The Priest’s Care for His Personal Life
The Priest’s Care for His Personal Life
- It is required that the priest care for his personal life before caring for the service.
For the Apostle Paul said to his disciple Timothy the bishop: “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 Tim. 4:16). Thus he advised him to care for himself and for his salvation before caring for teaching and for the salvation of those who hear him…
It is not fitting that the priest, in his service, should lose himself, because the Lord says: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26). Or as the Apostle Paul said:
“I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27).
To this extent did this great saint care for the salvation of his own soul.
- It is also required that the virtues which the priest preaches, he practices first in his private life before teaching them, so that his words may be practical and spoken from experience, and so that the proverb does not apply to him: “Physician, heal yourself” (Luke 4:23). Nor should the Lord’s rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees apply to him, that they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers (Matt. 23:4).
It is not fitting that the virtues spoken of by the priest-father be for the people and not for himself!
He should not be like the shelves of a library that carry many books without reading any of them, nor like road signs that guide people on the way and its directions while they themselves do not walk, nor like a bridge that transfers people from one shore to another while it itself remains fixed in place!
It is required of the priest-father to be a means of illustration for every virtue.
He must be the practical model of all the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). People see him and learn from his life before they learn from his sermons. He becomes a sermon before being a preacher.
Therefore, it is not fitting for the priest to forget himself in the service, so that his life dries up without his knowing, or even while he knows. It is not permissible, under the pretext of service, that his worship be neglected while his activity increases; or that his visits increase while his meditations decrease; or that his services multiply while his inner life dries up!
Nor is it right for him to justify himself by saying that every work he does is as if it were a prayer, or that his whole life is for God in his going out and coming in—while the saying of that spiritual writer rebukes him:
You spent your life serving the house of the Lord; when will you serve the Lord of the house?
Likewise, it is not fitting that he suffice himself with liturgical prayers and fall short in his personal prayers. Nor should he forget himself, making all his readings for others and not for himself. His prayer also becomes for the sake of service only, not a personal affection between him and God. Sadly, all his spiritual works may become directed toward people, while his personal salvation disappears!
So what does it mean that the priest is like a candle that melts for the sake of others to give them light?!
It means that he melts physically, not spiritually. That is, he sacrifices his health and his comfort, not the soundness of his path nor his spiritual life. He must not lose his spiritual life for the sake of others, because if he loses his spiritual life, he also loses his service. And if he loses his soul, people will not benefit from him, and he ends as a servant.
We say this because the priest may fall into errors because of service.
He may lose his meekness while commanding with authority, forbidding, rebuking, and being harsh in punishment. What benefit is there if he teaches people meekness while he himself is not meek? Will they then benefit from his teaching?
Sometimes the priest loses his humility amid manifestations of people’s respect and reverence for him, if he does not counterbalance that with true inner contrition of heart.
The priest must remember the spiritual rule that says:
Only he who is filled overflows.
For this reason the Apostle said: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). It is not to his benefit to think that he was filled in the past, and therefore chosen as a priest, and that his role now is only to overflow to others. No—the filling for him is a continuous work renewed every day. The Scripture says: “Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps. 103:5).
Filling is not for the past only. The Apostle Peter, after the Holy Spirit descended upon him—together with the rest of the disciples—on the Day of Pentecost, and after the miracle of healing the lame man at the Beautiful Gate with the Apostle John, when the chief priests, scribes, and elders summoned them and questioned them, the Scripture says: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said…” (Acts 4:8).
Therefore, the priest-father must set aside time for solitude with God.
We do not mean solitude in which he prepares for service, such as preparing sermons, but solitude in which he enjoys sitting with God in prayer, meditation, and praise, and in spiritual reading for his personal benefit, by which he grows in depth—away from people in body, and if possible in thought as well.
He must organize his appointments and escape some time for his own life.
He must have a Gethsemane garden and a Mount of Olives,
in which he hides for some time in order to receive, to renew his connection with God, and to sift himself with precise scrutiny, for service may have stuck some clay to his wheat.
As a daily program, one of the most beautiful times in which the priest can be alone with God is the early morning, in which he says to the Lord: “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You…” (Ps. 63:1). Thus, before meeting anyone from among the people, he meets God first—in love, in contrition of heart, and in seeking divine help to accompany him throughout the day.
Many saints fled from service, fearing that their lives would be lost.
But if a person is able to combine both together by a special grace from God and the help of His Holy Spirit, this is far better. An example of this is the Apostle Paul, who labored in service more than all the apostles (1 Cor. 15:10), and in his spiritual life was caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2–4).
The Priest and Discipline
Discipline is not against love; rather, it may be evidence of love.
