SEPTEMBER 13,
2011 –
Today’s liturgy commemorates
the most prolific of the writers and preachers of the whole Patristic
period, as well as one of the most pastoral of priests. John of Antioch was a
deacon for five years before accepting ordination to the priesthood. During
that period, when eloquence was highly appreciated, he proved to be effective
as a speaker that he became a celebrity. Before long he was known as John the
Chrysostom, the Greek word meaning Golden
mouth. His dedication to the priestly ministry assured that he employed his
energies and talents in the service of the Gospel, with consistent courage. He
did not hesitate to speak truth to political powers when their actions
conflicted with the Church’s teaching, knowing that it would cause him trouble
as indeed it eventually did. Not, however, before his ministry resulted in
building up the Church. He first achieved broad popularity when he proved to be
the savior of his city. He was able by his series of homilies to teach his
faithful some lessons of morality and to restore calm and hope in the face of
disaster when he persuaded the Emperor Theodosius of their sincere repentance.
For the emperor was furious with the Antiocheans and
preparing to use the army to punish the people severely after they had rioted
against the government and destroyed the Emperor’s statue in protest to his
raising taxes. We in this country can sympathize with them today when each
American voter’s share of the national debt is $129,000- a situation that adds
to our reasons for praying to our saint today!
St John Chrysostom, after
receiving the best classical education available at the time, began his life of
dedication to God, not in a seminary but in a monastery. For some years he
lived in community and then spent two further years as a hermit, living in a
cave. His training then was to a life of
interior prayer and spiritual reading in an austere setting. This formation to
the life of the spirit proved to be a source of convincing and energetic
persuasion in his later service as priest then in his role as Patriarch of
Constantinople. His book on the priesthood revealed how high a view he held of
priestly office and had a lasting influence on priestly life through the
centuries. Although he occupied the most prestigious See
in the Eastern Church, he ever remained a pastor close to the people, able to
speak to their spiritual and social needs effectively. His singleness of
purpose shone through his activities so that he created a climate of enthusiasm
in his people.
Chrysostom’s influence as a
teacher and guide for his people was due in large measure to his outstanding
gifts as a communicator. He had a winning personality, a gift for friendship
and, having in his years as a monk cultivated his inner life in prayer, had
acquired a profound sense of God’s holiness that penetrated his activity and
priestly ministry. When he wrote his book on the priesthood he stressed the holiness
of the priestly office. The message he conveys in that early writing is perhaps
the chief lesson we priests today can take from him for our own lives. For he
emphasizes the essential service of the priest to the people is to make the all
holy Savior present in this world. “The priesthood is exercised on earth”, he
writes, ”but itself is a reality belonging to heaven.”
The priest is to witness to the holiness of God by the purity of his life. The
priest’s ministry, in all its various expressions, is that of communicating the
love and mercy of the all holy, transcendent God. In our times when society is increasingly
dominated by materialism and secularist attitudes, the need for spiritual
witness to the all holy God through priestly ministry is more essential to the
healthy life of the Church than in happier periods. May the example and
intercession Saint John Chrysostom assist us so that like him we might build up
the faith of our people and be channels of the life-giving grace of the Lord
Jesus that we are offered here at this Eucharist. Ω
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