“Never sing your own praises, nor get other people to sing them. Never engage in uncivil conversation. Conceal as far as possible your own excellence” 

- St Basil the Great, On Christian Doctrine and Practice, pg 118. 

Reflection: 

How incredibly different are St Basil’s words from society’s norms?

Living in humility like this allows us to become fully human, to reach our fullest potential in everything we do since we are united with Christ. 

Through humility Christ enters our hearts. Through humility our lives become full of purpose, peace, and joy.  We will avoid so many arguments, rivalries, and petty jealousies.  We will do everything in love for God and neighbor. 

We become "not of the world."(1) We are in the world, but we do not conform to the unhealthy ways that society pushes. 

As we give our all to put into action the words St Basil, let us remember to ask Christ to strengthen us.

Resources:

1) John 17

“One must be instructed before instructing, become light in order to enlighten,

draw near to God before approaching others.”

-St Gregory the Theologian, Oration II, 71. 

Reflection:

Before we approach someone else to instruct, enlighten, correct, or offer our opinion - do we first take a moment to draw near to God? 

We draw near to God by prayer, reading Scripture, and in silence asking for Him to reveal His Will.  

When we draw near to God first, our approach to our neighbor will be Christ-centered and wholesome.  Only then will our conversation bear the fruits of peace, healing, and love.(1)

Resources:

1) Galatians 5:22

“Every task we perform is at the same time a prayer. Our thoughts are focused on the job, and when we perform it from the heart, this means that we are doing it for God.” Elder Thaddeus, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, pg 107.  Reflection: 

God is present everywhere. Every task we do: our jobs, schoolwork, helping one another, and even the mundane chores within the home - can be actions of prayer.  

If we keep God in mind while doing something and do that task from the bottom of our heart, the action can be done in a prayerful state of mind.

Then we fulfill St Paul's words, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."(1)

We won't become tired of the chores and tasks each day as quickly, and we will see ourselves transformed: more peaceful, happy, and grateful. 

Let us approach every task from our hearts, so that our actions become prayers, and our prayers become actions.

Resources:

1) St Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5

“One may study many books, but if this person doesn’t also study and observe his/her own inner-self, then all that has been learned from books will go to waste.”

- St Paisios the Athonite, Spiritual Struggle, pg 153-154. 

Reflection: 

Education without Christ-centered introspection of the heart, is a dead-end. 

Eventually we realize that worldly solutions do not suffice, for problems that are ultimately internal and of the soul. It starts with us acknowledging our strengths, weaknesses, and the state of our relationship with Christ. 

For real improvement in the world and in the relationships in our lives, we must examine our inner-self and start the change there: in the deepest parts of our heart and soul. We must acknowledge, confess, repent, and turn toward Christ. 

What is my response to the world, the people in it, and toward God Himself - the nature and degree of my ‘responsiveness’ to it all?

We educate our heart through our sacramental life in the Church; with the 10 Commandments(1), the Sermon on the Mount(2), Christ’s earthly ministry, His love and humility, and all the lives of the Saints as a litmus test for our heart and soul.  How do I measure up?

While we educate the mind daily, let us not forget to educate the heart also. When both are educated, there is balance, purpose, and understanding in our lives. 

This way we slowly come to know ourselves, our responsibility for ourselves, toward God, and toward our neighbor. Then our heart and mind work together united in Christ and we become as God intended; to be His Light, peace, and love in the world.

Resources:

1) 10 Commandments

2) The Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 5

“Knowing the chemical formula of water cannot satisfy one’s thirst, just as concepts and theories about God are, by themselves, equally fruitless for salvation. 

True theology is knowledge of God based on experience, rooted in a life of virtue, and imbued with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Love and knowledge have a true interdependence, for the believer knows Christ whom he loves, and loves Him who he knows." 

- V. Rev. Archimandrite Maximos Constas  The Light of the World, pg xxi

Reflection: 

When we are young we drink water and know it is good for us based upon our experience of it. We feel refreshed and re-energized, while unaware that it is H2O and how those properties benefit our bodies. 

We do not always know how or why God works the way He does, but we experience His love, warmth, presence and come to know Him through that experience, if we choose to love Him. Our society sometimes demands to know logically how everything works, but with God [and every aspect of our lives], 'love and knowledge are interdependent'. 

Our human relationships are similar: we truly come to know someone only when our knowledge of them is accompanied with our love.(1)  It is through love that we understand deeper than the basic facts about a person, beyond even his/her faults, to the very core of their person.

When we spend time with someone we gain an affinity for them, a love and care for them.  We must truly give God a chance in our lives: spend time speaking with Him, uniting with Him through the sacraments, spending time in worship, and contemplation of His Word. 

With our hearts vulnerable in trust let us actively seek to know God through the life of the Church, which He has given us, so that we may come to ‘love He Whom we know, and know He Whom we love’.

Resources:

1)  1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

“What light is to the eyes, this is what prayer is to the soul; and if being unable to see light is considered a great loss, then how great is the loss we suffer when we fail to pray and prevent the light of Christ from entering our souls?”  

