Daily Meditations Archives - Page 249 of 351

Becoming a Missionary without Speaking

01/18/2016

Becoming a Missionary without Speaking “My dear man I am envious of you, I envy you. You can become the greatest missionary in the Monastery without speaking at all. You will pray for everyone in silence. You will pray for the whole Church, for the clergy, and for the Monks. Our Church is undergoing a crisis today. “Above all pray for your spiritual family.” “Leave your heart completely open to Christ, filled with love, and

ON THE USE OF MATERIAL THINGS

01/15/2016

We are made up of soul and body; the two cannot be separated in our conduct. Let the physical therefore come to your aid: Christ knew our weakness and for our sake used words and gestures, spittle and earth as media. For our sake He let His power flow from the fringe of His garment (Matthew 9: 20; 14: 36), from the handkerchiefs or aprons that were carried away from the apostle Paul’s body (Acts

Meditation and Worship (Part II)

01/14/2016

There are things which we cannot understand except within the teaching of the Church; scripture must be understood with the mind of the Church, the mind of Christ, because the Church has not changed; in its inner experience it continues to live the same life as it lived in the first century; and words spoken by Paul, Peter, Basil or others within the Church, have kept their meaning. So, after a preliminary understanding in our

WATCHFULNESS IN DIVINE WORSHIP (Part II)

01/13/2016

There are many and varied degrees and a great variety of pointing ways to watchfulness. We see this also in the Hymns of Repentance in the Octoechos and the Triodion, in which this many-faceted and proper cultivation of neptic life is offered. We note a few to demonstrate this: Because of all my wicked thoughts and deeds I stand condemned: put into my heart, O God, my Saviour, the thought of turning back to Thee,

THE FALL OF THE NOUS OF MAN BEFORE AND AFTER CHRIST (Part I)

01/12/2016

The ability of the nous of man to see God is not only its principal and higher ability, but it is also its central aim for which it was created by God. This, say the holy Fathers, was exactly the blessedness of Adam and Eve in Paradise: to see the Omniscient, Delightful, and Most Longed-for Face of their Visible and Invisible, their Approachable and Unapproachable Creator. God Himself is not only the invisible and inaccessible

Conscience, a Spark of Life

01/11/2016

When God made human beings, he put in them a kind of divine faculty, more alive and splendid than a spark, to illuminate the spirit and show it the difference between good and evil. It is the conscience with that law which is part of its nature. The patriarchs and all the saints were able to please God by obeying the law of conscience. But people trampled on it and muddied it with their sinfulness.

You Become the God you Worship

01/08/2016

The “Principle of Likeness” means that like knows like, love in me knows love. And hate in me will see hate everywhere else. If there’s no love in you, if you are filled with fear and hatred, you will not know God. You actually can’t. There’s no abiding place for an infinite God in you, because your field is too small and safe. The infinite cannot abide inside of the finite unless the finite is

Synaxis of St. John the Baptist

01/07/2016

Bible Readings: Epistle: Acts 19: 1-8 Gospel: St. John 1:29-34 Liturgical Services: The true Light has appeared and grants enlightenment to all. Christ, who is above all purity is baptized with us; He brings sanctification to the water and it becomes cleansing for our souls. That which is outward and visible is earthly; that which is inwardly understood is higher than heaven. Salvation comes through washing, and through water the Spirit. By descending into the

HOLY THEOPHANY

01/06/2016

Bible Readings: Epistle: Titus 2:11-14.3:4-7 Gospel: St. Matthew 3:13-17 Liturgical Services: Christ is baptized! He comes up out of the water, and with Him He carries up the world. He sees the heavens opened that Adam had closed against himself and his posterity. The Spirit bears witness to His divinity, for He hastens toward His like. And a voice sounds from heaven, for it is from heaven that He has come down to those whom

Twelfth Day of Christmas, Looking Toward Epiphany

01/05/2016

Meditation: Looking Toward Epiphany Epiphany! Theophany! Two good Greek words expressing and proclaiming to the world the showing forth of God in His fullness. Epiphany is the showing forth of God because it was there, at the Baptism of Jesus, that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity appeared together for the first time. The Father’s voice testified from on high that Jesus is the Son of God. The Son accepted his Father’s testimony, and