“Receive this Divine Trust and guard it until the Second Coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, at which time it will be demanded of you by Him.”
This direct instruction was given to me by Metropolitan Isaiah at my ordination last week as he placed the Lamb of God in my hands. The Lamb had been prepared by him at the Service of Preparation prior to the Divine Liturgy. I do not know if I have ever been so moved and so awed. The thought of being accountable to Our Lord for His Body, the Church, is not only awe inspiring, it is sobering. It is something beyond understanding. You are the Body of Christ. His Eminence’s admonition goes to the heart of priesthood. Christ’s priesthood is a priesthood for His people. He alone is Holy and yet we are called to be holy by living in Him and for Him. St. Peter in his first epistle tells us “but as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’.” (1Peter 1, 15 -16). In the Divine Liturgy, we hear “Holy things for the holy people of God.” And the response from you, the people, is “One is Holy, One is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, Amen.”
As I served my first Divine Liturgy this last Sunday, I am even more moved and more impacted by the thought of this “Divine Trust.” The Church teaches that the fringe on the epitrachilion, the stole, which the priest wears around his neck, represents the souls of the faithful which are in-trusted to his care. This is a reminder to the priest of the instruction of the bishop at his ordination. At the ordination these words were spoken and yet it is something that must be absorbed in one’s consciousness and in one’s spirit and never be allowed to be forgotten. I pray that as I serve in His Holy Altar, He will always guide me and will keep this charge vivid in my heart. Thank you for your prayers and support. God Bless…fr g