“Refute those who dispute with you by the strength of your virtues and not by the persuasiveness of your words, but by the meekness and quietness of your lips.” 

- St Isaac the Syrian, The Ascetical Homilies, Homily 4, pg 32-33.

Reflection: 

May we always work on ourselves to love Christ and our neighbor even better than the previous day, so that our virtues will shine. 

This way we will follow the advice of St Isaac and truly give the love and meekness of Christ(1) in response to any given situation. 

Resources:

1) John 18:28 (Jesus before Pilot)

“Faith is increased through prayer...We ask God to increase our Faith, not so that we can do miracles, but to love Him all the more.”

- St Paisios Spiritual Struggle V. 2,  pg 299. 

Reflection: 

Is our Faith as strong as it should be? 

Our Faith is our: relationship with God, love for God and neighbor(1), trust in God, our unity with Him. 

Increasing our prayer [both personal and worship at Church] increases our Faith, love, and trust in God.  When our love for God has increased, so will our love for neighbor.  When we love God and neighbor, other parts of our life begin to fall into place. 

Sometimes it is difficult to love our neighbor when they are not kind or when they believe very different things than ourselves. 

Loving our neighbor does not mean agreeing with or supporting every thought, word, or action they take. It means recognizing the image of God in them and treating them with respect and kindness each of us deserve as children of God. 

Loving our neighbor means being a loving presence for them, showing them that the doors to the Church, the path back home to Christ, is always open. 

Let us increase our prayer, so that we may increase our trust and love for God. We will then be a welcoming presence back to Christ, and our lives will increase in purpose, peacefulness, and inner joy.

Resources:

1) Matthew 12:30-31

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” 

- Matthew  5:14-19

Reflection: 

Do we ever hold back from being a Christian in public? 

Christ instructs us, His disciples, to let our light shine before the world. Part of our purpose in life is to be the light in the world. 

When we live our Faith everywhere we go, we will ‘shine’ with Christ’s light, with the light of: love, joy, compassion, and peacefulness. 

When there are opportunities for us to choose the Christ-like path, let us choose to live our Faith out loud, so that we may do our part as we ask in the Lord’s Prayer making, “on earth as it is in heaven”.(1)

Resources:

1) Matthew 6:9-13

“God will help us in our difficulties. But for God to provide divine power, people must offer whatever little they have and can give.”

- St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening, pg 256. 

Reflection: 

God has given us everything, our life, and our talents.(1)

From all that we are and have, let us give our time and talents to our neighbor, ultimately to Christ Himself(2) through His Church.

When we give back to God from all that He has given us, then our relationship deepens with Christ and our life becomes all the more fulfilling. 

Resources:

1) Matthew 10:7-8

2) Matthew 25:31-46

“If you want to help the Church, it is better to try to correct yourself, rather than be looking to correct others. Naturally, if everyone did the same, the body of the Church would be in good health. But today, people concern themselves with anything but themselves. Judging others is easy, whereas working on yourself takes effort.” 

- St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening V 2, pg 81. 

Reflection: 

Is our first reaction in any given situation to judge the other person, or correct ourselves? 

“If we work to look more intently towards our ‘inner’ activity rather than our external, giving precedence to Divine help, we can in turn be of greater and more positive help to others.”(1) 

“When someone applies his/herself to external activity before having polished his/her spiritual inner state, they will be wrought with worry, anxiety, lack of confidence in God and frequent loss of serenity.”(2) 

The main cause of many of our worries, anxieties, even lack of faith, and inner peace - is that we have not worked on our inner self: our weaknesses, our struggles, our relationship with God and others. 

Let us take ownership of our current inner state and through the life of the Church let us work on our shortcomings and address them by way of the worship services, sacraments, ministries, and fellowship.

Resources:

1) St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening V 2, pg 81.

2) St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening V 2, pg 81.

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

- St Paul, Colossians 3:15. 

Reflection: 

What feelings do we allow to rule in our hearts? What kinds of thoughts preoccupy most of our time? 

St Paul reminds us that in order to follow Christ’s prayer(1) that His disciples (we) be united as one as He, the Father, and Holy Spirit are one: we must strive to have the peace of God rule in our hearts. 

But what leads our effort to be united to every person around us, to have true inner peace? To be thankful for each and every one of them.  

