Who are you, O Father Priest?
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that the priest is a messenger of the Lord of hosts and a representative of God before the people, a bearer of the law, defender of salvation, and the means by which God transmits forgiveness, blessing, and sanctification to the people. Priesthood is not a personal authority but a great spiritual responsibility that requires humility and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual and educational dimensions
- Mediation and divine representation: The priest represents God before believers; the penitent receives forgiveness “from the mouth of the priest” as if it is from God Himself. The ritual actions (the absolution prayer, the anointing, baptism, marriage) present the priest as an agent who transmits the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Responsibility and stewardship: The priest’s high office increases responsibility; priesthood is not merely a rank but a stewardship requiring an inner life and true communion with God to receive what he gives to the people.
- Shepherd and teacher: The priest is a shepherd of those he tends, but he shepherds in the name of the true Shepherd (Christ), and a teacher who must give himself in guiding the people, for the message is not from himself but from God.
- Light and salt: The priest is a light to the world, transmitting Christ’s light according to the amount of light in him — the analogy of sun and moon shows that the priest draws his light from the true light (God) to illuminate for people.
- Warning against subjectivity: A firm warning against a cleric turning his message into his own ideas or personal opinion, because that breeds heresies and deviations. The true messenger is the one who takes the word from God to deliver it to the people.
Practical directions
- The priest should ask God for the word and the Spirit before teaching: “Pray for me so that I may give a word when I open my mouth.”
- He must be filled with the Spirit and wisdom to perform his ministry properly.
- Humility and acknowledging that all gifts are from God are essential so that what is divine is not ascribed to the person.
Conclusion
The essential message is that priesthood is a covenant and a divine stewardship: the priest is a carrier of blessings and sacraments, not their originator, and he must live a genuine relationship with God, with humility and fullness of the Holy Spirit, so that he performs his mission faithfully and truthfully.
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