- St John Chrysostom, Homily on Prayer, The Light of the World, pg ix. 

Reflection: 

These days while staying safe at home, we often forget to go out for a walk to enjoy the benefits of the sun, and little by little it eats away at us. Only after a long time do we realize the detriment to our physical and mental health.  Such is the same when we look inward; are we depriving our soul of its light?

Just as we need to open the door to go outside and get some sunlight, it is necessary to make the effort to open the door of our hearts in prayer.  

Our spiritual health is vital to our physical and mental health. Our mind, soul, and body are not separate compartments but all are interconnected. Choosing not to pray is to deprive our soul of the Light of Christ; depriving our entire being of good health.  

“And just as one who wishes to stand in light must avoid the darkness, so too those who wish to converse with God must abandon the darkness within themselves.”(1)  To fully receive the Light of Christ, we must repent and try our best to love God and neighbor.(2)

As we remember to go for a walk to rejuvenate our physical and mental health, let's add additional prayer to our day to refresh our soul; so that our mind, soul, and body may be restored by Christ our God(3).

Resources:

1)  St John Chrysostom, Homily on Prayer, The Light of the World, Pg ix

2) Matthew 22:35-37 The Greatest Commandment 3) Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

“Some outward signs of a Christian are: one’s difference of opinion about what is best, one’s change to a clean and holy life, and leaving behind their bad habits and to acquire other good habits, which befit their new life in Christ.”  

- St Nikodemos of Mt Athos, Made For Union, pg 77.  Reflection: 

A sign of a Christian is not perfection, but someone who makes genuine efforts to grow closer to and in likeness of Christ. 

It is a life of repentance, of inner transformation and giving our hearts to God. It is getting up after we fall and turning back to God, reclaiming the promises of our Baptism.

St Paul reminds us, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work.”(1)

St Nikodemos reminds us that one outward sign of a Christian is in one’s efforts to grow, St Paul reminds us to help one another when we fail.

So when we see another person fail to be Christ-like, let us love that neighbor and bear their burden, restoring them in a gentle manner. For we know the only perfect one is Christ Himself, whereas we, the members of the Church, are trying our best to ‘leave our old habits and acquire new good ones’.

This humble, gentle, patient love - Christ shows us, is who we are called to be, and is Who the world so desperately needs.

Resources:
1) Galatians 6

“Just as no physical life is possible without water and light, so too spiritual life cannot be sustained if we are not perpetually cleansed and if we do not walk in the light of Christ.” 

- Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for the 12 Feasts pg 44

Reflection: 

Only when we walk in the Light of Christ (His Gospel and Church) and participate in the purification of the Sacraments will our lives truly feel joyfully full of purpose and transformed in wisdom.  God works through His creation, through His Church. 

Our Lord’s Baptism, the Feast of Lights (Τα Φὠτα), Holy Epiphany, is a feast of water and light, of a new creation(1), of purification and illumination.

Christ enters the waters of the Jordan today not to be cleansed (for He is the Only Sinless One), but in doing so He purifies the waters, humanity, and all creation.

We are illumined with the revelation of the Holy Trinity (voice of the Father, Christ Himself, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove). We have the Sacrament of Holy Baptism so that we might be united to Christ and be reshaped as a new creation - adopted by Grace(2) as sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. 

By Holy Baptism and Chrismation we are given the potential to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven being true sons and daughters of God - but we must continually choose to live close to Him, to love God and neighbor, and live as the Body of Christ. 

Today we are reminded of our own baptism, or perhaps we are seeking Christ for the first time.  Let us do our best to walk in the Light of Christ by growing closer to Him with every choice we make, strengthened and transformed by Him through the Sacraments of the Church.

Resources:

1) 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

2) Ephesians 1:4-6

“Discipline must always be applied to the wrongdoer in the manner of a physician, who is not angry with the patient, but fights the disease… Treat the disease, not the person. 

Pride therefore will be corrected by ordering the practice of humility, aimless talk by silence, slothfulness by work, greediness by abstinence from food, discontent by separation from others.”

- St Basil the Great, What the Church Fathers Say About, pg 161. 

Reflection: 

As we begin our new year with the feast day of St Basil the Great (4th century), let us take a few minutes to contemplate these words of wisdom to heart. So that we may set off into this new year with a renewed mindset - rooted in the teachings of the Church and the love of Christ. 

Understanding that the wrongdoings/sins of a person are a disease which is harming them, reminds us that we are all created good and all are capable of repentance and growing beyond their mistakes with the help of God.

It frees us from our anger and moves us toward empathy, allowing us to be able to love everyone more easily as we are called to do by Christ.(1)

If we begin to understand and practice this mindset in any and all situations (with family, friends, strangers, in parenting and our relationships) - we will have more clarity in all interactions and our lives will become more peaceful and fulfilling.  

With this Orthodox Christian mindset, we can begin to make a difference in the new year this very moment.

Resources:

1) Mark 12:30-31