“The only true strength is that of grace, which is a gift from God and given only when a person recognizes and experiences one’s own weakness.” 

- Jean-Claude Larchet, Theology of the Body, pg 58. 

Reflection: 

Do we desire the strength to successfully deal with the challenges that life presents us with?  We must recognize our own weakness not judging it as a negative quality, but an acknowledgment of the neutral fact that we need Christ in our lives.

Successful lives are a cooperation of our free will with God’s grace. Meaning, when we choose to follow Christ in every thought word and deed each day. 

Our instinct tells us to muster up our own strength to deal with things, but the key is to release control and give space for God to work in our lives. Every service, sacrament, prayer, and discipline in the life of the Church is here to help us accomplish this.  

God told Saint Paul when he was suffering, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”(1) 

God’s strength is made perfect in our weaknesses, therefore, let us not judge our own weaknesses but let them remind us to take action and reach out to God.

Resources:

1)  2 Corinthians 12:9

“Do you wish to be healed?”

- Jesus Christ,  John 5.

Reflection: 

Do we wish to be healed? The question seems obvious, but we often refuse the help of our Lord by not keeping & growing a constant relationship with Him. We think we can get by on our own. 

Unlike the paralytic who waited 38 years until Christ arrived, we have Christ with us here and now. We do not need to wait, it’s on us to make the choice.  

Christ has freely given us all we need through His Church. We can choose to devote ourselves more deeply to the life in Christ in His Church at any time, why do we hold ourselves back?  

Do we wish to be healed? Trust in Christ. 

Trust in Christ: Take up our Cross(1), follow His teachings, participate in the life of the Church He gives us. 

Trust in Christ: Attend the services. 

Trust in Christ: Participate in Holy Confession & Holy Communion. 

Trust in Christ: Devote oneself in personal prayer and reading of Scripture. 

Trust in Christ: Strive to increase in love and knowledge of both: God and neighbor.(2)   

Trusting in all that Christ constantly gives us through His Church; we have the roadmap to a challengingly healthy, joyful, and peaceful life leading unto the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us choose to be healed, and participate in all Christ gives us.

Resources: 

1) Matthew 16:24

2) John 15:1-3

“If we want to be free, we must hear the word of God and accept and keep it in our heart, so that we can recognize the truth through which we become free. Otherwise we remain slaves to sin and serve our (unhealthy) passions.” 

- St Nektarios, Homilies V. 1 pg 35. 

Reflection: 

What is true freedom? Christ says, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”(1)

True freedom is freedom in the truth of our hearts, which only Christ can reveal to us. It is being authentic with ourselves, recognizing our strengths and weaknesses and walking with Christ to find healing. It is freedom from sin and from being trapped in our impulses, pride, and self-centeredness.  If we are free from those things, our decisions in life become all the more fruitful.

True freedom is to become a follower; of Christ and His Word, emulating His sacrificial and humble love.

We often think of freedom as a result of our society’s laws, our financial independence, and our own strength, but these are actually secondary to our inner freedom. 

External freedom is how a person can end up with “everything” and still feel unfulfilled: they are not free in their hearts. No matter what our circumstances might be, we will feel at peace if we have our inner freedom in Christ.

“We are obliged to shape our heart if we wish to be followers of Christ and therefore, truly free...as faithful followers of the Savior and as lovers of true freedom, let us take up our own crosses and follow Christ, Who shall free us from the slavery of sin, and make us truly free.”(2)

Resources:

1) John 8

2) St Nektarios of Aegina, Homilies, V.1 pg 37.

“Faith is the externalization of the good hearts of Christians, and vice versa, since good hearts are faithful…good and well disposed to the reception of the word of God.” 

- St Nektarios, Homilies of St Nektarios of Aegina V 1, pg 11-12 

Reflection: 

Imagine what it might be like to experience seeing first; the good in everything and everyone around you.  How might that change your experience of each day?

Let us have our hearts purified through the life of the Church so that we can take away the things that usually block our vision each day of God and the good in His creation. 

Faith makes our heart pure, and having a pure heart helps us realize our Faith. 

Good hearts discover God everywhere and recognize Him everywhere and in everything. 

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”(1) And it was quite just that they should be deemed worthy of the vision of God, since they have discovered Him in His creation, as in an icon.(2)

The more time and effort we invest in our relationship with God through the Church, the more we open our hearts to be purified by Christ. 

Let us take a leap of Faith, and invest our time with Christ.

Resources:

1) Matthew 5:8

2) St Nektarios, Homilies of St Nektarios of Aegina V 1, pg 12.

 “"Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was very large." 

