The Priest as a Blessing
One of the Qualities of the Shepherd Is That He Is a Blessing
When people choose someone to be a priest or a bishop, they choose the best among those present: the best servants or the best monks. And when he receives the grace of the priesthood, they assume in him idealism and nothing less than that. They look at him as a practical illustrative means for every virtue…
Among the most important qualities with which a priest is characterized is that he be a blessing.
The widow of Zarephath of Sidon considered Elijah a blessing in her house, regarding him as “a man of God.” She used to call him by the phrase “Man of God” (1 Kgs 17:18, 24). Elijah was a blessing in that widow’s house. From the moment he entered her house, “the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry” throughout the period of the famine, “until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth” (1 Kgs 17:14, 16).
- Also the Shunammite woman considered it a blessing for her and her house to make an upper room to which Elisha would turn in whenever he passed by, to eat bread, saying to her husband: “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, let us make a small upper room…” so that “whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there” (2 Kgs 4:9–10).
Elisha was a blessing in the house of the Shunammite woman. He prayed for her that God would give her a son, and He gave her one. When that son died, she resorted to him, and he prayed for her son, and his life returned to him (2 Kgs 4:16, 36).
People consider that the entry of the priest into their homes is a blessing to their homes. When the priest enters the house, the blessing enters with him.
When the priest-father carries out the commandment of the Lord Christ saying: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house’” (Luke 10:5), that house then feels the blessing of peace that entered it with the entry of the priest-father.
Therefore, there is a very great difference between the priest-father sending a deacon from the church to visit a house, and his visiting the house himself, personally, praying in it, and the people receiving the blessing of his visit and the blessing of his prayer. If it is a new house, he prays in it the prayer of blessing new homes.
If he sprinkles in the house water over which he has prayed, the household receives the blessing of the sprinkling of water in it, and they feel that the priest-father has blessed the house by sprinkling the water. If he prays a liturgical prayer—such as the prayer of the anointing of the sick, for example—and offers incense in the house, they feel the blessing of the incense, the blessing of the prayer, the blessing of the oil, and the blessing of being anointed with it. They say to their relatives and friends: Abouna came to our house, and we received the blessing of the prayer of the anointing of the sick.
A person bows his head before the priest-father and says to him: “Bless me, my father.” If he places his hand on his head, he receives a blessing from the laying on of the hand. If he places his cross on his head, he receives a blessing from his cross and kisses it. If he prays for him with any word of supplication, he receives the blessing of his prayer and departs rejoicing.
A person may say to the priest-father: “Give me a blessing.”
Everything that one receives from his hand is a blessing. If he gives him a cross, or a picture, or an icon, he considers it a blessing for him, even though there are many similar items in religious bookstores, perhaps of better quality or higher price. But what he receives from the priest is distinguished by being a blessing.
If he receives from him a book, it is a blessing, unlike what he buys from the market. If the priest signs it with his signature, that is another blessing. If he writes his name with a word of dedication, that is an even greater blessing which he keeps.
The priest is a blessing and he blesses. His person is constantly associated with blessing.
If he sits with some people at the table to eat, he blesses the food for them before they eat. If someone becomes ill and a doctor gives him medicine, he brings it to the priest-father to bless the medicine before taking it. If someone intends to marry, he asks the priest to bless this marriage so that it may be the beginning of a happy life. If one of the people enters into an economic project, he asks the priest to bless it so that it may succeed. Even if someone buys a new car, he asks the priest-father to bless it before using it.
Thus the blessing of the priest enters into all the people’s relationships with him.
If a person authors a book, he needs a blessing page for it.
It is not merely permission to print the book, as the Catholic brethren do in their writing of Nihil Obstat, nor merely approval of the information contained in the book, but also a blessing for the book so that it may be beneficial to all who read it, contribute to spreading knowledge, and have a sound spiritual effect on its readers. The blessing page is also a blessing for the author, that the Lord may reward him well.
Every meeting begins with a blessing from the mouth of the priest and is concluded by the priest with a blessing.
Spiritually and liturgically, it is not permissible for anyone to leave a church meeting before hearing the concluding blessing: “The love of God the Father, the grace of His only-begotten Son, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Go in peace; the peace of the Lord be with you” (2 Cor 13:14).
In ancient times, the Lord commanded the priests to bless the people in their journeying, as stated in the Book of Numbers:
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is how you shall bless the children of Israel: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace’” (Num 6:23–26).
How beautiful and comprehensive is the blessing they used to hear from Mount Gerizim:
“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground, and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out” (Deut 28:3–6).
Because the priest is a source for blessing or for conveying it, he prays for it:
He prays every time he goes for a visit or pastoral care, indeed every time he meets people, in a meeting, a seminar, or individually, saying: “O Lord, You know my sins and weaknesses. But not for my sake, rather for the sake of Your mercy, bless this house, or this meeting, or this person. Everyone who seeks Your help through me, grant them the requests of their hearts—not because of my prayers for them, but because of their faith in prayer. Grant them according to their faith, and even more, grant them because of their need and their resort to Your generosity, Your liberality, and Your love…
Grant them, O Lord, this blessing which they ask from me.
Or grant me, O Lord, this blessing to dwell in my life and in my prayers. Place it in my mouth, in my hand, and on my cross, that I may offer it to them.
Grant me to receive the blessing of those whom I shepherd, and the blessing of those who were about to perish had it not been that by Your divine help You saved them through my hands, so that I may say with Job the righteous: ‘The blessing of the perishing man came upon me’” (Job 29:13).
Bless me, O Lord, and bless them. Bless the one who takes and the one who gives. Bless those who have much and those who have little, and those who wish to give but do not have.
People rejoice in the priest who is a blessing among them.
They feel that their lives have been transformed for the better because of his presence among them, that God resolves their problems when they reach his knowledge and he presents them in his prayers, and that their requests are answered through his supplications.
Thus they say that this priest is a man of God, and he is a blessing.
The priest who is a blessing “will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets” (Matt 12:19), as his Master was, so he is. He also does not become harsh with anyone, nor does he deal with anyone in a severe manner or with a harsh, wounding word, for the Scripture says: “The mouth that blesses does not curse.”
Everyone who meets him receives a blessing from him.
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