A True Apostle: 2 Corinthians 12:10-19, especially vs. 12:
"The signs of a true apostle were performed among you in all patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works." [RSV]
The three chapters (ten through twelve) of the Apostle Paul's Second Epistle to the church at Corinth disclose the anguish of a father in God separated from his children and having to fight for their hearts and souls. To gain a vivid appreciation of his pain and of the intense effort he pours into his writing at this point, one can do no better than to read the entire three chapters in one sitting.
A cursory reading reveals that today's passage actually is a summary of the entire section. Because St. Paul is defending his apostolate, the passage also encapsulates his vision of a true Apostle. From it, one can identify seven marks or signs of an Apostle, signs found in all true fathers of the Faith, just as surely today as they were in St. Paul's time, two-thousand years ago.
First, observe the pleasure of a true apostolic leader as he pays the price of being focused wholly on the Lord Jesus in his ministry. He hears the Lord with the ears of his heart: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake" (Mt.5:11). To find delight when one is thrust into need, reproached, or persecuted, is a rare and beautiful quality drawn from Christ Himself; and it enables those who really love Him to rejoice when painful things happen "for His sake" (vs.10).
Serving the Lord's flock is sure to awaken a consciousness of personal nothingness in a true servant of Christ (vs. 11). St. Paul, in his work as an Apostle, repeatedly faced deprivation, exhaustion, danger, and near-death experiences (2 Cor. 11:23-27). He learned his own frailty as a mortal, even as he found that limitless source of strength that is in Christ Jesus. How well he could say, "I am nothing," though still strong in Christ (2 Cor.12:10).
Third, a genuine father in God perseveres for his people and with his people. Some translations use "patience" in verse 12 (see above), but the emphasis of St. Paul in this passage underscores the element of personal tenacity and constancy in the face of all kinds of difficulty. "The signs of a true apostle were performed among you" persistently, in all constancy.
Fourth, at the time St. Paul started the congregation in Corinth, never, at any time, did he receive monetary or in-kind support from these "baby Christians." He desired not to burden the Lord's people, a trait often repeated by other true pastors (vs. 13). The story of Archpriest Constantine Popoff who served St. Nicholas parish in Joliet, Illinois, is an illustrative American example from the time of the Great Depression. His first Liturgy was served with borrowed candles, with no chanter or choir. The people's jobs and money had long disappeared in a starkly fallen economy. His tiny $75 a month starting salary quickly decreased to half within two years. He and his people suffered privation together for the full fourteen years he served in Joliet.
Fr. Popoff's story and St. Paul's experiences reveal a similar, non-materialistic spirit, another sure mark of a true apostolic servant. Such men "very gladly spend and [are] spent for" God's people (vs. 15). They perceive themselves as parents "laying up for the children" (vs. 14).
The sixth mark of a true father in God is love for his people, as the Apostle told the Corinthians, "I love you" (vs. 15). "The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep" (Jn. 10:11). He does so because he has the Lord Jesus as a living model of loving self-sacrifice.
Finally, one can identify a true shepherd because his sole aim is "for...edification" (2 Cor. 12:19). He is a contrast with the hireling "whose own the sheep are not" (Jn. 10:12), who will flee and abandon the flock because he cares not for them nor for their development.
Bless, O Good Shepherd, Thy pastors whom Thou hast appointed to establish Thy flock.