My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE ORTHODOX TRADITION OF HAVING
A SPIRITUAL FATHER AND CONFESSOR
The spiritual father (G. pnevmatikos pateras) also called a father confessor, geron in Greek acts as a sacramental companion, guide and physician of the soul who assists the Orthodox faithful along the path toward salvation. A spiritual father is commonly a priest who guides the believer through the Christian life experience. The priest, as a companion who understands the terrain of prayer, repentance and the constant spiritual warfare as a person who himself has experienced it.
The Holy Apostle Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians states: "For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" [2 Corinthians 4:15). As in a family, maturing children need parental guidance and discipline. He writes to the Christians "imitate me because he imitates Christ" [11:1]. That is a good model. A spiritual father guides the faithful to a more profound life in Christ.
The Orthodox spiritual father has an awesome responsibility before God to lead the penitent closer to Christ by the grace and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit our God. Needless to say, the spiritual father should come to know his spiritual child as well as possible so that is able to diagnose his inner spiritual trauma and illness correctly. He must pray for him/her constantly and to listen attentively to the personal challenges confessed by his spiritual child. It is necessary to be encouraging, patient, and to focus on the spiritual child’s struggles, concerns and weaknesses. It is also imperative that the penitent respect and trust his/her be obedient to his/her spiritual father and that his counsel is adhered to willingly and obediently.
The Mysterion (Sacrament) is a sacrament not only of confession but of genuine repentance. Unfortunately there is the misconception by some Christians that one needs only to confess his/her sins without any real contrition or repentance to a priest and automatically all sins are absolved.
The sacrament cannot be reduced to a car wash where the dirt is washed off automatically by a machine. The penitent stands before our Lord Christ Himself at the time of his/her confession for it is He who forgives and not the priest. It is He Whose child we are and Who we have offended through our reckless way of living.
The Orthodox Church and the Holy Church Fathers metaphorically and historically refer the Mystery of Confession/Repentance as the "second baptism." While Holy Baptism is a one-time, unrepeatable act that cleanses away the ancestral sin and personal sins committed ukp to that point people continue to struggle and sin afterward. The Sacrament restores the grace and purity of the original baptismal state. Saint John Climacus viewed the tears of repentance and confession as A RENEWAL OF THE BAPTISMAL CLEANSING. It acts like watering a planted seed or fanning a fire back into a flame, healing the soul rather than repeating the physical rite of baptism.
Our Holy Orthodox Church does not force or threaten in any way the Christian to participate in the sacrament of Confession/Repentance or any other sacraments. Our Holy Church approach to spiritual life is rooted in FREE WILL and HEALING rather than legalism, physical force, or psychological intimidation. Everyone should understand that the priest does not act as a judge or an interrogator. Instead, the Church defines the priest as a SPIRITUAL PHYSICIAN AND A WITNESS TO YOUR CONFESSION BEFORE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. As Saint John Chrysostom reminds us that the Church is not a court but a hospital. If the father confessor gives a penance (Gr. epitimia) such as fasting or reading specific prayers, it is never treated as a punishment or a way to "pay off" a debt. It is meant purely as medicine to help heal the soul and redirect your life.
We witness the true spirit of confession and repentance in the Lord’s Parable of the Prodigal Son. "But when he ame to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hidre servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I HAVE SINNED AGAINST HEAVEN AND BEFORE YOU, AND I AM NO LONGER WORTHY TO BE CALLED YOUR SON. MAKE ME LIKE ONE OF YOUR HIRED SERVANTS. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him" (Luke 15:11-32). Extreme need brings the prodigal son to his senses, but what draws him homeward is probably his father’s agape. The father’s tender actions show he never ceased looking for the return of his son, just as God always longs for the return of every sinner toHis forgiving embrace.
It is understood in a spiritual and pastoral sense that the Father confessor assumes the burden of the sins committed by his spiritual child. However it is often misunderstood as a mechanical or literal transfer of guilt. In our Holy Orthodox Tradition, the relationship between a father confessor (spiritual father) and his spiritual child is deeply elationshal, modeled after our Lord Christ’s agape. Orthodox theology frames the role of the spiritual father through the biblical command to "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). This "assuming of the burden" manifests in several distinct ways:
The Greek root for sympathy (sym-patheia) literally means "co-suffering." A true spiritual father takes on the grief, spiritual trials, and emotional weight of his child’s sins, suffering alongside them as they work through repentance. The father confessor answers to God for the guiadance he provides. When a spiritual child struggles with a deep-seated passion or sin, the confessor often takes on additional fstisng, prostrations (metanoies) and intense prayer on behalf of that child to help them find healing. However, while the spiritual father willingly enters into the pain of the sin, the Orthodox Church teaches that only our Lord Jesus Christ truly removes and absolves the guilt of sin. The priest acts as a witness, a physian, and co-traveler on the path to God. [Resources: The Orthodox Study Bible]
__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
