Encyclopedia of Pastoral Theology

The Confession Father

The Confession Father¹

• He is the person whom, when you see, you remember God, and God’s rights upon you, and God’s commandments to you. And you remember your vows before God.

• The Confession Father is the person who can change your life for the better, through his deep spiritual influence, his knowledge, his connection with God, and his good example.

• The Confession Father is an oasis in the desert of your life, at which you rest and think about God—not about the oasis, nor about the rest.

• The Confession Father is not a bridge you trample upon to reach the other shore, while the bridge remains in its place!! Rather, he is an airplane that flies with you above all shores, bringing you to the goal and arriving with you.

• The Confession Father is the person who can make you weep, and you rejoice in your weeping more than in all pleasure and laughter. He may be strict with you at times, or you may imagine that he is strict, and this “strictness” may be more tender and compassionate than a gentleness that ruins your life.

• The Confession Father is not the father who considers you a child all your life or all his life with you, carrying you on his shoulders and guiding you in every small and great matter. Rather, he is the wise leader who carries you on his shoulders for a while, until you learn wisdom and discernment, and can walk on your own feet, and carry others on your shoulders and teach them wisdom and discernment in your turn.

• The true Confession Father does not strive to bind you to his heart and his love and obedience to him, but rather binds you to God’s heart, God’s love, and obedience to God; indeed, he tries to disappear so that God may appear in you. He does not consider himself the owner of the vineyard, but merely a steward sent by God to His vineyard to cleanse it and prune it so that it may bear more fruit. The Confession Father is not a master who constantly demands obedience, submission, and respect; rather, he is a father full of love and compassion. And the Confession Father is not a chain upon your will, but the person who trains your freedom in the love of God.

• The Confession Father is a carrier of sins. He transfers them from your head to place them on the head of Christ, the Bearer of the sins of the whole world. He is a person who places his hand upon your head and you find rest, feeling that a heavy burden has been lifted… He is a source of peace and a messenger of good, announcing to you the forgiveness of God, explaining His love to you, and opening for you a window of hope that lights the darkness of your life…

• The Confession Father is the practical model for every virtue in which you walk. You take from his life as you take from his teachings, and you benefit from his conduct, not only from his guidance… He is the person who, whenever you see him, your spiritual fervor and your love for God increase.

1. An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Fifth Year – Issue One – 5–10–1974.

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