Tag: priesthood

This Thing Decreased My Stress as a Pastor

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
This week an article about pastors quitting ministry and even Christianity itself circulated among some of the clergy I know. I see articles like this all the time. Among this one’s ominous passages is this one: [ExPastors.com] conducted a 2015 survey that found 60 percent of pastors consider themselves overworked and 81 percent feel unable to meet the demands of their jobs, Atkinson said…

This Good News is Who I Am

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Comments upon Elevation to the Rank of Archpriest, October 2, 2016 The Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Your Grace, Bishop Thomas, Very Reverend Fathers, Family, Friends, beloved Christians, When I graduated from St. Tikhon’s Seminary now almost ten years ago, our commencement speaker was Metropolitan Philip, now of blessed memory. Some of you here now were present for that speech. In his address,…

The Voice Crying in the Wilderness

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Today’s saintly commemoration is the conception of John the Forerunner, known to most English speakers as John the Baptist, which is narrated for us, along with his birth, in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. A major thematic element for today is the Voice. Zachariah, not believing the archangel, is made bereft of his voice until such time as he participates in the naming…

Who is God (Part 5 of 8): God is Our Priest

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross, April 3, 2016 Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Mark 8:34-9:1 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today is our fifth meditation in our eight-part series asking the question, “Who is God?” Today is also the third Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday…

Is It Wrong to Want to be a Priest?

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Every so often I encounter the idea that anyone who wants to be ordained a priest—or, especially, a bishop—never should be. Such a man is probably a control freak, vain, naive, etc. People like that should never be allowed anywhere near the priesthood. St. John Chrysostom’s famous flight from ordination may well be referenced with nods of knowing approval. And certainly, a young woman…

The Priesthood Is… (Anonymous Comments from Orthodox Priests)

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
I recently had the idea to ask Orthodox Christian priests to give me a short sentence or two about the priesthood—something honest and anonymous. I was delighted at the responses I got, from experienced priests, from those ordained only a short time, and from those somewhere in between. Some were heartening. Some were painful. Some were paradoxical. And some were a bit humorous. Some…

St. Gregory the Great: The Sincere and the Insincere

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Today is the feast of St. Gregory the Great (called in the East “Gregory the Dialogist”), pope of Rome. He is mostly known in the Orthodox Church for his association with the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (with which, it is my understanding, he probably didn’t have any real connection). One of his most beautiful gifts to posterity is his work Pastoral Care…