Daily Meditations Archives - Page 282 of 351

Daily Meditations

The Danger of the Final Solution

10/14/2014

There is much mental suffering in our world. But some of it is suffering for the wrong reason because it is born out of the false expectation that we are called to take each other’s loneliness away. When our loneliness drives us away from ourselves into the arms of our companions in life, we are, in fact, driving ourselves into excruciating relationships, tiring friendships and suffocating embraces. To wait for moments or places where no

The Lord’s Prayer (Part VII)

10/13/2014

There is a difference between God the king, perceived in the land of Egypt, or in the scorching wilderness, and in the new situation of the Promised Land. First, his will would prevail anyhow, whatever resistance one opposed to it would be broken: obedience means subjection. Secondly, a gradual training shows that this king is not an overlord, a slave driver, but a king of goodwill, and that obedience to him transforms all; that we

Awakening as the Beloved

10/10/2014

Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022) pointed to the new force field that we call the Body of Christ in his Hymns of Divine Love. Hymn 15 beautifully names the divine union that God is forever inviting and edging us toward: We awaken in Christ’s body, As Christ awakens our bodies There I look down and my poor hand is Christ, He enters my foot and is infinitely me. I move my hand and wonderfully

Do Not Judge

10/09/2014

As it is, the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son ….I judge no one … For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world! (Jesus Christ. See In. 5: 22. 8: 1 S. 12: 47) Therefore, judge nothing before the time, [that is] until the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of every heart.

Jerusalem: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

10/08/2014

By Father Lawrence Farley One day several years ago, before my own trip to the Holy Land, I asked a parishioner who had been there how he had liked the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during his visit to Jerusalem. “Grand,” he replied. “Confusing, but grand.” Having been there myself, I now quite understand what he meant by “confusing.” The church there is confusing because it is the heir (some would say “the victim”) of

The Avoidance of the Painful Void

10/07/2014

It is this most basic human loneliness that threatens us and is so hard to face. Too often we will do everything possible to avoid the confrontation with the experience of being alone, and sometimes we are able to create the most ingenious devices to prevent ourselves from being reminded of this condition. Our culture has become most sophisticated in the avoidance of pain, not only our physical pain but our emotional and mental pain

The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas the “Twin”

10/06/2014

The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas was born in the Galilean city of Pansada and was a fisherman. Hearing the good tidings of Jesus Christ, he left all and followed after Him. The Apostle Thomas is included in the number of the holy Twelve Apostles of the Savior. According to Holy Scripture, the holy Apostle Thomas did not believe the reports of the other disciples about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: “Unless I see in

Treasures from our Subsequent Conversations (Part IV)

10/03/2014

Why He left the Holy Mountain “I told you that there on the Mountain I lived a Heavenly life.” “And why did you leave, Elder?” “I did not leave, they expelled me.” “They expelled you? Why?” “It is a long story. I was in constant motion. I did not stay put for one minute. I constantly created work for myself in order to push myself. I always did these things with permission. The one Elder

ON PROGRESS IN DEPTH

10/02/2014

The external rudiments lead us now to the warfare that goes on in the depths. As when one peels an onion, one layer after another is removed, and the innermost core, out of which growth reaches up toward the light, lies revealed. There, in your own innermost chamber, you will glimpse the heavenly chamber, for they are one and the same, according to St. Isaac the Syrian. When you strive now to enter your inmost

Hidden Silence

10/01/2014

There is a silence we choose. Our retreats into our cells of silence and solitude still the noise pollution in our lives so that we might eventually be still. Quieted enough to hear the whispers of God. Still enough to feel the Holy Spirit winds blowing through our lives and to observe the effects of the Spirit winds all around us. We retreat in hopes of delight, in hopes of tasting the good, the true,