- Mark 15

Reflection:

Do we feel like there is a large inner ‘stone’ blocking us from Christ?  Do we feel stuck in our relationship with Christ? 

For many people, Jesus seems to be buried in their hearts as if in a tomb. He is covered by the heavy stone of mistakes, ignorance, of indifference, of bad habits accumulated over years.(1) The ‘stone’ becomes larger the longer we do not keep ourselves accountable. 

We may not always know what the inner-obstacle is that is blocking our way to Christ, that is why we reach out to the priest, seek out Holy Confession. 

Like the Myrrh-Bearing Women, we can make the first move, we can get up; we can set out, allowing Faith and hope to guide us.(2) 

When we choose to seek out Christ in the Church through the sacraments, we too will find the ‘stone’ rolled away for us; our burdens lifted, our stresses eased because we have approached and invited Christ into our hearts in the most unique and significant ways He gifted us. 

As we approach the removal of the ‘stone’ from our hearts, let us remember to also bring ‘myrrh’: our good deeds, love for one another, prayer-life, sacrifices, and giving of ourselves. 

Our virtue is our myrrh that we bring to the tomb of Christ, so that we may ask for the ‘stone’ to be rolled away. For without God’s help through the sacraments we are unable to remove it ourselves. 

Let us look to the example of the Myrrh-Bearing women, and make that first move, imitate their courage to approach Christ, through the sacraments. Then our ‘stone’ (our inner-obstacles) will be rolled away so that like the tomb of Christ, our hearts may also become life-giving not only for ourselves but also to those around us.

Resources:

1) The Year of Grace of the Lord, pg 184.

2) The Year of Grace of the Lord, pg 185.

“Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

- Gospel of John 20:19-31 

Reflection: 

Christ proclaims a special blessedness for those who believe and have that relationship of Faith and trust in God without having physically seen Him.(1) 

When we have a question or even doubt about our Faith, do we stay stuck with the question or take action to pursue the answer?

Thomas was not in disbelief, but rather, in a protective sense, he was seeking out the answer.  Christ does not wait for Thomas to ask, but tells him to see and touch the print of the nails etc and believe.  Christ is focused on healing his stress and worry. 

Showing us if we seek out answers to our questions, the Lord will provide them.  Let us look to the example of Thomas and always pursue any questions or even doubts we may have. 

Resources:

1) The Year of Grace of the Lord, pg 182.

“Spiritual courage makes one turn toward God and seek His mercy and blessing. Courage is a valiant frame of mind and complete hope in God.” 

- Met Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, The Science of Spiritual Medicine, pg 116 

Reflection: 

Spiritual courage gives us the strength to travel the difficult road of repentance and humility, allowing us to see ourselves for who we really are, and have the strength to then ask for God’s help. To get back up once we have fallen.(1) 

Since it is not courage based on our own strength, it is not prideful, instead based on trust and hope in God and seeking His mercy and love. 

How do we develop this kind of courage, so that we do not despair when we make mistakes, but rather seek out the help of God every time we fall? 

We strengthen our courage the more we spend time with God in prayer, reading of scripture, in worship at Church, and connecting with Him in the most unique ways on earth by the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Confession. 

Let us love God by spending more intentional time with Him, and we will see ourselves more apt to get up after we have fallen, to seek His help once we recognize our shortcomings.  

Resources:

1) Met Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, The Science of Spiritual Medicine, pg 117.

“The true celebration is the renewal of ourselves. Pascha is our personal passage from death to life, from the experience of spiritual death (our estrangement from God) to living the first resurrection (life in Christ).”

- Met Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and St Gregory the Theologian, The Science of Spiritual Medicine, pg 403.

Reflection: 

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!   

We often hear people speculating on the meaning of the Resurrection without making recommendations on a personal level, and others who speak about correcting the way we live, but without any real theology.(1)  

Our lives are a theological experience - life lived with God. 

Having celebrated the Resurrection of Christ: what do we feel? How are we acting? How are our thoughts behaving? Where are our thoughts directed? 

Our God became human, suffered as we do, died and Resurrected in order that we may spend eternity with Him in the joy of Heaven forever.  Have we responded to anything Christ has done for us? In other words, are we acting, feeling, thinking, praying and existing the same as we did two weeks ago?

Let us dive deeper into our relationship with Christ, so that we may live each day renewed by His love, our hearts strengthened by His compassion, and our minds grounded in His peace. 

Let us live in the joy of the Resurrection of Christ, becoming new people, spreading His love and the joy of His Kingdom in the world.  

Resources: 
1) Met Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, The Science of Spiritual Medicine, pg 401.