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Text Box: die. There are rising cliff faces which are smooth and sheer, having no footholds, up which each individual must climb. Some of these are short, being just a few inches or feet high. But some are very high, being beyond the grasp of most if not all individuals. The shorter cliffs can become stumbling blocks. You are there to catch people as they stumble. Others can cause some people to lose their balance. You are there to steady them. The cliffs which are high, but within the grasp of some people, you are there to give them a boost as they pull themselves up. And the cliffs which are beyond an individual’s grasp, you are there to lift them up so they can grasp the top and pull themselves up. In lifting them up, as they sprawl over the top, if you hold on to them you are carried along with them, so that you too are lifted over the top. Do not drag them down. Thus, in saving others, or in helping to save others, you yourself are saved. It is not the only way for you, but it is the way “at hand”. You do this through teaching, giving example, and administration of the Sacraments. Anyone can teach, and anyone can give good example, and anyone can administer some of the Sacraments. But you are the only group of people who can confect and administer the Eucharist and Absolution. Only you can change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and only you can forgive sins. Not even the Ever Virgin Mary Mother of God can change bread and wine into her Son. And not even she can forgive sins. Only you can do these things. Of these two Sacraments, one, Absolution, requires the participation, or at least the acquiesce, of the person or persons whom you are helping. You can not forgive the sins of one who

Text Box: refuses to accept absolution. You also can not give Holy Communion to one who does not wish to receive it, but since the Eucharist is confected within the Divine Liturgy (Holy Mass), you can pray the Divine Liturgy for anyone and even if they refuse to accept that Divine Liturgy there is nothing they can do about it. It is totally within your purview. Thus you can help anyone, even those who refuse help, for the power of the Divine Liturgy is the power of The Last Supper and of Calvary. You do not have a large congregation? Oh, yes you do. You have the whole world. There are few or no people at daily Divine Liturgy, and just a few more at Sunday Divine Liturgy? Oh, how wrong you are. For at every Divine Liturgy all the Angels and Saints of Heaven are present surrounding the Throne of God as the Blessed Trinity embraces you in your prayers and the Consecration. Why do you think you lift up the Sacred Elements and pray, “Thine of Thine Own we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all and for all”? It is because all of Heaven wishes to bow before Christ Who is in your hands as you offer God to God. It is because you make the offering of God to God, on behalf of all and for all. You offer it both for those who can not offer it as well as those who can, and for the benefit of those who can not confect it as well as those who can. Within the Divine Liturgy there are prayers for every situation, every person, and every type of person. Prayers of joy, sorrow, thanksgiving, and supplication, flow with worship as we both acknowledge our unworthiness and our God given worthiness. We tremble in our own knowledge of our sinfulness, and tremble even more knowing that our knowledge of our own sinfulness encompasses only a small portion of our sinfulness and unworthiness. Yet we proceed, hoping in God’s forgiveness, praying it will cleanse our souls as we receive His Body and His Blood; and that He will not just remove the sins and their effects, but also destroy any potential

Text Box: for future sins - knowing that this last will not happen for it is in forgiveness He shows His power and in being tempted and overcoming temptation that we are become strong. Yes, you may have to consider Church finances, meet with different organizations, and do “busy work”. Or, you may have nothing to do. Or so it seems. You must always make time for Divine Liturgy for there is no other prayer comparable to it. And if you have no other pressing matters, then you can rejoice and revel in the Divine Liturgy. You can focus on a few of the multiple facets of every prayer within that Prayer. Being a Priest is not a means of obtaining accolades. It is not for your glory. It has nothing to do with pomp, ceremony, unusual clothing, receiving respect, ease of living - three square meals a day and as roof over your head. It is being a shepherd working in harness with the Shepherd, lifting the lambs over the styles and rocks, up the face of the cliff, to the greenest pastures flowing with rivulets of springs, covered with shade and sunlight. The sheep are smelly and may leave their stink on you. They also sometimes bite and kick. The rocks may bruise you, and the cliff faces may dirty you. Why did you become a Priest? There may be many answers, many reasons. But amongst them must be, that you had certain knowledge that you were designed to be, supposed to be, called to be, a Priest. If that was true when you were ordained, then it remains true today and for all eternity. It is part of the foundation on which you function. A foundation created for you by Christ at the direction of the Father and sustained by the Holy Spirit. If you did not have certain knowledge that you were designed to be, supposed to be, called to be, a Priest, you are a Priest, so be a Priest. You may function as a Priest in a manner different from that in which most Priest function, but you _ are _ a _ Priest. A man endowed with grave powers and authorities, able

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