In order to be thankful for our neighbors, we must recognize the good in them, pray for them, and make a lot of efforts to reconcile as well as build up all of our neighbors (family, friends, and strangers)(2). 

Let us find ways to genuinely be thankful for every person in our life, for the work involved in reaching that place in our hearts will allow God to enter and give us His Peace and our lives will be fulfilled in ways we cannot even imagine.  

Resources:

1) John 17

2) Galatians 6:1-3

“When someone has a vice we should try to bombard him/her with rays of love and compassion so that he/she may be cured and freed. These things are achieved only through the grace of God. Think that this person is suffering more than you… we must adopt an attitude of care, respect, and prayer.”

- St Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, pg 183. 

Reflection: 

Imagine being a ray of light for someone in darkness. Our light is our gifts of love, patience and compassion. How might their outlook change? How might we feel?  

When we give our light in the face of darkness, we open the door (and keep it open) to growth, healing, and repentance for everyone involved. 

Christ sacrificed Himself for us in the face of (and for) all of our faults and sins, so we must emulate Christ’s love for His Church in all of our interactions. When someone is going down a bad path or acts toward us in negative ways - we are called to choose empathy(1), even when we do not feel like it, and our feelings will follow. 

This is very difficult to achieve, and we must constantly ask for God’s help along the way. 

Let us strive to choose empathy with all people, in all situations, so that we may follow in the footsteps of Christ and the Apostles and be the light of Christ in the world.(2)  As Christ’s light, let us become beacons of healing, keeping the door open for growth for everyone and ourselves.

Resources:

1) Matthew 5:44

2) Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house."

“We enter into the Church - to unite ourselves with our fellow people, with the joys and sorrows of each and everyone, to feel that they are our own, to pray for everyone, to have care for their salvation, to forget about ourselves, to do everything for them as Christ did for us.” 

- St Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, pgs 88-89. 

Reflection: 

How do we unite ourselves like this with everyone? By loving God and neighbor.(1)

When we unite ourselves to everyone by loving God and neighbor, our life will feel more fulfilling, our purpose more clear, and joyful. By loving God and neighbor we put them first, a way of living which edifies and strengthens our heart and soul - because imitating Christ’s sacrificial love edifies and strengthens us. 

It is in the journey toward uniting ourselves with everyone else that we become our most authentic self, while becoming the one Body of Christ; the Church. 

The qualities it takes to love God and unite ourselves with our neighbor, along with the relationships formed with God and one another, shape our heart to be Christ like, resulting in the freedom to live as our truest and best self.  

The more we give, love, think of, care for, pray for, and walk along with people through their joys and sorrows (making them our own), the more Christ-like we become, the more freedom we will live in, and the most sincere joy we will experience. 

“Christ is revealed in that unity between His love and ourselves: the Church. On my own I am not the Church, but together with you.”(2)

Resources:

1) Mark 12:30-31

2) St Porphyrios, Wounded by Love, pg 88.

“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

“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.

“Seeing her own Lamb being led to the slaughter, Mary was worn out, and she followed Him with the other women, and cried, "Where are You going, Child? Why are You going so fast? Maybe there is another wedding in Cana, and You are hurrying now to make wine out of water for them? Shall I come with You, Child, and stay with You? Give me a word, O Word, who preserved my purity. Please do not pass by me in silence. You are my Son and my God."

- Hymn from Orthros of Holy Friday (Holy Thursday Evening)

Reflection: 

We see the love of a mother wishing to co-suffer with her son, to be there with him. As one can imagine, she would want to take His place. And yet she knows He must do this for the salvation of all humanity and all creation.

The witness of the Theotokos here at the Cross was the sword piercing her soul(1), and yet she endured this unthinkable situation with confidence in God - through her close relationship to Christ.   

The Theotokos standing at the foot of the Cross with John the Apostle, the anguish she felt, and all that she went through, adds to why she is such a great intercessor for us.  First it is her relationship to Christ, as His mother, we see their exchange in Cana, and her intercessory role there…. and the second time we see direct interaction, is here at the Cross.  

The Ever-Virgin Mary suffered greatly, experiencing the unthinkable… and did with confidence in God - through her close relationship to Christ. 

We too, see these events in Christ’s life through the joyful lens of the resurrection - through our relationship with Christ. 

So as we witnessed last night and today, the Crucifixion, death, and burial of our Lord, it sobers us as we realize what God endured and suffered for our sake. We are at the same time beginning to feel the spark of joy within us…since tonight the hymnology begins to turn Resurrectional. 

