Page 158 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
A true charisma relates both to other charismata and to the
Body of Christ. This is why Paul introduces love at this point:
only through love can we approach the mystery of ordination.
In the light of communion, it is impossible to say that or-
dination either bestows something ontologically possessed or
simply delegates authority. Both views objectify the charisma
and isolate the ordained person. Ordination binds the person
so deeply to the community that he cannot be conceived in
himself; he becomes a relational entity. Existence is deter-
mined by communion, not by ontology or function. Ordina-
tion is like marriage. What is given is not an isolated posses-
sion, but a bond, a mode of existence, an event of communion.
There can be no ordination in absoluto. It means commit-
ment to a concrete community. One cannot love in the ab-
stract, nor be committed except to concrete persons. The local
Church provides the existential context of ordination. Thus in
the early Church catholicity was inconceivable outside the lo-
cal Church, and ordination belonged to the eucharistic synax-
is, where communion is realized par excellence. Ordination is
commitment not to ideas, but to concrete persons in their
historical circumstances.
For this reason, ordination is inseparable from mission.
Mission is not a method but an attribute of the Church’s na-
ture. Through ordination, the Church becomes the commu-
nity that relates the world to God. This is the true meaning of
mission. The Church goes out not by leaving herself, but by
involving herself. This is the ek-stasis of communion. Any
“sending” that is not at the same time a presence is not true
ek-stasis.
The personal character of ministry must be stressed. Ordi-
nation makes ministry personal, but the personal must be
distinguished from the individual. The individual is defined
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