“The spiritual father is Christ on earth”
Whoever does not acknowledge his parent is not worthy to be a son, and so will never understand a parent's worth; whoever does not acknowledge a teacher will never become a pupil, and so never a learned man either. A person who denies that illness exists denies the physician too, and so his disease will remain incurable for him.
Nowadays these words are very frequent and widespread: “I believe in God, but I don't trust the priest; how can I go to someone who is a sinner? What do I need a spiritual father for — I'll pray well enough on my own!” Or again: “I know I won't be able to do everything anyway, I won't keep the fasts, so it's better not to start at all.” Then let us follow their reasoning and say: what does a baby need parents for? God made him, and he'll grow up by himself. What do you need a teacher for — you'll learn anyway! What do we need a doctor for — you'll get well by yourself, and so on. But is it not precisely through these people that God acts in us? If you pray from the heart at home, does that mean you won't go to your spiritual father? When has thirst ever been quenched by looking at water? Why then do you drink it?
Whoever loves Christ will certainly love his spiritual father too. If you reject your spiritual father because he has sins, then I will ask you: why do you love and acknowledge your parents — are they not sinners too?
In spite of their sinfulness, do they not show you worthy parenthood and care? Their personal sins do not prevent you from receiving parental warmth and love from them. It is precisely this parental feeling, the greatest love, that dispels and hides from your eyes the multitude of sins. If we draw a parallel with the spiritual father, the spiritual parent, let us judge for ourselves and look into our hearts: what causes our rejection of them and our mistrust — what is the reason? Let us admit that it is unbelief and lack of love.
A person is wrong if he avoids going to a spiritual father on the ground that he will not be able to keep and carry out the obedience given him — if he does not go to confession because he will fall into the same sins again. In that case let us not eat either, since we will get hungry again. Let us not wash — we'll only get dirty again. You who cannot contain the whole sun — are you not warmed by its rays? If you cannot breathe in all the air, do you not live by it? So it is in this case too: the main thing is that you believe and express your will, and God will accomplish the rest in you by the hand of the spiritual father.
As St Gregory the Theologian says: “The spiritual father is Christ on earth.” If you look on him with this faith, will not the Lord Himself act in you by his hand? The spiritual father only opens his mouth; God accomplishes the rest. Christ Himself remained for the unbelieving Jews an ordinary man, a crucified man, but for believers He is God, the true source of salvation and of every good.
The essence, quality and greatness of a person's deed may be determined not so much by its result (though that too is necessary) as by the great love and effort spent in carrying it out. As St Basil the Great says: “What pleases God is not great deeds, but the love with which they are done; for nothing is small that is greatly loved, and nothing is great that is loved but little.” Were not the two mites of the Gospel widow small in amount among the offerings — yet they proved most pleasing to the Lord, because they were given with the greatest faith and love. The human body, one organism, does not consist of members equally vital for life; not every part can be the brain or the heart, yet every organ is necessary for life, because it performs its own function.
Does a person not go to music lessons and study the classical works — Mozart, Bach and so on? Does he refuse to study them because they themselves are not the ones teaching him beautiful music? Would you not go to drawing lessons because your teachers would not be Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo? Or refuse altogether because you will never become like them? Would that not be foolishness? In spite of this, you still study and trust your teacher, because he teaches you their art and craft faithfully and truly. So it is with the spiritual father: he may not be like the holy apostles Peter and Paul, but he is their spiritual heir; he teaches you God's teaching faithfully and trains you in His commandments.
There are also those who do not go to church because they have seen many things that scandalised them (someone's bad behaviour, or people they considered the most sinful of all). Would anyone be surprised to find sick people in a hospital? The Church is a spiritual hospital, in which Christ Himself heals by the hands of His servants. Let us remember the words of the Gospel: “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
If we must love our enemy, as Christ has commanded, what answer shall we give Him for failing to love our spiritual father? The spiritual father is a shield for a person, taking upon himself the arrows shot by the enemy in order to save his spiritual child. Let us picture a rough, stony slope up which a crowd of people is carrying a great load; one of them takes it on himself out of love, to ease the way for the rest, and if he falls, stumbles under the weight of the load, will the others begin to mock him and say, “If you weren't up to it, why did you take it on?” Or, on the contrary, will they help him get up? So it is with the spiritual father: on his shoulders lies the greatest cross — the sins of his flock — which he carries through this world like a heavy yoke, to ease the way of salvation for his flock; and if he falls, stumbles spiritually, we must help him and raise him up by prayer. Let us bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