So our mourning for Christ’s death is tempered with certainty, our sorrow with joy, and our sadness with hope. 

  May we be strengthened by the intercessions of the Theotokos, so that we may follow her example, and face extremely difficult situations with hope and peace, and imitate Christ’s sacrificial Divine love toward others.  Amen. 

Resources:

1) Luke Chapter 2

“Build up the temple of God, not only within ourselves, but also in our neighbors, and thus we fulfill the purpose for which God brought us into this life.”  

- Archimandrite Zacharias, The Engraving of Christ in Man’s Heart, pg 18.

Reflection: 

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”(1)

We are created in God’s image, and when we unite ourselves to Christ through Holy Baptism and Chrismation, we are sealed with the Grace of the Holy Spirit.  

The seed of the Holy Spirit is placed in our hearts, with the full potential to grow, if we choose to live close to Christ in our lives. 

The more we depend on God, pray, attend Church, participate in the sacraments, read Scripture, and invite Christ into each moment of our day - we build up the temple of God within ourselves. 

We build up the temple of God in others when we listen to St Paul’s words:

“If a person 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.”(2)

In these final days of Great and Holy Lent and Holy Week, let us build up the temple of God both within us and in our neighbors so that we may approach our Lord’s Passion, Cross, and Resurrection with love and humility.  

Resources:

1) 1 Corinthians 3:16

2) Galatians 6:1-3

“Love, by its nature, is a resemblance to God, insofar as this is humanly possible. Its distinctive character is to be a fountain of faith, an abyss of long-suffering patience, a sea of humility.” 

- St John Climacus, 30 Steps to Heaven, pg 239. 

Reflection: 

When we are loving toward others, we begin to resemble God, we bring to the forefront the image of God that we are created in(1). People begin to see God through our love: which shows itself in our sacrifice, long-suffering patience, humility, and a faithful relationship with God. 

Only if we love others and love God can we truly become patient, as St Paul describes. We often read “love is patient” but the word St Paul used was that love μακροθιμεἰ.(2)  Love is long-suffering/enduring.  St Paul, and many hymns, use the same word to describe Christ’s suffering and sacrifice on the Cross. 

In order to be Christ-like, showing the image of God within us, we must have humility, long-suffering patience, and a trusting relationship with God. Christ shows us this by His example on the Cross, and instructs us to do the same: 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”(3)   

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(4)

As we are about to witness the love of God through the long-suffering and sacrifice of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ next week, let us build one another up, always giving our time and talents with long-suffering patience to strengthen one another, while fortifying our relationship with God. Our lives will be changed forever.  

Resources:

1) Genesis 1:26

2) St Paul uses the word "makrothimia" - long-suffering patience -  in these passages and more: Romans 2:4, Romans 9:22, 1 Corinthians 13:4, 2 Corinthians 6:6, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 4:2

3) John 13:34

4) Matthew 22:37

“Vainglory induces pride in those who are favored and resentment in those who are slighted.”   

- St John Climacus, 30 Steps to Heaven, pg 167. 

Reflection: 

When we are praised, do we become full of ourselves? When we are criticized, are we hurt to the point of anger or sadness?  

Both extreme reactions reveal some level of pride (vainglory) that we have deep within our hearts. If we were are humble, neither praise nor criticism would result in a large reaction from us. 

When we realize we are reacting in this way, we can address this by prayer and asking for humility, seeking God in prayer, scripture, in the services of the Church, and in the sacraments Christ has given us.  

Filling our life with our best effort to be close to God is the only way we can begin to decrease our pride. 

We cannot simply avoid pride, we must push it out with humility and love.(1)  

Resources: 
1) Matthew 5:4-6 

“Love has no boundary, and both in the present life and the future age we will never cease to progress in it, as we add light to light.” 

- St John Climacus 30 Steps to Heaven, pg 246. 

 

Reflection: 

Our love for God is what strengthens our Faith in God. The more we love God and neighbor, it is like adding light to light; there is no end to love. 

“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”(1) Which means love is infinite, we will never reach the end of it.  We will continuously grow in our relationship with God. 

Our love for God guides our every decision and keeps us grounded with our behavior with others.  

How do we increase our love for God?   Think about people you love dearly…don't we think about them often?  Go out of our way to show that we are thinking of them?  Try to be there for them?  Spend time with them? Make time in our busy schedules for them?  

