You have already realized how unbelievably quickly life goes by. One does not notice this as much in one’s youth, but when the years bear down upon us, we see that a lot of time has passed and that very little is left of this life. Where do we go when the end of our life comes? We know where we are going while we are still here, but what happens afterwards? Where are we
Only divine light, when it shines in us, allows us to see our sins. It is by prayer that our heart begins, little by little, to understand the influences of the spirits which fill the cosmos. Instead of making progress, we see with an ever greater acuteness the passions which possess us. Paradoxically, this feeling that there is no progress is itself progress. Even if we have not yet seen the uncreated light of God,
Earthly existence is for man an endless suffering. Why do we bear all this? Because the Creator has come and has dwelt among us. And we now know Him personally. We are created ‘in the image and likeness of God’. When we measure the reality of our everyday life against this divine revelation, we fall into despair. Why is it so difficult to act as a Christian in the here and now? Because it is
We must have the same consciousness as Christ, who bears in Himself the whole world; this is what makes for the universality of the human person. The word of Christ does not stop; it is without limits. If, as we confess in the Creed, Christ is very God, the Savior of the universe, the Creator of the world, ‘by whom all things were made’, how can we bring our understanding of Him down to a
Jesus rose with His wounds; and we, too, rise with our wounds. In repentance, we are able to realize a resurrection of the heart before the final resurrection of the dead. The key to this mystery is given to us at the moment of our baptism, which offers the possibility of repentance and the foretaste of resurrection. Through baptism, we find that our resurrection through repentance is not a denial or a disparagement of our
Poison in your Heart: The Memory of Insults The memory of insults is the residue of anger. It keeps sins alive, hates justice, ruins virtue, poisons the heart, rots the mind, defeats concentration, paralyses prayer, puts love at a distance, and is a nail driven into the soul. If anyone has appeased his anger, he has already suppressed the memory of insults, while as long as the mother is alive the son persists. In order
Abba Antony said: Having therefore made a beginning, and set out already on the way to virtue, let us press forward to what lies ahead. And let none turn back as Lot’s wife did, especially since the Lord said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the Kingdom of heaven.” Now “turning back” is nothing except feeling regret and once more thinking about things of the world.
When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27: 54 (From the Gospel of Vespers on Good Friday Afternoon) It is truly amazing how the Lord calls all kinds of people in all kinds of circumstances to serve Him. Some people who have committed the greatest sins and
But when he came to himself, he said “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father.
The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body… Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? . . . Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? . . . So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6: 13, 15, 19, 20 (Epistle on the Sunday of the Prodigal
© 2020 Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
