Dear brothers and sisters, Since we have all tasted the sweetness and uniqueness of the Orthodox Church, it is natural and our duty to want to draw into the Orthodox Church those who are currently on the outside. Whether they are pagans or heretics! How then are we to draw the aliens into the Church of Christ? The answer is given to us by Christ on the Cross. By His sacrifice. The sacrifice of the leader of our faith is his unique preaching against the logic of the world. From early Christian times to our own day. The sacrifice of the modern priest who has taken upon himself the duty of administering the bloodless sacrifice of Christ, over and over again in the history of the world, so that each of our fellow human beings may be given the opportunity of salvation, of gaining a personal relationship with Christ, is a beacon in the darkness of our time…
When we priests have a pure and holy life, when we know and respect the rules and doctrines of our Church, when we have tears of repentance and humbly ask for God’s mercy, when we suffer for our wounded brothers and sisters who are in other confessions, then, holding the rosary, we pray earnestly for all the people of the earth to know our Faith, that is, the right faith! A great and true missionary is not the one who communicates the faith in words, but the one who lives it. He who prays with tears before the icon of Christ and the Virgin Mary that God may enlighten all people to return to the Mother Church. The Orthodox Church is a great embrace. It embraces and expects everyone to move forward and respond to the call that Christ himself makes to them: “come and see!”. If every day we pray to Christ in this way, our churches will be full. Thus we will bring everyone to Christ, in repentance and strong fervent prayer. If we live a sacramental life, with sincere confession and Holy Communion, then we will achieve our purpose. That all people may know the true Church.
Pure prayer and repentance will not be achieved on our own if we do not have a spiritual father. We will miss the path that leads to Christ and salvation. So we need to go to our spiritual father and confess often. We should honestly tell our sins, our mistakes and our questions. The spiritual father is for three things. To listen to our sins, to solve our questions and give us advice, to guide us and to give us blessing for everything we do in life. Next, I will address the priest’s duty to the people of his parish. We have a great responsibility to keep those who are interested in Orthodoxy and to strive to make those who are in the Church but seem to be too lukewarm aware. So how do we win souls from the storm of the world and lead them to the safe harbour of the Church? All Orthodox priests in our parishes must be active. The Orthros, Vespers, and petition should be done every day if we want to draw God’s grace. Every evening, everyone with his rule, two hours of rosary and penances, will draw God’s grace. It is God’s grace that will help us and solve our problems, not our minds or our actions!
Also, the priest should show a strong interest in the parish. He should run to the sick, read Orthodox books and have a steady presence at the monthly seminars. No sermons of his own, no new views that sound good and modern. Only what is settled in the conscience of the Orthodox Church and comes from the Holy Fathers can be said by Orthodox priests. We should run catechisms, organize sports and games with children, various activities, show love to children, be close to the world, comfort and help our flock, and then the miracle will happen and our parish will be full of conscious, Orthodox Christians! Amen.
π. Hermolaus Iatrou
