Thoughts

What does it say about a life of Christian ministry? How can it be applied in today’s Church?

John Chrysostom writes that the aim of a priest is ‘the glory of God and the edification of the Church’[1] but speaks also of spiritual dangers for the priest and those he serves. Christian ministry is a life full of temptations with a constant danger of the sin of presumption. Therefore there is an intense need for self-examination, a priest’s understanding of his own weaknesses (for the ministry both lays bare and hardens his own sins), wise spiritual counsel and also, perhaps, good friends and close spiritual brothers, because of the danger of being crushed by worldly cares.

A priest’s glory is in the Liturgy and sacraments, ‘bringing down … the Holy Spirit’[2]. John connects the centrality of teaching to the lack of wonders and miracles in his age. It is not surprising that the ‘passion for oratory’[3] he mentions was rediscovered in the Enlightenment/Reformation in the West and the intensity of this ‘passion’ varies between cultures today. Teaching also combats heresies, many of which are still around, and is a part of administering the ‘spiritual medicine’ of the soul, along with perception and the appropriate use of discipline (not too hard, not too lenient). The priest is also responsible for intercessory prayer as an ‘ambassador for … not just a city [but] the whole world – and begs God to be merciful to the sins of all men, not only the living, but the departed too’[4].

The required list of qualifications for a priest includes everything from love, wisdom and purity to the willingness to sacrifice even his own salvation. The candidate for priesthood also needs to be ready to sacrifice his privacy and endure many sufferings – and not only the priest but his family too, who must, therefore, all be committed to the priestly ministry and ready for the sacrifice – perhaps a harder task in today’s more individualistic society.

The thread throughout St John’s writing is the strength of feeling he exhibits in justifying his flight from the priestly office. He feels himself completely unworthy – ‘I … could not bear the very thought of so horrible a thing’ as for the Bride of Christ to be ‘handed over to me, the most worthless of men’ – and considers it a necessary condition that a potential priest/bishop should ‘purify his soul entirely of ambition for the office’[5] In a society that encourages self-esteem and career-oriented thinking, it is vital to emphasize the importance of this humility, and the priest can only achieve this through constant awareness of his great responsibility for many souls and of the unrelenting but invisible battle in the midst of which ministry takes place. In this context of urgency and humility the priest must try to perform the pastoral and teaching tasks that St John describes. Knowledge of his incapability for this task, and the consequent reduction of the self to nothingness should lead him to total dependence on God, as necessary now as it always has been.