Author: Archbishop John (Shakhovskoy)
Common Pastoral Care
There is nothing more terrible and blessed than pastoral service. Through earthly and heavenly pastors the Lord feeds His Flock – already believing souls and souls who have not yet come to faith. True pastoral care is the life of Christ that continues in the world. “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 109:4).
No matter how many pastors there are on earth or in heaven, there always remains One Unchanging Shepherd. No matter how many churches there are in the world, there always remains One Church, Orthodox, glorifying Christ in the right way, not involved in any weakness or filth.
Only he who knows the One Shepherd can be a shepherd on earth, as in heaven.
“The LORD is my shepherd, and I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me by the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me…” (Psalm 23).
“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and lead those that have young” (Isaiah 40:11).
“Behold, I myself will search out My sheep and will search them out. As a shepherd checketh his flock in the day that he is among his flock that are scattered abroad, so will I check My sheep, and will deliver them from all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day… I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold will be on the high mountains of Israel; there they will lie down in a good fold, and they will feed in a fat pasture, on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek that which is lost, and bring again that which is driven away, and bind up that which is broken, and strengthen that which is sick, and I will destroy the fat and the wicked. I will feed them in righteousness” (Ezek. 34:11–16). Anyone who is involved in pastoral work knows how joyful it is to meet in the midst of the world those who have been lost, but who have been shepherded by the hand of the Shepherd, believers. These souls meet at different crossroads of life’s roads and in the silence of complete solitude. It would seem that no one has touched them, no one has encroached on capturing them in spiritual captivity, no earthly shepherd has approached them with their salvation in mind, and they have never heard words of spiritual encouragement from a person. And yet they flourish spiritually, grow, their path of faith becomes clearer, the true roads of life become clearer to them. Sometimes these people not only do not receive any help from a person during their life, but it seems as if everything around them hinders them, tempts them, leads them astray… But they still flourish, and are not tempted by anything, they shine with heavenly fire, enlightening the surrounding darkness. And it happens even more: those earthly shepherds and mentors who are sent to support and encourage the soul – push it away from the blessed light, teach by word or by their life not what the Lord Jesus Christ taught. This temptation often begins in early childhood, when a child does not see the Light of Christ in his home. But the Lord leads his soul, which agrees to heavenly guidance. And if the soul has agreed to this inner, subtle, joint guidance, to this constant burning of the heart, striving for the light and pushing away the darkness in suffering, no one will snatch it from the hand of the Lord. And the word comes true: “My sheep hear my voice (speaking in the depths of the heart and drawing them to the heavenly light), and I know them, and they follow me… No one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). Only he can be a shepherd and lead people into eternal life who himself knows the Shepherd, and whom the Shepherd knows. “I am the good Shepherd, and I know My sheep, and I am known by Mine” (John 10:14). This is the first condition of shepherding. The prophets wrote: “And they shall all be taught of God.” “Everyone who has heard from the Father and learned comes to Me” (Isaiah 54:13, John 6:45).
“The God of peace raised from the dead a great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20).
If it seemed, and even now often seems, in many cases, that the people on earth “have no Shepherd” (“they were like sheep having no shepherd”), then this means that the Shepherd standing near this people is either not noticed or is rejected by the people… However, he remains the Shepherd.
As the Lord is the Savior of all people, and of the most faithful (1 Timothy 4:10), so He is the Shepherd of all mankind, and of the most faithful, i.e. those who listen to Him, believe Him and follow Him.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me”… Such is the relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep of His flock, His fold. There are sheep not of His fold, and there are sheep of His other fold: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice: and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd” (John 10:16). There are sheep that do not follow their Shepherd, that do not yet belong to His visible fold, but they are nonetheless His sheep. What a consolation for many who are anxious about the fate of nations and souls that are not within the visible fold of the Church. And what a warning for all who are within this visible fold. The first are not of this fold (not of Orthodoxy and perhaps not even of Christianity), but all of them who live by the conscience and spirit of Cornelius the Centurion will come to Him and recline at His feet… Some of “this fold” – from the fence of the visible Apostolic Church, can be cast out, like the Pharisees (for spiritual pride) and like the Sadducees (for unbelief).
Blessed Augustine says that the earthly Church is like a net in the sea. Not all the fish that are now in it will be pulled to shore (the Kingdom of God); and some fish that are not now in the net will fall into it.
Not everyone who thinks that he is following the One Shepherd, in reality follows Him; and not everyone who does not follow, really does not follow. Even His persecutors, like Saul, are closer to Him than such admirers as Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5).
The True, One Shepherd has no partiality, and does not look at whether a person is registered or not registered by people in His flock. He has the Book of Life and He Himself writes down the souls of men there, and no one except Him can read this book, nor even open it (Rev. 5:3-4).
(to be continued)
Source in Russian: Philosophy of the Orthodox Pastoral Service: (Path and Action) / Clergyman. – Berlin: Published by the Parish of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in Berlin, 1935. – 166 p.
Note about the author: Archbishop John (in the world, Prince Dmitry Alexeevich Shakhovskoy; August 23 [September 5], 1902, Moscow – May 30, 1989, Santa Barbara, California, USA) – Bishop of the Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America. Preacher, writer, poet. Author of numerous religious works, some of which have been published in translation in English, German, Serbian, Italian and Japanese.
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
