family by family, having a personal relationship with every individual of his church congregation. He knows each one by name and by condition, asks about him, follows up on his circumstances, and reassures him. Every person feels that he receives special care from this priestly father. Indeed, all feel his fatherhood and shepherding… He does not have a select group whom he singles out for visits, but rather he belongs to everyone, treating all with the same love, the same care, and the same shepherding.
3. The Comforting Spiritual Voice:
There are those who succeeded because of the influence of their voice in their prayers and liturgies, so that people love to come to church in order to hear them praying, even if they do not preach. Among the examples of this type is His Grace the late Anba Binyamin, Bishop of Menoufia, whose voice everyone longed to possess on recorded tapes.
4. Spiritual Guidance:
Often the reason for a priest’s success is that he is a successful father of confession. People flock to him asking him to be a father to them, because he is experienced in the human soul and its weaknesses, experienced in the wars of the demons and the way to resist them, compassionate toward those who err. He gives them guidance that suits their condition exactly—beneficial to them and possible for them to implement. He does not recoil from their sins, nor is he harsh with them…
Among the examples that succeeded in this field is the late Father Michael Ibrahim, who had spiritual children from many countries.
5. Spirituality of Life and Exemplary Conduct:
The priest who is spiritual and exemplary in his behavior succeeds greatly in his ministry and in winning the trust and love of the people. The congregation sees him as if he were a living Gospel—blameless—giving them an idea of practical Christianity. He is a model before them in everything; they respect his life and qualities, are ready to obey him, and he teaches them even without speaking.
Among the important qualities that must be present in the spiritual priest are purity of hand from the love of money and its accumulation, and purity of tongue with the sweet word they hear from him. Also his humility, gentleness, and forbearance, and his distance from anger and irritability.
Everyone feels that he is a blessing in the church and a source of blessings.
6. Activity and Projects:
Also among the reasons for a priest’s success is that he be a flame of activity, such that the people feel that with his ordination new life has entered the church, that he exerts all his effort to uplift it, and that every work his hand extends to must succeed. At all times he has new projects to care for everyone—whether the poor, the youth, the workers, the elderly, expatriate men and women, or construction and building, etc.
7. Answered Prayer:
Perhaps among the greatest qualities of the successful priest is answered prayer, such that every person with a need or a problem feels that if he resorts to this blessed father and asks him to pray for him, his need will be fulfilled and his problem resolved, because God is near to his lips and does not refuse him a request.
One of the priestly fathers may combine more than one of these qualities, though the ideal priest is the one who gathers them all together.
As for the priestly father who is characterized by none of these qualities, he becomes a burden on the ministry and of no benefit.
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