It is for correction and reformation, and to make the sinner realize that he has committed a fault worthy of discipline. The Apostle Paul said: “For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?” (Heb. 12:7). And he said: “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines” (Heb. 12:6; Prov. 3:12).
The priest has authority to discipline and to rebuke.
The Scripture says: “Rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). And the Didascalia says: “O bishop, just as you were given authority to loose, you were also given authority to bind.” And the Lord said about the one who refuses the judgment of the Church: “If he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17).
The Lord punished Eli the priest and cut him off and his descendants from the priesthood because he did not discipline his sons properly (1 Sam. 3:14; 1 Sam. 4:11).
The apostolic fathers practiced disciplining sinners.
For example, the Apostle Paul disciplined the sinner of Corinth and ordered that he be excluded from the congregation of believers (1 Cor. 5:5, 13), then later forgave him. He said to the Corinthians: “This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow” (2 Cor. 2:6–7).
The Apostle Peter also disciplined Ananias and Sapphira with a very severe punishment (Acts 5:3–9), which had the effect of making others cautious. It was said: “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things” (Acts 5:11). Paul also disciplined Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:9–11).
The reason for discipline and also its result was that the Church might preserve its holiness and that the rest might fear. Thus Paul said to Timothy the bishop: “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear” (1 Tim. 5:20).
There are many punishments mentioned in the Book of Revelation, including the punishment of the sinful Jezebel (Rev. 2:20–23), the judgment of cities likened to a woman sitting on a beast (Rev. 17), and the judgment of the great city Babylon (Rev. 8:10), in addition to what is said about the trumpets of the angels (Rev. 8).
Discipline also has roots in the Old Testament, such as the punishment of the Flood (Gen. 6), the punishment that befell the people of Sodom (Gen. 19), the punishment that befell Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num. 16:31–35), and even the prophet David was punished when he sinned (2 Sam. 12).
However, discipline has degrees according to the degree of the offense, and it must be proportionate to the act. The canons of the Church are full of disciplines issued by the holy ecumenical and local councils, including deposition, excommunication from the body of the Church, deprivation from certain sacraments, and separation. In ancient times, these were connected with the system of choirs in churches.
It is not correct, as some ignorantly try to spread, that discipline is only for heresy.
Although the Church canon commands that two punishments not be imposed for one sin, heresy gathers all punishments together, such that the heretic is deposed from all priestly ranks, deprived of all sacraments, and completely cut off from the body of the Church.
There are disciplines that require a trial, and disciplines that are imposed automatically.
For example, if a priest marries, or if a deacon marries after his ordination, he automatically loses his priestly rank by law without a trial.
If a monk breaks his vow and marries, he loses the status of monasticism.
As for the disciplines imposed by the priest-father on his children in confession, these are his right and authority, and sometimes even his duty. Often a penitent asks his spiritual father to impose a discipline on him because he feels its benefit and his conscience is relieved by it. If the priest does not do so, the penitent may impose the discipline on himself and correct himself if his father does not correct him.
However, the priest’s discipline must be within the penitent’s capacity.
He should not lay upon him a burden he cannot bear, nor a discipline he cannot carry out. The discipline must also be appropriate to his circumstances.
There are other conditions for discipline, including:
a) That the penitent feel that he has sinned and deserves discipline.
b) That he be convinced of the discipline and carry it out willingly.
c) That he see it as for his healing and spiritual benefit.
d) Not every sin requires discipline, otherwise life would become nothing but disciplines, as the psalmist said: “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You” (Ps. 130:3–4).
There are matters that do not require discipline; advice and guidance suffice, as the Didascalia says: “Erase the sin by teaching.”
The Discipline of Excommunication
- The type of excommunication must be specified, because this term—used absolutely—means many things. For example, a person may be barred from Communion for a specific period, or barred from service in the Church, or from teaching if he errs in teaching, or from certain relationships that are the cause of his fall.
- The term excommunication should not be used in a way that repels or frightens people away from the priesthood.
- It is not permissible for a priest to issue excommunication in a moment of anger, for a personal reason, without knowledge, or unjustly. Nor should he frequently use the phrase “no absolution and no dispensation” in matters that may be trivial or not within his jurisdiction.
- Discipline must not be a cause for the loss of love or trust between the sinner and the priest-father, otherwise the priest’s pastoral and spiritual work with such a sinner will come to an end.
There are preventive conditions to ensure the soundness of discipline, including that the priest—as the Scripture says—not be quick-tempered or violent (Titus 1:7–8), nor stubborn, but characterized by justice, rightly dividing “the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), loving, known for dealing with people gently and kindly, patient and broad-minded, apt to teach (1 Tim. 3:2), well-studied in sound doctrine and the commandment of God, from whose mouth the law is sought (Mal. 2:7).
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