Responsibility
Responsibility
The most dangerous aspect of the priest’s responsibility is that God will require from him the blood of sinners whom he neglected in shepherding. For God has appointed him as a watchman over them.
The Book of Ezekiel the prophet says to him a phrase—because of its importance—repeated twice in Ezekiel 3 and Ezekiel 33, where the Lord says to him concerning the sinner whom he neglects to warn: “That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezek. 3:18; Ezek. 33:8).
Truly, how dangerous this phrase is… Perhaps for this reason we pray in the Psalm and say: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation” (Ps. 51:14). From what blood, when we have not shed blood?! It is the blood that God will require from our hands because of our negligence in shepherding.
Therefore God—in the Book of Ezekiel—warns the shepherds:
“Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the flock, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them” (Ezek. 34:10). Why, O Lord, all this?
He says: “Because My flock became a prey and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock; but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock” (Ezek. 34:8–9).
The work of the priest is not merely leadership; it is responsibility.
God will ask him about every individual of his flock: about providing spiritual food for each one. As He said: “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?” (Luke 12:42).
He will also ask him about visiting them and restoring them, as He did in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15). And as He said: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out… and I will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered… and I will bring them to their own land” (Ezek. 34:11–12).
God will also ask the shepherds about caring for the flock, as He said in His beautiful words: “I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick” (Ezek. 34:15–16).
My advice to the fathers, the priests, is to read Ezekiel 34 deeply…
A beautiful phrase was said in the Didascalia about the duty of the bishop:
“Let the bishop care for everyone in order to save him.”
The bishop cares for everyone through his priests and deacons… This calls for precise visitation of all the people: families and individuals; care for children, youth, workers, the unemployed, and those who have no one to remember them—not merely to fulfill formalities, but with heartfelt and practical care.
However, many priests are hindered by numerous preoccupations from their spiritual care for the people:
either liturgical preoccupations—vespers, liturgical services, engagements, weddings, funerals—and they leave the spiritual work; or they are occupied with other matters related to building and construction, many administrative works, social services, and various activities that he insists on doing himself rather than delegating. In all this, he finds no time for spiritual work and for leading people to repentance.
Those whom he neglects because of his busyness may be devoured by sects.
Another responsibility of the priest in shepherding is to provide his people with spiritual food. Concerning this, the Lord says: “Who then is that faithful and wise steward… Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes!” (Luke 12:42–43).
Regarding this spiritual food, the psalmist says about God the Good Shepherd: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:2–3). Does every priest-father do this? Does he feed his children and give them their food in due season—without delay—without leaving their souls to wither without the water of life? Does he allow a period of life to pass without providing the food appropriate to it, in its time?
Can the priest say: “Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me” (Isa. 8:18)?
Because of the importance of this phrase, the Apostle Paul repeated it regarding the good shepherd (Heb. 2:13). And can the priest also say: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15), where “my house” does not mean his small family, but the whole house of God? He is responsible for every member of this great family, which is “the congregation of the believers.”
The priest will surely give an account to God for every soul he shepherds…
Included in his care for his people is individual work, lest the individual be lost amid the crowd.
The parable of the lost sheep gives us a wonderful example of care for the individual. Who can—when looking at a group of one hundred—notice that one among them is missing? (Luke 15).
Many priests rejoice greatly in the ninety-nine who are present and see it as an excellent attendance rate. In their joy, they forget the one who is absent! The Lord Christ was pressed by crowds of thousands, yet that great number did not make Him forget a single individual—Zacchaeus the tax collector. He called him by name and entered his house to bring salvation to that household, saying of that tax collector: “For he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9).
Excusing oneself by busyness does not absolve one at all from responsibility… The priest must realize the importance and value of the single soul. Every single soul was purchased at a great price—the blood of Christ—so it is not fitting to belittle this precious blood that was paid for a soul we neglect to shepherd. Therefore the Apostle Paul said to the shepherds of the Church of Ephesus: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). He added the phrase “which He purchased with His own blood” to show them the importance of the souls they shepherd.
We must be careful with these souls entrusted to us by God, so that none of them perish.
The perishing of some souls has causes, and we do not want that to be because of us, lest God require their blood from us, as He warned us earlier (Ezek. 3:18; Ezek. 33:8). Therefore Paul said to the shepherds of Ephesus whom he summoned from Miletus: “I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God… Therefore watch, remembering that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:26–27, 31).
There are many matters in the priest’s responsibility through which souls are lost, including:
- Lack of teaching: The Lord says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). And the Apostle says, “Take heed to yourself and to the teaching; continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:16). It is the priest’s responsibility to satisfy his people with teaching so that they do not sin out of ignorance and fall into heresies and errors because he did not teach them.