If we do all of these things for people we love, how much more should we do for God who created us and loves us, to the point of becoming human and dying on the Cross for us? 

Let us increase our love for God so that He may abide in us and us in Him, so that we may add light to light in our lives and experience everlasting joy. 

Resources: 

1) 1 John 4

“Our society teaches us an aggressive autonomy, a self-serving logic of our time which is a dead-end both socially and personally.”

- Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart, pg 180.

Reflection:

Do you ever notice when you do something that benefits only you, the reward is short-lived?  But for some reason, when we give and sacrifice for others, the rewards are many and long lasting.

The way of Christ and His presence in the world overturns human standards and values.(1) He shows us that giving and sacrifice is the kind of love we are created to express. 

In a society and world where we are often out for ourselves, Christ our God reminds us that we are created and designed for love: loving both God and neighbor.(2)  We are designed for community. 

The way of Christ, His Gospel, can heal our self-centeredness and pride.(3) While we may not suffer physical crucifixion for our Faith, we do sometimes ‘crucify’ our minds.  In other words, we sacrifice our ego, our selfishness, in order to love God and others. 

To begin to ‘crucify’ our mind is to overcome the desire to exercise authority over anyone, and instead be ready to serve others.

Let us pray for the strength and wisdom to crucify our ego, so that we may express our love for God and neighbor through giving and sacrifice.  This is what brings people together, and shows us our purpose in God’s will.

Resources:

1) Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart, pg 177

2) Luke 10:26-28 ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’

3) Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart, pg 180

 “The keys that open the door to the deepest part of our heart are:

          1) Meditating on the teaching of the Gospel,

      2) Calling upon the Name of the Lord,

          3) Partaking of the sacrament of Holy Communion.”

- Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart, pg 210.

Reflection:

Do we wish to grow and realize our worth and purpose this Lent?  We must open our hearts through the foundations of Scripture, prayer, and Holy Communion.

Within the deepest parts of our heart is the Gift of the Holy Spirit from our Baptism and the Image of God that we all are created in.(1) We sometimes cloud that image with our prideful thinking or our mistakes. Lent is here to guide us back to a pure heart in Christ.

Through Scripture we come to know God’s voice, through prayer we deepen our love for Him, and through Holy Confession and Holy Communion we are united in Liturgy to Christ our God in the most unique way in all creation. 

Christ reminds us, "Abide in Me, and I in you...If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."(2)

Let us utilize the foundations that Christ offers us through the Church, so that we may abide in Him and He in us, preparing ourselves with open humble hearts for His glorious Resurrection!

Resources:

1) Creation of Humanity 2) John 15

“Meekness means we are to endure wrongs humbly and patiently and to let go of our anger, which is the fruit of pride.”

- Vassilios Papavassiliou,Thirty Steps to Heaven, pg 63 

Reflection: 

When we hear the word ‘meek’ we often think of it as a personality trait - someone who is soft spoken and pushed around, a kind of weakness. But Christ shows us that meekness is a virtue that cannot be understood by externals.(1) 

Meekness is to have a heart that is peacefully and lovingly disposed toward someone who has been offensive.(2)

In order to practice meekness we must avoid anger; not merely externally but even in our thoughts, because it darkens our intellect with bitterness and cuts it off from the radiance of spiritual understanding and discernment by depriving it of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.(3)

When we are angry with others we should not seek solitude since being angry alone hides, but does not erase our anger.  Instead, having patience with the person by praying for them begins to address and soften our anger.

In order to have freedom from anger, we must act with humility as St John Climacus writes, “1) Keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred, 2) Keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset, 3) Be calm when unclean winds are blowing.”(4)

Let us follow in our Lord’s footsteps and cultivate meekness(5), so that our souls may remain unaffected whether or not we are spoken well of, whether or not we are honored or praised. This way, having let go of any anger, we humbly and patiently endure and love all people.

Resources:

1) Vassilios Papavassiliou,Thirty Steps to Heaven, 62.

2) St John Climacus, Thirty Steps to Heaven, 66. 3) St John Cassian, Thirty Steps to Heaven, pg 64.

4) Vassilios Papavassiliou,Thirty Steps to Heaven, 69.

5) Scripture About Meekness Matthew 5:5, Psalm 37:11, Colossians 3:12, 1 Peter 3:15