Responsibility
Responsibility
There are many areas of a priest’s responsibility, and because of neglect in them, souls are lost. Among these are:
1. Lack of Teaching:
The Lord says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). And the Apostle says, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16).
It is therefore the priest’s responsibility to feed his people with sound teaching, so that they may not sin through ignorance or fall into heresies and errors because he failed to instruct them.
2. Lack of Visitation:
This is a problem many complain about. Lack of visitation reveals a lack of care and concern. Many have drifted away from the Church and found no one to visit them — and so they were lost. Many have ceased confessing and, having no one to guide or visit them, wandered away; their sins multiplied until they became enslaved to them, and those sins turned into ingrained habits.
Many were not visited by their priest, but were instead visited by other denominations, and became steady members of them. For all these, the priest will give an account before God — and perhaps even before men.
3. Lack of Follow-up:
Many are lost because of the absence of follow-up. Examples include:
- Those whom the priest has married — entering a new life they do not know how to handle, unable to solve their problems — and because no one visits or checks on them, their situation worsens, leading to crises, separation, or even lawsuits. Is not the priest responsible for this?
- The children whom the priest baptized and entrusted to godparents, without following up on how these godparents care for them, or instructing them on their spiritual responsibilities.
- Problems brought to the priest for prayer or counsel, which he neither followed up on nor asked about afterward.
In all these cases, people feel the priest’s neglect toward them.
As in the parable of the Good Samaritan, where the priest saw the wounded man and “passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31). How many cases are there where people, in faith and urgency, have asked their priest to pray for them and remember them on the altar — yet he neither prayed, nor inquired afterward, nor offered comfort or follow-up!
That is why people long for priests who serve with seriousness and sincerity.
The service must not be mere formality — but carried out with spiritual depth, heartfelt love, and genuine care, so that all may feel that their priest’s heart is with them and that he strives fully for their comfort and salvation.
Neglect, on the other hand, reveals either a lack of responsibility or a lack of love for the flock.
Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). It is said of Him, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” (John 13:1).
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