Ancient Faith
YouTube
The Priesthood Belongs to Christ, Not the Priest
5:29
What the video says
The speaker reflects on his ordination 16 years ago, recalling the awe and fear of receiving the Body of Christ and the enduring sense of unworthiness despite the priestly office. He emphasizes that ordained ministry is not a personal achievement but Christ's priesthood functioning through the priest, and that all baptized Christians share in a royal priesthood through the same baptismal rites.
The central message for every believer is to cooperate with God's work by doing the good that lies immediately before them, since clergy and laity alike are members of Christ's Body and have no ministry apart from the Church.
Key moments
- Recalls his ordination 16 years ago, a photo of Bishop Antoun placing the Body of Christ in his hands, and the bishop's solemn warning about giving an account.
- Describes celebrating his first Divine Liturgy on the Feast of St. Raphael, feeling imposter syndrome and no supernatural sensation, realizing the work is God's, not his own.
- Notes the priest's liturgical self-designation as 'most unworthy presbyter'; ordination does not make one worthy but sets one aside for a specific task.
- Revisits ordination memories and Bishop Basil's words to remember the priesthood belongs to Christ, not to the individual priest.
- Addresses non-ordained listeners: God works through everyone; the call is to cooperate with the good thing immediately at hand.
- Explains all Orthodox Christians share in a priesthood through baptism (washing, clothing), entering the order of the laity; clergy retain this foundational identity.
- Defines the Church as the Body of Christ; all are Christ's powers in the world through the Holy Spirit; ordained ministry is a role within this, not separate from it.
- Stresses clergy cannot function apart from the Church (no 'at large' clergy); ministry is God working through us, not a special power handed over.
In this reflection marking sixteen years since his ordination, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick recounts the awe and trembling of receiving the Body of Christ at the altar and the bishop's solemn charge that he would give an account for every soul. He describes celebrating his first Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Raphael while feeling no supernatural confirmation — only a deep sense of unworthiness that the liturgy itself names when the priest calls himself the "most unworthy presbyter."
Ordination, he stresses, does not confer personal worthiness or a private spiritual power; it sets a man aside for a specific task within the one priesthood of Christ. The same baptismal washing and clothing that initiate every Orthodox Christian into the royal priesthood of the laity remain the foundation for clergy as well. The Church is the Body of Christ, and all its members — ordained and lay — are Christ's powers in the world through the Holy Spirit.
There is no ministry "at large" apart from the Body. The practical call for every believer, clergy or not, is to cooperate with God by doing the good that lies immediately at hand, trusting that God works through us rather than handing us a special authority of our own.
Main points
- Ordination is a setting-aside for Christ's priesthood, not a personal achievement or source of worthiness.
- The priest's liturgical self-designation as 'most unworthy presbyter' reflects the enduring reality of unworthiness.
- All baptized Orthodox Christians share in a royal priesthood through the same baptismal rites; clergy retain this foundational identity.
- The Church is the Body of Christ; ordained ministry is a role within this Body, not separate from it.
- Every believer's calling is to cooperate with God by doing the immediate good before them, since God works through us all.