- Lack of visitation: This is a problem many complain about. Lack of visitation indicates lack of care and concern. Many drifted away from the church and found no one to visit them, so they were lost. Many stopped confession and found no one to visit them; they strayed and their sins increased until they enslaved them and became ingrained habits. Many whom the priest did not visit were visited by sects and became permanent members there—all of these the priest will give an account for on the Day of Judgment, and perhaps even now.
- Lack of follow-up: Many are lost because of lack of follow-up, with many examples:
• Those whom the priest married and who entered a new life unfamiliar to them, not knowing how to deal with it or solve its problems, and found no one to visit or ask about them until matters worsened and became complicated, perhaps turning into crises, separation, or court cases— is the priest not responsible for all this?
• Children whom the priest baptized and entrusted to godparents without following up on how those godparents care for them, or teaching them their responsibilities and how to fulfill them.
• Problems presented to the priest asking for his intervention or prayer, which he did not follow up with their owners or ask about their outcomes and developments.
In all these matters, people feel the priest’s neglect of them. As said in the story of the Good Samaritan about the priest who passed by the wounded man: “and passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31). How many issues did people present to the priest with insistence and deep faith, asking him to pray for them and remember them on the altar, yet they felt no concern from him—he neither prayed nor asked nor followed up nor reassured them.
Therefore, people call upon the fathers to be serious in their service. Service should not be mere formalities; rather, the priest should perform his work with depth of spirit, heart, and love, so that all feel his emotions are with them and that he exerts every effort for their comfort and care. His lack of concern indicates either a lack of sense of responsibility or a lack of love for the flock.
The Lord Christ gave us a practical example as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). It was said of Him: “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). The priest-father should likewise love his children as Christ loved them and as He loved him—a love that includes sacrifice and a sense of responsibility.
Among the astonishing examples of love is the saying of Saint Paul: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3).
He also said regarding his sense of responsibility: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). He also said: “For necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel… and because I have been entrusted with a stewardship… I made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more… I became as weak to the weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:16–22).
And you, O father, do you feel that you have been entrusted with a stewardship, and that it will one day be said to you: “Give an account of your stewardship” (Luke 16:2)? For the sake of this account, do you strive to save some by all means, not counting yourself dear? In your sense of responsibility, do you realize that necessity is laid upon you—your duty is to lead every soul to God in repentance, and not only that, but to nurture every soul in the love of God? In doing so, you are to be an example to them in every good work, causing no stumbling, and fulfilling the commandment before teaching it.
I do not want you to be occupied with authority. Authority was given to you to fulfill responsibility. It is merely a means for responsibility, not a tool for greatness or domination. In this, the Apostle Peter said: “Shepherd the flock of God… not by compulsion but willingly… nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:2–3).
Every person in the world has responsibilities within his scope: responsibilities within the family, toward the church, toward the society in which he lives, and responsibilities in building the Kingdom. Before all this are responsibilities toward himself—to build himself spiritually and culturally and to deepen his relationship with God day by day. It suffices regarding human responsibility the verse that says: “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
Our responsibilities are many and varied—spiritual, social, cultural, and material. Included is the Scripture: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Also included in our social responsibility is the Lord’s saying: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:40). Upon this responsibility depends our eternal destiny (Matt. 25:46).
Within this responsibility, at the very least, we must pay tithes and firstfruits. No one can evade when God asks him: Where is Abel your brother? We also have a spiritual responsibility in building the Kingdom according to our ability. We are responsible before our consciences, before the Church, and before God. We also have responsibilities before the state and before our superiors at work. Above all, we have a greater responsibility when we stand before God on the last day to give an account of everything we have done in the body, “whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). We are responsible for every gift God has given us and how we used it—whether spiritual, intellectual, artistic, or of any kind.
Many were entrusted with responsibility rather than others; some were driven by their consciences to bear responsibility. Habib Girgis volunteered—driven by his conscience—to establish Sunday Schools, care for their curricula, care for religious education in schools, author books for teaching at all stages, and compose hymns in the meter of church tunes—all from an inner motive calling him to bear responsibility.
The same applies to all consecrated men and women who devoted their lives to serving the Lord in all the needs of the Church. They were not compelled; their hearts drove them to bear responsibility—a deep inner feeling, fervent zeal, and a conviction of mind and conscience to give their lives to God and not to the world, that God might use them as He wills. They did not wait for an explicit invitation from others; rather, God placed in their hearts a burning longing to serve Him, so they responded and offered themselves.
Truly, who called the boy David to save the army from Goliath? Who called Isaiah? (Isa. 6:8). Who called Nehemiah to build the walls of Jerusalem? Is it not the burning of the heart to bear responsibility? Yes, it is so.
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